I worked with a few former child stars from that era, and a very good friend of mine has a daughter who is presently on a popular cable show. The former child stars I worked with all had the same advice which I gave to my friend: Never leave your child alone on the set for a minute. It doesn't matter if your agent says it will be OK or if the director says everything will be fine or if the on-set teacher says they've got it covered... nobody who takes a check is a substitute for a parent. The child actors who had parents watching them at all times seem to have grown up fairly well. The ones whose parents were in an office negotiating contracts or, worse, the parents who trusted an immature child with strangers and stayed completely out of it... those are the "Diff'rent Strokes" kids. My friend's kid who is currently on TV appears on a series with very adult themes, and a few times a season someone on the staff will try to get my friend to leave the set during production -- she has always, always refused. As a result, thanks to the wonder of CGI, things have happened to the character but the kid herself wasn't a part of anything age-inappropriate. The child actor has never seen a single episode of the adult themed show, and knows nothing about the characters beyond her character's interaction with them. It is my friend who handles her daughter's social media and all other fan-related interaction, so the kid remains as much of a kid as possible.
On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 1:51 PM, Dave Sikula <[email protected]> wrote: > While I don't dispute that all of this was true for Wilson, and may be true > of some others, a good friend of mine was a major child star in the 60s and > 70s, and didn't suffer any of this. She's now quite happily married with a > child (who shows no interest in becoming an actor, even though his father > teaches theatre in a local high school) and a booming career in an > IT-related field. I will say, though, that she's very cautious about keeping > a low profile, since she has had to deal with people who, if not stalkers, > have trouble with boundaries. > > --Dave Sikula > > > On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 10:52:32 AM UTC-7, Wesley McGee wrote: >> >> Former film actress Mara Wilson (notable role: Matilda) wrote a >> interesting little listicle for Cracked.com about how sometimes child-labor >> screws up a child, especially when that job introduces you to fame, >> adoration, adulation,, explotation, perverts and idiots. >> >> >> http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-reasons-child-stars-go-crazy-an-insiders-perspective/ >> >> -- >> Wesley McGee >> http://www.ambivi.com >> http://sterlingnorth.vox.com >> http://drawing-a-blank.tumblr.com >> >> Twitter: @westwit >> G+: http://plus.google.com/113413697748381364954 >> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wesleymcgee > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
