The Exploitation of Child Actors

When we watch child actors on tv, we must ask ourselves, how many of these kids actually want to be in show biz? Sure, there are child actors that love what they do, but what about the ones that were exposed to the world of Hollywood by their parents from a very young age? Oftentimes, these child actors are pushed into acting for their parents own personal reasons, whether that be because they needed the money, longed for the attention, or wanted their kids to live out their own failed dreams.

Time and time again we have seen actors speak up about their life-changing and, at times, traumatic experiences as child actors. Many of these now grown-up child actors have spoken up recently about their past and being exploited by their parents. This exploitation took on many different forms, such as being sexually exploited, overworked, physically and verbally/emotionally abused at the hands of their own parents. Some of these actors include Cole Sprouse, Ariel Winter, Brooke Shields, Jennette McCurdy, and Macaulay Culkin, just to name a few.

In a recently released Hulu documentary, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, the model talks about her experience as a child actor/model. Brooke talks about her mistreatment in the industry and how her mother contributed to this. Brooke recalls being sexually exploited from a young age, in which her mother allowed for her to pose nude at age 10 for a Playboy publication and, subsequently, to star as a child prostitute when she was only 11 in the 1978 movie Pretty Baby. During filming, she was forced to kiss her 27 year old costar. In other words, her mother consented to child pornography. Although Brooke made it clear that she was uncomfortable, her mother did not step in to protect her. At the same time, her mother was also dealing with alcoholism. When her mother would drink, she would lash out at her and body shame her. Looking back, Brooke says that her mother put her into this industry because she needed to ‘pay the bills.’ At the time, Brooke acknowledges that she did not see it as having to fulfill this responsibility because she loved working and being on a set. It was not until many years later that she really understood the sexploitation she experienced at such a young age.

In Cole and Dylan Sprouse’s situation, Cole mentions that their ‘financially irresponsible’ mom forced them into acting to make ends meet. They started acting at 8 months old until about 10 years old, when they took a break from acting. After a long court battle, their dad was given forced custody. At this point, they realized that their mother had blown all of their earnings they had made from acting, Cole attributing this to ‘some alchemy of addiction and mental instability.’ Eventually, they returned to acting, but at that point they were in a much better place. Cole stated that starring on Disney Channel provided them with ‘an amount of stability and consistency and routine that really was needed’ for him and his brother.

Similarly to the Sprouse twins, Ariel, Jennette, and Macaulay were also forced into acting. In their experiences, they were forced to live out their parents failed or longing dreams to become actors themselves. Ariel started acting at the age of 4 and told a media outlet that her mom was ‘physically and mentally abusive,’ and that she would restrict food, and sexualize her from a young age, putting her in miniskirts, very short dresses, and low-cut things. Her mother even isolated her from others, including family members. Essentially, she controlled all aspects of her life until Ariel finally emancipated from her mother at the age of 17. Jennette’s mother had wanted to be an actress but was told no by her own parents. This, in turn, led to her obsession with Jennette’s appearance from a young age. Jennette said that her mom ‘started bleaching her hair and whitening her teeth when she was 10.’ In her memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, she talks about her mom controlling everything, including what she ate and when she bathed. As she got older, their relationship became more strained. Her mom later passed away from breast cancer in 2013. Lastly, Macaulay revealed that he never wanted to go into acting but his father, who wanted be a child actor himself but never made it, forced him into it. His father would ‘deny him certain things’ such as a bed and would sometimes make Macaulay stay up all night rehearsing lines. Macaulay recalls wanting to go to school and even begging his dad to take a break from acting, but his dad would ignore his pleas. In 1994, Macaulay was finally able to stop acting when his mother gained custody of him. Since then, Macaulay and his father have been estranged. To top it all off, he also had to battle his parents in court to gain control of his trust, which was worth millions of dollars.

To tie it all back together, this common theme kept reoccurring among the actors’ parents: the need to be in control for whatever selfish reason or motive they had. How then, if at all, can we protect these child actors from not only the industry but also their controlling parents? How do we hold these parents accountable? There may not be immediate answers or solutions to this problem, but it is important for these individuals to be heard and to be able to share their experiences to create more awareness.