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From hunger to sexualization: How former child stars remember their childhoods

From Jenna Ortega and Brooke Shields to Drew Barrymore and Natalie Portman, actresses reflect on the most difficult experiences they endured during their early years in front of the camera

Aug 25, 2026 - 17:58CEST

Actress Jenna Ortega, who shot to global stardom for her role as Wednesday in the Netflix series of the same name, has made headlines in recent days after revealing how she neglected her most basic needs when she was starting out in the industry. “I would go all day without eating, drinking, whatever, because I wanted so badly to not be in the way of anybody. Maybe that was my mistake, was not actually looking after myself,” she said of her early years as a performer, when she was only 10 years old. Ortega has previously said that she can tell who was a child actor just by looking at them, because of the mask of premature maturity they seem to carry with them throughout the rest of their adult lives.Frazer Harrison (WireImage)

Actress Hayden Panettiere, known for series such as 'Heroes' and 'Nashville,' who died on August 16 at the age of 36, made her television debut in a U.S. soap opera when she was just four years old and barely stopped working thereafter. By the age of five, she had already appeared in more than 50 commercials and, in her memoir 'This Is Me,' recalled feeling like “a little soldier” under the weight of her mother's ambition. “I was eight months old when I started baby modeling,” she said. Media pressure also contributed to body dysmorphia, and she has described how a publicist once gave her "happy pills" to keep her upbeat during interviews, a practice that later fed an addiction to alcohol and opioids.John Sciulli (WireImage/ Getty)

Long before she turned 15 and starred in the Calvin Klein ad that shocked America with its sexual undertones, Brooke Shields had already experienced firsthand what it meant to be sexualized at a young age. At 10, she appeared nude in a series of artistic photographs that were later published in 'Playboy.' She went on to play a child prostitute in 'Pretty Baby' and rose to fame after appearing unclothed in much of 'The Blue Lagoon.' Shields has acknowledged that, even now at 61, she struggles to fully make sense of what happened to her: “I was made to feel culpable, but at the same time you victim-shame yourself,” she told Drew Barrymore on her talk show.Michael Ochs Archives (Getty Images)

The quintessential oddball child star of 1990s cinema thanks to films such as 'The Addams Family,' 'Casper' and 'Sleepy Hollow,' Christina Ricci came of age under a level of scrutiny of her appearance that would embarrass the industry today. She was subjected to relentless scrutiny of her appearance, from critics who sexualized her body to filmmaker Vincent Gallo's public comments about her weight. In film after film, costume and styling choices were aimed at downplaying her developing figure and making her appear less womanly. The experience left Ricci rejecting her own image and eventually struggling first with bulimia and then anorexia. “ I hated the whole ‘sexy’ thing, and people talking about my boobs. It was just gross to me. Totally gross,” she told 'The New Yorker.'Barry King (WireImage/ Getty)

Actress Mara Wilson, the star of beloved 1990s films such as 'Matilda' and 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' has spoken openly about the darker side of the entertainment industry for children. In her view, there is no such thing as a child prodigy who emerges unscathed, and she experienced firsthand the gap between public expectations and reality as fans discovered she was not as “pretty, smart or nice” as the character of 'Matilda.' “I made the mistake of Googling myself when I was 12 and saw things that I couldn’t unsee,” she has said, recalling the sexualization she faced from an early age.Ron Galella (Getty)

Drug abuse, suicide attempts, family turmoil and professional marginalization: Drew Barrymore became perhaps Hollywood's most famous cautionary tale after her angelic performance in 'E.T.'made her a household name. "I was 10 years old, and I was just told by everybody, ‘You don’t look how you did in E.T. You’re too heavy. You’re not blonde enough. You’re not old enough. You’re too young. You’re not tall.’ And everybody just started getting involved in the way I looked," recalled Barrymore, who has since become a symbol of resilience and reinvention.Ron Galella (Ron Galella Collection via Getty)

In 2020, the HBO documentary 'Showbiz Kids' examined the darker side of child stardom through the experiences of former child actors. One of its most striking testimonies came from Evan Rachel Wood ('Practical Magic,' 'Thirteen'), who described her career as a lonely and deeply alienating experience, to the point where she felt no one ever stopped to ask how she was doing. “The better I did, the more I felt like who I was wasn’t acceptable,” Wood said. “I don’t think that anybody did that on purpose, but suddenly I felt like I didn’t belong to myself anymore. I was a commodity that needed to be monitored and groomed, I had to look a certain way and present myself a certain way. My voice just kept getting quieter and quieter.”J. Vespa (WireImage)

The talent scout who discovered Miley Cyrus also spotted a 14-year-old Zendaya and helped make her one of the new faces of Disney Channel. Yet the actress, now arguably one of the most sought-after stars in the world, has expressed mixed feelings about children being exposed to fame and media attention at such a young age. In the U.S. edition of 'Vogue,' she said she is only now experiencing the kind of teenage rebellion she never had the chance to embrace while working in the entertainment industry. "I felt like I was thrust into a very adult position: I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very early, and there was a lot of role-reversal happening, and just kind of becoming grown, really," she explained.Patrick McMullan (Patrick McMullan via Getty Image)

Demi Lovato has become one of the most recognizable examples of the so-called “Disney curse,” a term used to describe the turbulent transition to adulthood experienced by several former Disney Channel stars. The 'Camp Rock' singer and actress battled alcohol and drug addiction for years, a struggle that culminated in a near-fatal overdose in 2018. In her documentary 'Child Star,' Lovato reflects on the unhappiness she experienced at the height of her fame: “There was one time where I was in my tour bus, and I looked out the window and there were fans chasing the bus, and they were screaming, and they were so excited that my bus was showing up to the venue," the actor said. "And I was just crying, like, I could not stop crying. Like 'Why am I living my dream and doing what I love and have these opportunities in front of me but I'm so fucking unhappy?'"Fotonoticias (WireImage)

“Being sexualized as a child, I think, took away from my own sexuality, because it made me afraid. And it made me feel like the way that I could be safe was to be like, 'I'm conservative,' and 'I'm serious and you should respect me,' and 'I'm smart,' and 'Don't look at me that way,'” Oscar winner Natalie Portman said on a podcast. Portman, who delivered a defining performance at age 12 in 'Léon,' later stepped away from Hollywood for several years to study psychology at Harvard University, encouraged by parents who insisted she have “a real job.” As her remarkable career has since shown, her real calling was on film sets.Barry King (WireImage)

Miley Cyrus is perhaps the clearest illustration of how difficult it can be to balance life as both an ordinary child and a pop star, on screen and off. The former 'Hannah Montana' star once explained: "America feels like my aunt - 'You've grown up so much, and we don't want to see you grow up!" "I was harshly judged as a child by adults," she told British 'Vogue,' "and now, as an adult, I realize that I would never harshly judge a child." “Ariana Grande says there should be therapy for child actors, and I totallt agree. There should be a weekly check-in,” she added in 'The New York Times.' Kevin Mazur (WireImage)

“The first season I was very thin, no breasts, no hips. The next year, I had huge boobs and a butt. It was automatically 'You're a fat slut.' 'You're a whore.’” That's how Ariel Winter, best known for playing Alex Dunphy on 'Modern Family,' recalls the way public scrutiny of her appearance eroded both her self-esteem and her career. In Winter's case, she also had to contend with a mother who, she says, sexualized her from an early age. “The smallest miniskirts, sailor suits, low-cut things, the shortest dresses you've ever seen,” the actress later recalled. According to Winter, the abuse extended beyond her appearance and included physical and emotional mistreatment. Others around her noticed warning signs. Her on-set tutor during 'Modern Family' has said that she would order extra lunches under her own name so Winter would have enough to eat. “I could tell she was hungry. Boiled chicken and cucumbers isn’t going to do it for a growing kid. Her mother kept her out late at night at these ridiculous parties. She was 12 and 13 years old and had to be on set at 6:30, 7 a.m.,” she recalledKevork Djansezian/NBC (NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Studying at what she once described as “the world's largest high school,” Disney Channel, left Selena Gomez with a host of insecurities. The actress and singer has said she felt exploited throughout her childhood and teenage years, and that even thinking about that period can still trigger a physical response. "I remember just feeling really violated when I was younger, even just being on the beach. I was maybe 15 or 16 and people were taking pictures — photographers. I felt very violated and I didn't like it or understand it, and that felt very weird, because I was a young girl and they were grown men. ” Gomez said in a 2017 interview with 'The Business of Fashion,' recalling the paparazzi attention that followed her during her years on Disney Channel's 'Wizards of Waverly Place.' NBC NewsWire (NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Ge)

Beyoncé is another global superstar who knows what it means to work for success from a very young age. By the age of seven, she was already competing in singing and dancing contests; at nine, she was taking lessons from an opera singer; and by 10, she had recorded around 60 songs. Yet she was also aware that the color of her skin would make success harder to achieve. “I was often the only Black girl, and it was then that I started to realize I had to dance and sing twice as hard. I had to have stage presence, wit, and charm if I wanted to win.”Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspap (Houston Chronicle via Getty Imag)

Jennette McCurdy, best known for the Nickelodeon series 'iCarly,' grew up under the near-total control of a mother determined to turn her into the star she herself had never become. Her mother not only chose her roles, dictated her appearance and even coached her behavior at auditions, reportedly fueling her with Red Bull to give her more energy, but also exerted control over her body for years. McCurdy has described how her mother bathed her, washed her and carried out invasive “examinations” of her breasts and genitals under the pretext of checking for lumps. In her bestselling memoir 'I'm Glad My Mom Died,' she recounts the trauma with a painfully dark sense of humor.Jon Kopaloff (FilmMagic)

Ariana Grande rose to teenage stardom through Nickelodeon, starring in series such as 'Victorious' and 'Sam & Cat.' Following the release of the documentary 'Quiet on Set,' which brought to light numerous allegations of abuse and inappropriate behavior surrounding the channel's children's productions, the 'Wicked' star said the industry should provide far greater protection for minors. “I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists. I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be. Not only on kids sets — if anyone wants to do this or music or anything, at the level of exposure that it means to be on TV or to do music with a major label or whatever, there should be in the contract something about, ‘Therapy is mandatory twice a week.’ Or thrice a week. Or something like that.”Jon Kopaloff (FilmMagic)

Before becoming the star she is today thanks to films such as 'Nope,' Keke Palmer was one of the most popular child performers on U.S. television. Yet her experience in the industry was so difficult that she has said she came to resent her parents for pushing her to take every role she could get, as she was her family's main source of income. The pressure became so intense that, when she was just 12 years old, her own manager told her that “her mother would die if she didn't lose weight.”Annamaria DiSanto (WireImage)

Milla Jovovich may never have won much praise from critics for her acting, but she has often recalled the impact that the hostile reviews of her first leading role had on her. She was just 15 when she starred in 'Return to the Blue Lagoon,' and the criticism left her questioning both her abilities and her future in acting. At an age when teenagers are still forming their sense of self, she has said, the experience shaped how she viewed her place in the world and led her to doubt whether performing was what she was meant to do.Al Pereira (Getty Images)