In the documentary “Child Star,” former child stars like Drew Barrymore shock audiences with drug confessions from their childhood days.
Former child stars Demi Lovato (32) and Drew Barrymore (49) shock viewers in a new documentary with revelations about their drug past. Lovato herself directed the Hulu documentary “Child Star”, which was released on the US streaming service on September 17th. The former Disney star also interviews other celebrities like Barrymore, who also became world famous at a young age. Talk show host Barrymore reveals in the documentary: “When I was 10, I got high with my mother’s friend.”
Traumatic childhood experiences
At the time, says Barrymore, she thought it was “so cool”. The now 49-year-old comes from a family of actors. When filming began on Steven Spielberg’s (77) “ET – The Extra-Terrestrial”, she was only six years old. The film made her a global star. “I started working when I was eleven months old, it was an advert, and since then I’ve never stopped working, except when my mother put me in the shoes,” the former child star reveals in “Child Star”.
In the documentary, interviewer Lovato wonders aloud whether the child stars or outsiders are to be held responsible for the widespread alcohol and drug addiction among minors at the time.
“It’s hard to say you don’t blame other people when other people may have given you substances as a child,” argued the actress and musician, who co-directed the programme with Nicola Marsh.
Demi Lovato was a Disney star
Many other former child stars also spoke openly to Lovato about the events of that time. Christina Ricci (44), for example, who appeared in front of the camera for the hit film “Mermaids Kiss Better” at the age of just nine, stressed that she “immediately turned to drugs and alcohol” in her “teenage years”. “I can’t remember feeling like there was any other way to be happy,” said Ricci in “Child Star”.
Director Lovato herself celebrated early successes with the role of Mitchie Torres in the Disney film “Camp Rock” (2008) and the portrayal of Sonny Munroe in the Disney Channel television series of the same name. She also started a singing career. In the 2017 documentary “Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated” and the documentary series “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil” she already spoke about trauma from her past and problems with mental health and addiction.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
