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Former Nickelodeon star Avan Jogia reflects on the dark side of being a teen actor

Former Nickelodeon star Avan Jogia reflects on the dark side of being a teen actor

CBC18-02-2025

As a former Nickelodeon star, Avan Jogia had to grow up fast. The Canadian actor got his breakthrough role playing Beck Oliver on the teen sitcom Victorious, which thrust him into the spotlight and turned him into a heartthrob.
Now, he's released a new book of poetry, Autopsy (of an Ex-Teen Heartthrob), which takes aim at the artifice of Hollywood and the crushing pressures that young actors face.
"I've been writing poetry since I was 15 years old," Jogia tells Q 's Tom Power in an interview over Zoom. "A lot of that poetry was about my frustrations about being on a show that I don't think really represented me creatively."
During his time on Victorious, Jogia says he felt like he was simply performing "adolescence and purity," while not actually experiencing much of an adolescence himself. Not only that, but he felt more like a product or a brand than a real person.
"Part of being a teen idol is being sort of shapeless as a person and not really having that strong an identity," he says. "There's really a desire for the 'hot guy' to just be a non-person…. You represent a comfort and a perfect thing."
Jogia's poem I am on set getting yelled at is about his experience being chastised while filming a Season 2 episode of Victorious. Last year, a five-part documentary series, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, revealed how Nickelodeon failed to protect its child actors from abuse and misconduct.
"I think that there's sort of a mock sympathy, especially around documentaries like Quiet on Set," Jogia says. "It's ambulance chasing and tragedy porn masquerading as sympathy. I'm very distrustful of public interest about this subject because I think it's clickbait-y and it's for media outlets and studios to make money. I don't think the sympathy that they're getting from the audience is real."
The reason Jogia turned to poetry as a creative outlet to unpack his feelings and observations about the sinister side of fame is because it's very personal, immediate and independent.
"Directing a film takes a lot of time and a lot of money and a lot of people," he explains. "Acting requires a gig. It's cathartic, but you're also saying other people's words…. Painting is messy, a lot of paint. But writing is one of the most immediate impulses that I have."

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Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Or was there nuance to what Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said and didn't say about shopping or not shopping at Home Depot? You be the judge. Councillor Brad Bradford, who ran against Chow in the mayoral byelection in 2023, says there is no ambiguity about it at all. 'Trying to boycott thousands of Canadian jobs is troubling enough — but then lying about it?' the councillor wrote on X. 'That's not how we build trust in this city.' Trying to boycott thousands of Canadian jobs is troubling enough — but then lying about it? That's not how we build trust in this city. Toronto deserves better. — Brad Bradford✌️ (@BradMBradford) June 11, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Now for some background: It goes back to June 2 when Chow was at the Pride Parade flag raising in Nathan Phillips Square. She said 'don't shop at Home Depot' in retaliation for them decide to not sponsor this year's event. As reported originally by the Toronto Sun's Brian Lilley, Chow said 'don't shop at Home Depot' and 'shop Canadian, shop Rona, yeah, yes, yes. We are not the 51st state. Are you kidding? We are proud Torontonians, right?' As Lilley pointed out, it was a terrible thing to say for many reasons including that Home Depot employs thousands of Canadians, pays copious amounts of corporate and local taxes, and displays many Canadian products. It was unbecoming of any politician to say something like that just because a company decided to go in a different direction on its sponsorships. Home Depot has always been supportive of the Pride Parade and still does so in other jurisdictions. Rona is also a great company, but is not Canadian owned. 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