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Mind Reading: Alyson Stoner's Current Act Is All About Protecting Child Entertainers
Alyson Stoner began appearing on screen at age 9, starring in film and television projects including 'Cheaper By The Dozen,' 'Camp Rock,' 'The Suite Life of Zack & Cody' and Missy Elliott's 'Work It' music video.
Now 32, Stoner (who uses they/them pronouns) is a vocal advocate for safeguarding child entertainers. They do so through Movement Genius, the company they founded in 2020 that offers science-backed resources to support mind and body, through championing conversations in the industry circles and, most recently, through the release of their new memoir, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything.
'Literally everything' is a harrowing catch-all. Stoner survived sexual assault, battled an eating disorder, experienced stalkers and kidnapping plots, and 'had no idea what bodily autonomy and consent were until my early 20s.' Add in exposure to traumatic film and television storylines, daunting work schedules, being in rooms with adults who didn't display appropriate behavior around minors, financial pressure and instability, and the picture becomes even more vivid.
'I had a 15-person team of adults who relied on me to make them money and so even if my family said, 'This is just for fun,' I knew I'd be dropped like a fly if I didn't keep booking work,' Stoner says.
'For a child, it's important to have stability and routine and consistency. The industry is the absolute antithesis of that. It's last minute, life-altering opportunities. You're removed from school to go to an audition, you don't have childhood hobbies, highs are ultra high and lows are ultra low. There's cut-throat competition, constant rejection. It's not a recipe for a balanced developmental curve.'
What the equation of these circumstances led to, Stoner says, 'was my nervous system's best attempt at coping, which became the development of deep trust issues, preferring to isolate, and experiencing high levels of dissociation. Plus, generalized anxiety disorder, eating disorder. None of these were random problems. They were survival responses for a young kid to try to stay safe and connected in a grownup world.'
After years of extensive therapy and work, today Stoner is in a position of imagining new possibility. While many former child stars have exited Hollywood and not looked back, Stoner in some ways is digging in deeper.
They're still immersed in entertainment—returning this summer to again voice a character in the new season of Disney series 'Phineas and Ferb,' for one. But with healing and newfound agency over their lived experiences, they're using ingrained knowledge of how to navigate the industry to push for safeguards that didn't exist when they were coming up.
'The industry didn't have any kind of front-line prevention or onboarding manual of what to expect. In fact, the resources provided to young artists and families center on the profitability of the child, the commodification of the child. You attend workshops that increase your chances of succeeding. You don't attend workshops about the child's wellbeing, at least when I started,' Stoner says.
'Fame has been proven to correspond to the same impact as being addicted to drugs, fame has been linked to shorter lifespan by up to 12-14 years, fame increases the likelihood of dying by suicide by three to four times. It's enough to ask ourselves, if we know that, why are we intentionally hooking a young child to an addictive drug?'
'With my experience, I feel, comes a responsibility to be a translator to people in different places of the industry. And I realize there is a lot at stake and how I deliver this message is not only going to reflect on my own reputation but anyone else who wants to come in and make a difference in this arena. But it's also the game I signed up for because I think there's something I can do to make a difference,' they add.
Among resources provided by Movement Genius, which Stoner founded in 2020, is the Artist Wellbeing Essentials toolkit that provides foundational education on the mind-body connection for children, parents and caregivers. Tools are specifically tailored to the experiences of a performer such as getting in and out of character, managing stage fright, and coping with rejection and job uncertainty.
Stoner is quick to not place blame on any individual but rather on a system they believe is now primed for reimagining. 'I think people are ready to update protocols and improve the standards,' they say.
'The gap we're trying to bridge is making sure productions, agents, the adults in the surrounding ecosystem know we're here to collaborate with and align with them and better support their young talent vs. trying to come in and disrupt or stop what they are doing. The term mental health still carries stigma and it can be fear-inducing if companies feel this is going to be some sort of liability issue, when in reality we're here to support you in creating a safer, more productive and more successful set experience.'
'It takes a lot of empathizing and understanding everyone's distinct location in the ecosystem and what information they are privy to and what information they may need to supplement and provide so it rounds out the decision making.'
While more child entertainers are speaking out about their experiences in recent years - from Jennette McCurdy's memoir 'I'm Glad My Mom Died' to Demi Lovato-backed series 'Child Star' to Investigation Discovery doc 'Quiet on the Set' and Paramount+ series 'The Carters: Hurts To Love You' - Stoner says it's still just the tip of the iceberg.
'I'm more than ready to share intimate details of my personal experience so we can graduate the public conversation beyond just a sensational retelling and start to raise new questions and contemplate ways we can make a difference in what's happening,' they say.
'And also zoom out so we can see what's happening in the microcosm of child performers and media actually reflects larger cultural norms and societal myths it's time to debunk.'
Mind Reading (formerly Hollywood & Mind) is a recurring column that features interviews with musicians, actors, athletes, creators and other culture influencers who are elevating conversation and action around mental health, and breaking stigma.
