Alyson Stoner, now 32, has spoken out about the dark side of child stardom in their new memoir, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything. Stoner, who uses they/them pronouns, began acting professionally as a young child and experienced extreme pressure, dangerous diets, and harassment. They describe the path of child stardom as a 'toddler to train-wreck pipeline'.
At age nine, a wardrobe assistant told Stoner their leg hair was 'dirty and unladylike' and that they could not wear shorts on set until it was removed. This led to a detached view of their body as something to control and manipulate. As a teenager, Stoner developed an eating disorder requiring inpatient treatment and an excessive exercise regime.
Stoner also faced stalking and threats, including an attempted kidnapping after their team almost sent them to meet someone they thought was a terminally ill fan. They later embraced evangelical Christianity and underwent conversion practices to try to 'exorcise the demon of homosexuality', before eventually coming out as queer and becoming a mental-health advocate.
Despite decades of work, Stoner says they do not have financial security due to mismanagement by adults around them; instead of the approximately $1 million they thought they had, they ended up with little. They question whether commercialising their love for performing was ever their decision, and urge non-commercialised exploration of creativity for young people.
