Everyone wants to be a star, right? At least that may be the dream of some kids. I was watching television today when I heard about a report where a Disney Executive is telling the interviewer that the network is not responsible for raising these actors, it is the parent's responsibility.
Here is the link to the article:
Gary Marsh in The Hollywood Reporter
While I do agree on many levels with this, I just couldn't help but see the irony in this statement, given the history of The Walt Disney Company and how Walt himself handled child actors who were contractually under his wing.
This, of course, hails from the era of the Hollywood Studio System, where the motion picture studios looked at the actors as property of the studio, and governed both their personal and professional lives. While the actors (male and female) considered this to be too much, to the studios it protected the pictures they were making.
A little something about child stars now:
For the child stars who have had trouble assimilating to adulthood, there is help through an organization designed to help child stars called A Minor Consideration (AMC).
Their website: A Minor Consideration
Not everyone saw this as a hinderance, though, there are some stars, namely a few of the child stars under Walt Disney himself, who remember with fondness the attention he took to make sure they were okay, even as they got older.