The Dark Legacy of Child Stardom: A Pattern of Destruction Christy Carlson Romano's essay about the perils of child stardom cuts to the heart of an uncomfortable truth that Hollywood prefers to ignore.
As a former Disney Channel star, Romano knows firsthand the crushing pressure and exploitation that comes with being thrust into the spotlight at a young age.
Romano describes child actors as caught between three roles: "children when the public wants to feel protective of us, professionals when the industry wants to profit from us, and spoiled celebrities when we eventually show symptoms of having been both.