In Focus With Demi Lovato: Creating Hulu Doc 'Child Star', The Toll of Stardom, New Music & More | THR Video - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

Demi Lovato sits down with The Hollywood Reporter during her THR cover shoot to discuss making her directorial debut with the Hulu documentary 'Child Star,' where she talks about the challenges of childhood fame. Plus, she hosts intimate conversations with other former child stars including Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, JoJo Siwa and Kenan Thompson. Plus, she talks about what it next for her in life moving forward.

Transcript

00:00I look at my future and I think what does my future hold for me and in order

00:06to figure out what I want for my future I wanted to go back to the beginning and

00:11unpack the reasons why I got into the industry do they still resonate with me

00:16I think it's really complex I think that as grateful as I am for everything that

00:23I have experienced there is sadness and there is grief over the lack of a

00:29childhood a normal childhood that you would expect you know a 15 16 year old

00:35to have I learned a lot and it also was the beginning of my dreams coming true

00:40so I'm very grateful at the same time

00:45it was accumulation of many different moments leading to this film I think it

01:02was my experience as a child star myself and the fascination with the child stars

01:08that had come before me and after me the experience co-directing was really really

01:13fun really exciting and I learned a lot working with Nicola Marsh my co-director

01:18was incredible she's just so talented you know the reason why I wanted to come on

01:24as a co-director was because I also had a really strong vision for this film and

01:30what I wanted to bring to the table and it was great being able to interview

01:34people and really getting my hands dirty my vision was basically doing a deep dive

01:40on child startup and the history surrounding child stars how it affects the

01:47psyche how it affects family dynamics how it can possibly change someone's life so

01:55there was just a lot to unpack there with music you kind of just go into the

01:59studio and you play music that's inspiring you you chase a vibe and most of

02:07the time you have an idea of what you want to write about this film was you don't

02:13really know what the other person is going to say when you're interviewing them

02:19each interview had something really special about it you know Drew Barrymore was

02:25very nurturing and very very insightful then you go to someone like Jojo Siwa who

02:31is a child star of this generation you know Gen Z and how did that vary from the

02:38experiences that Drew, Allison, Raven, Keenan, Christina and I all had it was very

02:46fascinating I learned things from each interview Allison Stoner was extremely

02:51insightful and is so educated on this topic we were able to reminisce on the

02:57past and how we have evolved as human beings to this day it definitely didn't

03:03feel like we were kids again I think it was easier for me to follow my dreams at a

03:09young age because I had my peers I think that if I had been a child actor who rose to

03:16fame from a leading role in a franchise that didn't have other child actors in

03:24it that would have been more difficult for me I had other people that were my

03:28age that I could turn to and we could share our experiences with one another and

03:33I think it was beneficial for me to have that support system I asked a lot of

03:38people to be in the documentary and not everyone wanted to talk about their

03:42experiences I think that this is a very vulnerable conversation to be had and

03:48that's okay and not everyone is going to want to talk about that and there's

03:51nothing wrong with that

03:56I wish that mental health had been more of a priority when it came to the

04:02awareness of how child stardom can affect someone of a young age and their

04:08most formative years I think it's difficult when you talk about placing

04:12the blame on the industry and on you know maybe parents or agents or whatever

04:19whoever you're looking at to to place the blame on for maybe not giving the

04:24child the childhood that they had envisioned for themselves but at the same

04:31time this is you know when I got into the industry at a young age I guess there was a

04:37conscious decision of are you okay sacrificing a normal childhood for your

04:44hopes and dreams in that lay I don't see a ton of blame on anyone for providing the

04:51experiences that I was given but you know with that being said there are dark

04:58sides of the industry with this project it I didn't want this to be an expose I

05:02wanted it to be more of an informative experience for the viewer also

05:07understanding legislation that's trying to be passed right now for future

05:11generations of children that are working online already so and protecting protecting

05:18and compensating them I wish that someone had made a film about child

05:23stardom that I could have watched before I entered the industry to really kind of

05:28assess out if that was something that I wanted to do or not I don't have any

05:37regrets sometimes I can dwell on the past but every experience that I've had

05:45including the good the bad and the ugly they've all turned me into the person that

05:50I am today and ultimately I'm just grateful for the experiences that I've

05:54had in my life so this doesn't act as a manual for parents that are getting

06:03their children into the entertainment industry but it can be insightful for

06:06them and there's also a lot of work to be done in the space of protecting and

06:12compensating child actors what is next for me I am in the studio making new music

06:22and I am writing a ton and recording and having fun with that this stage of my

06:32life I'm complete what makes me feel complete is I'm happy in my career making

06:37music making this documentary but I'm also fostering really meaningful

06:44connections in my life whether that's with my family my fiance my friends I'm

06:52putting my well-being first and that in turn looks like completion I feel like I'm in a

07:03really great place in my life and I couldn't be happier

In Focus With Demi Lovato: Creating Hulu Doc 'Child Star', The Toll of Stardom, New Music & More | THR Video

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