A former Disney Channel actress advocated for more protection of child stars in the entertainment industry.
“Even Stevens” actress Christy Carlson Romano, 39, spoke with Fox News Digital and expressed her disapproval of the treatment former child stars have received after hearing actress Elle Fanning recently recall losing a part in a movie after being deemed “unf—”able at age 16.
“I’m so angry. I felt very triggered. I felt very helpless and hopeless in some ways because I was like, ‘This just keeps happening.’ These are people I consider my community,” Romano said of Fanning’s account.
Romano acknowledged young actors don’t have the support they need.
She shared:
“We may not know each other, and at times a lot of us are isolated from our own experience, because how are we ever going to come together and know, ‘Oh did you actually start at 4 years old?’ Oh yeah. ‘Did you have a stage parent?’ Oh yeah. It’s like, there’s no, there’s no meeting rooms for recovered child actors.”
Although Romano has spoken up on this issue, she admitted change seems stagnant.
“I think until there’s any kind of changing of the fundamental infrastructure, things can’t change. Because we’re working on outdated information on how kids are being treated on sets,” she added.
Romano also said she is aware “it’s not going to happen overnight.”
“And it may not be something that’s handleable amongst the union. It may be something that needs to be a little bit more in the federal space,” she added.
She also said she doesn’t know what the solution is, “but there’s definitely options.”
Additionally, Romano said she believes there needs to be protections put in place for child stars who are “union-paying members.”
“They’re not getting schooled enough directly from the union. They may have little workshops here and there, but they do not have enforcers,” she observed.
She said she believes “the biggest problem” is that child stars “don’t have people that are enforcing protections.”
“We have this industry that benefits off of convenience. We want it loud, fast, funny and cheap, and we need it right now, and that’s how productions work,” she added.
Furthermore, Romano said television networks such as Nickelodeon or Paramount aren’t the problem and instead pointed fingers at the “entire industry.”
“Which is why it comes back down to either SAG or even child labor on a federal level. That’s what I have experienced,” she shared.
Romano concluded, “I think that that’s valuable. So, if I’m talking about it, I’m not trying to whistle blow, it’s more or less me just advocating for change.”
