September 26, 2024 • 38 mins
Demi Lovato shares breaking news.
Demi joins Politickin’ to lay down the law. Together revealing a change that hasn’t happened in over 80 years.
Demi and the Governor may seem like an unlikely pair, but they have more in common than you might think.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Man, what's hand him?
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You got Marshaw Be Small Lynch, Doug Hendrickson and Gavin
Newsome and you're listening to politickets.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
You know to be, you known to be.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
It's great to be with my partner Doug Hendrickson, and
it's great to be here on a podcast with remarkable,
remarkable advocate, activist and actress, singer, songwriter, now director of
a remarkable new documentary on Hulu called Child Star. The
one and only Demi Levado. Welcome to Politicking.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It is great to have you. And Doug and I
were just talking earlier this morning. We both watched this documentary,
and I encourage anyone listening to get out on Hulu
and watch this documentary if you care about issues running
mental health, you care about issues associated with fame, with celebrity,
if you care about just the larger human condition in
(01:06):
a world where we're so inundated with social media and
we're constantly, constantly being reminded not only of our attributes,
but often of our faults and they're reflected back on us.
And you took us on a journey of your life
and your history and Child Star, and you brought in
a lot of remarkable figures that are well known public
(01:30):
figures in part of that journey in a remarkable documentary
about not only your life, but their life. Tell us
a little bit about the documentary and more over what
the inspiration was for it.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, the documentary is basically the good, the bad, and
the ugly of child stardom. You know, this journey of
starting this documentary, it was an idea of mine that
I had probably about ten years ago, and I didn't
get the ball rolling.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Until about two or three years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I just was fascinated with child stardom, the effects that
it has on not only the child star but their families.
You know what it's like, and obviously I had a
personal connection to it, being a child star myself. So
I wanted to explore this and that's kind of how
(02:20):
the film came about.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
And you were The film begins with your own sort
of expression of you know, the celebrity through the sort
of lens of looking at Shirley Temple and saying, you know,
one day that could be me and looking at her life.
I mean, you fell into acting at a remarkably early age, right.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yes, I was my first audition that I ever went
on was I think I was four or five years old,
and I ended up booking Barney and Friends when I
was about seven years old, and I continued to do
commercials and guest starring roles until I booked my first
(03:00):
gig on the Disney Channel at fourteen.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
At fourteen, Doug, you remember Barney back in the day,
did drive you crazy?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well, it's so I'm so fared up to have you
on politics, and I've I've probably seen camp Rock three
hundred times with my kids. They listened to Skyscraper all
the time to get him through problems and issues and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
The real story is he doesn't watch it with his kids,
But that's a whole other conversation tell the truth.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
But no, I love the doc and it's funny Demi.
As you know, I'm an NFL sports agent, and I
can relate so well to.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
It because you also see it in sports.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
You have so many parents and whatnot that are getting
his kids in early and earlier more than I've ever
seen before, and getting him in early, almost like the
entertainment business, because I think that there's that situation where
they want fame, they want fortune, and these kids are
thrown into it, and they're going to private lessons, and
they're going to camps, and they're going to all these
(03:54):
different things, and I can see it so much of
what you went through on the sports lens now now
more than ever in that world.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Wow, that's so interesting.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I've never thought of it from that perspective, but you know,
it does take up your entire life when you are
pursuing a career in any of these outlets, whether it
be through acting or singing or sports. Yeah, it's definitely.
That's a really interesting perspective. I never thought of it
(04:23):
like that.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
And it's interesting with sports we see it. I mean,
you see these parents on the sideline, and you wonder,
is it the parents that wish they were on the
field or is it the kids that wish on the field.
For you, was there that sort of dialectic? I mean,
did you feel pushed into acting? Did your parents or
role models push you or was it something that you
(04:46):
were dragging them to support.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Well, what's interesting is my mom used to be a
country singer and she opened up for I think it
was Reba McIntyre and George Strait and Hank Williams Junior,
and she you know, was always singing in the house,
and so I grew up around music, and you know,
when I saw Shirley Temple on TV, I thought, if
(05:12):
she can do it, I want to do it. And
so I really was the one that was pushing my
parents to help me pursue.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
This, and you know it was Yeah. Was I around
music a lot and.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Was influenced by my mom, of course, but I really
think that I was the one that was pushing.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Do you remember the moment that you felt like a star,
you felt like a celebrity, where you went WHOA something's different.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Yes, I was. I think I was about fourteen or fifteen.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I had just shot camp Rock, but it hadn't come
out yet, and the way that things were at the time,
like blogging and tabloid sites, people already knew that I
was Mitchie from Camp Rock, and so I had a
little buzz around me going.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
But like, I wasn't super familiar.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I hadn't witnessed anything in my career yet.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
The movie hadn't come out.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I wasn't aware of my I guess up and coming
stature or status. And there was a moment where I
went to visit a friend at an autograph signing. He
had been on Hannah Montana and was doing an autograph
signing and somebody screamed like like that, and I was like,
(06:29):
I looked around and was like, oh my gosh, what's
going on?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
You know, scared wow?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
And they said it's samue Levado and I was like what,
like me? And that was the moment that I realized
my life was going to change forever.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And I imagine that felt great.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
At the moment, right, Yeah, it did feel good.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
It felt really good because it felt like all the
hard work had finally paid off in that moment. And
I met my first fan essentially, you know, I.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Didn't have the movie.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
The movie wasn't out yet, and I was blown away
that she even.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Knew my name.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
But yeah, it was like meeting my first fan. It
was really a cool experience.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Well, Demie, it's fascinating because I think everybody in the
public viewpoints, you know, views your life and any celebrities
life is, you know, champagne and roses every day, but
they don't understand the loneliness and the stuff you guys
go through.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
It's in now so much of social media.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You know, when you're walking through somewhere nobody wants to hey, Demi,
how you doing, how's everything going to love your movie?
They want a picture, They want a selfie that that
can put on Instagram. With social media, nobody really wants
to know how you're doing or they ask you questions.
All they want to bust through the crowd to get
to know you or meet you and get a picture.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
And that's all I want. It's so it's so bad.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
You know what's interesting is when people say, I hate
to bother you, but sorry to bother you, but I'm
going to ask for an autograph anyways or a picture
now now it's pictures.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
But you know, it's it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
It's like this weird dynamic between celebrity and you know,
people who aren't celebrities, where they want something from you
and they think they know you, but they don't. And
I assume that you know exactly what this is like,
you know, being in the position that you're in.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
But I think with your journey, it's so it's so
powerful and poignant at the same time because you have
that sort of rush which you talked about of recognition,
but you also in the documentary, I remember at one
point you were talking about looking out on the audience.
And I guess you were singing at the time and
you saw an empty seat, yes, and you felt this vulnerability, Yes,
(08:36):
that that still happens, and that somehow I'm not good enough. Yes,
why is there an empty seat?
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I remember performing at a concert not too far back,
a couple of years ago. I think I was in
Dubai and I saw empty seats and the audience and
I was on stage, and it took me out of
the present moment of performing for my fans because I thought, oh,
I'm not good enough to have sold this place out,
(09:04):
and it was really discouraging. But you know, that's just
something that I've come to accept, that you're not always
going to sell out every arena that you play, and
that's okay. It doesn't mean that you are not you know,
of valuable human being worthy of love and acceptance.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
You know.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
That's But I when I was younger.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I confused the two. I confused my brand with who
I was. Therefore I equated, you know, validation outside validation
with self worth, which was really unhealthy. And I think
a lot of young people in the entertainment industry, and
especially now on social media, I think they deal with
that too.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
What's I thought so wonderful and chime in because this
was in our conversation it was how honest and raw
you've been about your own journey and your own anxieties,
your own securities that are universe shared, this sort of
imposter syndrome, never feeling good enough, having initial early success,
being challenged by that, and looking for validation externally as
(10:11):
opposed to internally. When did you decide to be so
expressive and honest. Was there a sort of point or
was it a bottoming out where you just felt I
have to sort of come out of my shell. It's
time for me to sort of let it all out.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I've pretty much always been vulnerable with my fan base.
I was bullied in middle school and I decided to
be an advocate for anti bullying when I was probably
about fifteen sixteen years old.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And by the way, just on that, just forgive me
for coming out. But it wasn't just that they were
doing a suicide petition.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Yeah, it was really bad.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
It was the next level bullying.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
It was really bad, and so I wanted to be
outspoken for people who had been bullied in school themselves.
And I think the point where I realized I needed
to be vulnerable with everyone was I had a It
was my first time in treatment. I went to treatment
when I was eighteen for mental health issues in an
(11:10):
eating disorder, and I remember my manager, you know, saying
to me, what do you want to How do you
want to navigate this. Do you want to keep it
private and not share, you know, your experience with people
and just kind of brush it under the rug. Or
do you want to use this as an as an
(11:31):
opportunity to be a you know, inspiration to others. And
I thought, well, if I can help people, then that's
what I want to do, and so I've always I've
decided to That was like a turning point in my
life where I end career, where I thought, being vulnerable.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
If it helps people, that's what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
But I imagine there had to be some pushback to
you may have had some or we're all the people
around you saying that's go for that, because there's always
that friction between you know you're going to be you're
taking a big risk here, Yeah, be sacrificing this sort
of persona, which is what we're selling to the public.
Even in you had some amazing interviews Jojo and others,
(12:08):
and you know, just in terms of own sexual identity
and issues like that and potentially how that could impact
one's career. But was that was that part of a
discussion or was it just when you heard that in
that conversation, like, let's do this.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I'm pretty stubborn when I you know, or headstrong when
I set my mind to something. That's that's what I do,
and and that's what I did as I decided to
be outspoken about what I had been through because I
knew that it could potentially help save lives.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
Yeah, well, Deemmie, I appreciate you brutal honesty.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I mean, it's funny. You know, Gavin and I are
a lot older than you. He a little bit more
older than me. But in any event, you know, by
the way, I remember back in high school, you know,
my dad died and back then, there was no counselors
even available to.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Hey, go talk to this counselor. It wasn't talked about.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
And you fast forward now our partner, Marshawn Lynch, you know,
he was you know, the tough guy in the NFL,
and he was the guy that you know, ran over
people and and and whatnot. But his last press conference
he said to all the young people in the NFL
and athletes, take care of your chicken and take care
of your mentals.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
And people are like what and it.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Was so it was so point it take carry of chicken,
take carr of money, and take care of mentals. And
that's the first time a pro athlete has really talked
about the mental health game. And this was really five
years ago. And so since five years every NFL team
now has their mental health coach. You sports has mental
health coaches. It's now really gone fast forward since Marshawan
(13:53):
said that, And and for him to say that was
big because that kind of changed the culture and sports
where he could come out and say that. And you
did the same thing in entertainment business, So kudos to
you because thank you. It's a real thing and people
just they don't understand it. But when he says it,
and you say, people listen.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Well, we're human. Bottom line is we're all human. And
even though we are put in positions that are you know,
where we're under a magnifying glass for millions of people,
at the end of the day, you know, we we're
human and we deal with mental health issues just like
everyone else. And so it's important that we talk about
(14:36):
this because so many people can.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Be helped by it.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
I mean, how does like, if you were if you
were to have kids and do this, how do you
navigate that, you know, the child stardom because you know
nowadays with athletes that come out in nineteen twenty and
you're trying to preach financial literacy and education and whatnot
to them, But you're now doing this with families who
have kids, and the whole the thing to starts sooner
or sooner. If you were to do do it all
(15:00):
over again, what advice would you give yourself and or
family now with a young child that wants to get
in entertainment business or music and kind of get rolling.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I think, first and foremost, if I could give myself
any advice, give my younger self any advice, one of
the main things I would tell my younger self.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Would be it's okay to take breaks.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Taking breaks was something that I didn't think was feasible
in my career because I didn't want to lose the
momentum and you know of my career, and so I
think taking breaks is really important and for me, I
don't know the answer to that question because I don't
have kids yet. I do want to have kids, and
I think that when I do have kids, I want
(15:44):
to one I want to say no social media until
you're sixteen, which I know people might say, well, good luck.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
With that, but I can try, I can dream. And
you know, if.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
They came to me and said I want a career
in the entertainment industry, I would say wait until you're eighteen,
just because I didn't have a full childhood and I
want that for my kids. And I think that until
you're eighteen, you can do all you can to work
on your craft, whether that's voice lessons or songwriting or
(16:22):
if you want to be an actor, act in school plays.
There's other avenues that you can take to pursue your dreams, and.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Then when you're eighteen you can go full force. But
that's what I want to do with my kids.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
And you know, and I think the movie expresses that beautifully,
just through the the lives of Drew Barrymore and her
own experiences. I mean, it's always a you know, people
read about it. It's one thing to hear Drew talk about
at eleven years old using substances. It's you know, to
hear the stories of all these other young child stars
(16:55):
at all. They lost their childhood in some respect. They
also had some in common which I thought was so interesting,
this notion of disassociation, Yes, quite literally, sort of being
disassociated from their environment and there's almost this blur in
terms of their own experiences and lived life.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
So something that you know, I came to learn after
talking to the participants in the film was, like you said,
this common threat of disassociation, which I personally believe is
while fame can be a privilege, I think that it
also can be very traumatic, especially to minors, and I
think that the disassociation was probably a direct trauma response
(17:36):
to the fame and the pressure that was put on
all of us as young child performers.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Were any of those conversations in the documentary surprising to you?
More revelatory? I mean, these are old relationships people that
we that you worked with. There was a lot of
honest exchange too, apologies, Yes, how way people felt treated.
The interactions also a lot of love. When you had
(18:03):
that wonderful conversation with your co star about running into
the bathroom, you talked about an eating disorder. Yeah, and
she saw you purging and you were expecting to be judged.
Instead you were embraced.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Yes, I was embraced.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Alison is just such an incredible person and they're an
advocate as well for kids in the industry. And yeah,
there were apologies that needed to be made because I
didn't treat people the way that I do now. You know,
I would like to think that I'm a different person
(18:36):
than I was when I was seventeen, because because I
was struggling so much inside with those mental health issues
that we talked about, you know, because I was struggling,
I didn't I wasn't the most respectful to everyone around me,
and so growing up, you know, I just I had
to learn. I learned that I was suffering, and that
(19:00):
you know, it was I learned that I was suffering,
and I had to make amends to those people that
I didn't treat the best.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
I love that, And I mean, you know, Drew Barrymore's
obviously I was been an icon and I don't know,
did you know her much before the doc? And then
is there other people you latched onto in regards to
just your story and your life that's been a mentor
to you or someone that you've been kind of going
through the struggle with.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
You know, there hasn't been. I haven't had like a
lot of mentors in my life. I've had people that
I've been close to and I've I've learned from, but
there I didn't really grow up with a mentor in
the industry, which I wish that I had. It would
have provided a lot of wisdom that I feel like
(19:47):
I could have used at fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years old.
Even even now, I would love to have a mentor.
I didn't have one. But I did know Drew prior
to her working on this film with me. She I
had done her show several times, so I did know
her and we were in communication about the film prior
(20:09):
to us sitting down and talking, and I was just
so grateful for her wisdom and experience and.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
What she had to share with us.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
You know, Doug and I have between us, He's got
three kids, I've got four. He's got two daughters. I
have two daughters. I couldn't agree with you more on
the till sixteen. I failed. I got till fourteen, Doug.
I mean, but I just I can't even imagine everything
you went through in the struggles, and you know you
were the I mean, you were right there in the
(20:40):
vanguard when it was sort of that you mentioned Hannah Montana,
there was this this Disney's blowing up. Yes, and Nickelodeon
gets into the picture and they're blowing up a little
bit differently. You talk to Keenan Thompson in this documentary
about that. But social media now and content creators and
YouTube of a case and you know the Jojo comment
(21:02):
where she's posting two hundred and forty posts a day
about our life. I mean, it does feel like we're
drinking from a fire. Was as parents, but I can't
even imagine as children, as young girls in particular, how
overwhelming this moment must feel as well.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
It must be so difficult. I mean, it was difficult
for me to grow up. Social media was just beginning
when I was, you know, twelve, thirteen years old.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
My Space was a thing.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
There was a you know, a couple other blogging sites
that were a thing.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
But remember, asked Jeeves, No one remembers, asked, I do remember, Yeah,
right now, it's kind of the chat gpt of its
air like a year old I am me remember that too, Doug.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
I did am I old, no, thank you clap back.
But yeah, there was, you know, the pressure to look
a certain way and to.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Yeah, it was mainly the pressure to look a certain
way that was put on a lot of us at
that young age. And now you know, people on social
media are dealing with that all over again. Prior to
I believe that, Like, one of the most triggering things
to me was when I grew up there where there
were all of these they called it the heroin cheek look,
(22:25):
you know, the very frail modey look. And you know,
when my body was changing, I got very confused and
was like, why don't I look like them? And I
developed an eating disorder. And I just have to wonder
how many of how many people are doing the same
with the beauty standards today that are enforced through social media.
(22:48):
And it's really troublesome.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
No question. And not only that, Demi.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
The sad thing is, and it's not just for sports entertainment,
it's business, it's real estate. Everybody's taught now you've got
to build your brand. You got to build you got
to build your brand, and no one even knows what
that means. But now it's building your brand in everyone's eyes,
is building content being social media, social media followers likes
TikTok videos, that's all the brand is nowadays.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
And so people consume now with trying to do that.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
And to your point, in your point, Gavin, with our
kids even is that they're all trying to do this,
and it's like, wait a minute. If you're the best
at what you do, I'll llah you or Marshaan in football,
your brand's going to be built. You can't force a brand,
you can't create a brand if you're not really worthy
of that brand. But so many people now in every
industry think I can create the brand on my own
(23:41):
visa the social media, and they're going to flame out quickly.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
It's a real bad recipe for disaster.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
And it's sad because you're right, Gavin, we have kids
same age and best friends that.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
They deal with this.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
But that's what everybody in life teaches you go on
social media, Hey, how to build your brand in real
estate in five way, how to build your brand is right,
And it's a bunch of bullshit. It's really bad, but
that's the world we live in now.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I would love to just see so many young people
just go outside and put their feet in the grass,
you know, get off social media and just try to
be present, like live in the present moment. I'd love
to see kids playing outside rather than on their phones.
They're on YouTube. It's kind of a you know, a
(24:28):
pipe dream.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
But no, I mean, you go to restaurants now and
you see a five year old on their iPad with
the rest of the family, not or or worse, you
see five family members and every single one of them, yes,
a dinner they've ordered. They don't even realize they're eating,
and they haven't talked to one another because they're all
on their iPhones or on their their devices. But it's
I mean, this is serious stuff. And it also connects,
(24:50):
Doug to what you asked me a moment ago, and
and the work and the advocacy you have done. And
I was honored to be able to sign a bill
that you've been have a cating for for some time.
And I want to bring us back before I talk
about the bill we just signed to a different time
in the nineteen twenties and very famous at the time,
(25:11):
perhaps the most famous child actor Jackie Coogan, back in
the Chaplain days and Cougan was a phenom made a
fortune in his day, but was left with what with
nothing because he wasn't protected. And they created a law
(25:31):
in California called Cougan's Law, which did what Basically, it.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Takes a percentage of your money and puts it in
a trust so that when you turn eighteen, you know
you have this amount of money that hasn't been touched
by anyone and it's all yours.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
When you were you you were a beneficiary. I assume
of that in California.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Well, they had it in I believe they have it
in Texas, right, And I had it in Texas and
for the Barney days and then yes, when I came
out to California to work on Disney, and I.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Thought, the only reason I'm bringing this up. It's interesting
when you talk to Keenan Thompson, he didn't have that
because he was in Florida, right, and they didn't have
the benefits of that law. And so he talks about
in your documentary going from rags to riches to rags. Yeah,
because he wasn't protected. Thus the law we just signed
that you've been advocating for in a recognition of this
(26:24):
journey for child stars and content creators. We just amended
in California, with your advocacy and your leadership, Coogan's Law
to include content creators, to associate it with all online
contributions kids are making, to make sure we put aside
money in a trust that will be there for them
(26:45):
when they turn eighteen.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yes, yes, you have to think about you know, there's
so there's so many there's so much money being made
on social media, and how many you have to think
about how many kids are unboxing toys or there on TikTok,
or they're in their family.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Ryan kid? Is that? Yeah, Doug, you've seen this guy Ryan. Yes,
he's one of.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
The I mean they give millions of dollars.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yeah, I mean, we're gonna end up working for this kid.
But I mean he's still a kid. But he's a
perfect example YouTube sensation. And uh and you know we
I mean, I assume his parents are taking care of him.
I don't know. I don't want to judge, but now
they have to. Now they have to on the basis
of the law.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
We just yes, which is incredible. And I'm so grateful
that you signed that into law.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
No, well, I'm grateful for you and in a big part. Again,
I'm sorry to keep bragging on this damn documentary. I'm serious.
Speaker 5 (27:39):
Oh no, good. You should be so.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Proud of it because you highlight this and you highlight
this inequity. But it's also about parents too, and I
thought that was really interesting. And Doug Doug and are
old friends with Chris Columbus, a good Bay Area kid
who's the best. I'm so glad he was in one
of the great directors of our time, and you know,
did Home Alone and obviously the first few Harry Potters.
(28:04):
But you talked to him and it was interesting in
the documentary he talked about casting not just.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Kids, but the family.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, casting parents, casting the broader family members.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
So I guess what had happened when Home Alone blew up?
Was nobody predicted the success that it would have. You know,
with Harry Potter, you kind of you had an inkling
because of how huge the books were, but with.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Home Alone, you didn't.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
They didn't know that the film was going to be
as big as it was. And Macaulay Colchin became a
huge star overnight, but he didn't cast the family. He
casted Macaulay Colchin, and so I guess there was. There
was a lot of turmoil, family turmoil, and so moving forward,
(28:50):
he talked about casting the family so that you know,
it would provide a good environment for the child when
they you know, blew up.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I mean, it's it's so and I just it goes
to that whole issue of parents and and and the
pressure that that kids must feel, and the pressure of
the parents and a lot of I'm sure you've seen
it with a lot of your co stars over the years,
some very active parents that were pretty I imagine, some
very aggressive, some unbelievably loving and supportive.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Yeah, you know, it's interesting because when I was growing up,
we were always taught that like, the easier you are
to work.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
With, the more jobs you get.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
And a part of that came with my mom being
easy to work with, and so she was very you know,
she wanted to be easy to work with so that
I would have more jobs.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
The whole parents and goes back to the point you
were making it just about sports and how parents are
living their lives through their kids and the pressure that
places on the kids. The same time, I.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
Mean, let me ask a question.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
When this bill came to mind for you, was it
just has this been in the years in the making,
or what inspires you to say, you know what, I
want to create this bill and I want to figure
out how to do it and then the steps you
had to take to actually get it on the governor's desk.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Well, I didn't create this bill.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
The way that I found out about this bill was
through an activist named Chris McCarty who I met while
making the film, and.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
They told me about this bill.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
They had actually been working on legislation that tried to
get past in Washington and Washington State, and you know,
so that's where I first came. That's why I first
heard of this bill. And and yeah, I basically I
went on Fallon and I said, Gavin, you gotta sign this.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Was a tagging me Doug on Fallon. She's saying this
Newsome guy, we're going to track him down. And I
think Fallin also said Newsom's watching or something like Jesus
his next level pressure.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
We had to get your intention, got it.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
I'm like I got, I got all these phone calls.
Speaker 5 (31:03):
You get attacked a lot, Gavin, So it's par for
the course.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Well, no, this was this is a no brainer. And
by the way, there's a component part of this DOUG
as well, which is interesting and is if parents that
are also monetizing their kids that are doing a lot
of the vlogging and they're doing some of the creation,
but if they use their kids and their content more
than thirty percent of the time, they have to take
sixty five percent of those earnings and putting them trust
(31:27):
now as well. So we're trying to protect not just
for the children, but also some of the exploitation that
may occur in some instances, not all the time, where
the parents are frankly taking advantage of those kids' earnings
and using the kid as content and not rewarding those
kids when they're eighteen.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
I mean, this is this is incredible.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Yeah, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
And again it goes back to education, financial literacy and
all that.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
So, Jimmy, what's next for you? What do you? I mean?
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Do you I mean do you see yourself going back
on a tour and selling out arenas?
Speaker 5 (31:58):
Do you more? Doction the works? You know? More TV shows?
What what is? What's inspired you the next?
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Acting, directing, singing? Like whatever? I mean, seriously, I met
a lot going on, you got a lot going on
your activists on mental health.
Speaker 5 (32:12):
There's three of us in the podcast. We could use
it a fourth. You might want to join a podcast.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Well, you gotta have a podcast. Everyone has a I used.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
To have a podcast. See, I used to, and then
I don't know what happened with but I moved on
to directing.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
That's what happens. You've yes, I've got how many albums.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
You've you've done, like eight albums or.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Something I've actually done.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I believe it's this next album will be my tenth.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
So I've worked on quite a few.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, and the and the genre keeps changing, the old pop,
and then it kind of is it go with your
sort of age of is your mindset? I mean, but
you keep changing your style a little bit.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
I keep changing my style.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I like to keep it fresh, you know.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
So the next one reggae or something? What do you got?
Speaker 4 (32:58):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
You'll have to wait and see what is it coming out?
Speaker 4 (33:02):
I don't know when I'm working.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I'm just in the studio right now, so it'll come
out when it when it's ready. But I do I
will have a movie coming out next year or at
some point.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
I don't know exactly when it comes out.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
But it's called Tow and I'm very excited about it.
It's an independent film and I play a.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Pregnant non binary person.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Yes, And the movie is about, uh, this woman who
gets her car stolen and then towed, but she was
living out of her car and it, you know, we
go on the journey of trying to fight for her
car back and along the way she meets me, who
(33:51):
happens to be pregnant at the time, and we meet
in the homeless shelter.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
H familiar themes, familiar themes.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I can't tell you, I mean how much I appreciate
you in your story. I mean, you've lived ten lives
at an early age, and you really have. And you're
an incredible mentor to these younger kids and younger generations.
And there needs to be more of you that are
going to help out, speak out, get around bills that
help these kids out and whatnot. But you have so
much to give and so much to offer, and it's
(34:20):
just really inspiring what you're doing because it's needed more
and hopefully what you're doing will lead to other people
doing more things as well, because you know, you are
the hope of this generation going forward. We need people
like you to keep tackling these issues and keep fighting
and battling and being honest and everything you've done, it's
been a really really inspiration of who you are as
a person, what you've gone through. Can't even imagine I
(34:42):
didn't grow up that way. There to Gavin, but it's
really cool to see where you're at today and what
you have in front of you.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Thank you. Well, I'm hoping that this now law.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Yeah, I'm hoping that this sets the precedent for other
states and hopefully becomes a federal.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Uh, it's law as well beyond me, I mean we
we we say about it in in your business, in life, generally,
success leaves clues. It's the power of emulation. Once you
can prove something, as opposed to assert something that it works,
that it sound, that it's viable, then invariably it will
be replicated and scaled elsewhere. And I think Coogan's Law
(35:22):
was a perfect example of that that came out of
California decades ago. And now it's just natural and long
overdue that we've expanded it. But look, and you know,
as we close, I just want to build a little
bit on what Doug said, the issue of mental health
is the issue of our time. If there's any unity
agenda that unites everybody in more ways and more days,
it's issue of how people are feeling, and it's it's
(35:44):
incredibly powerful for someone with your power, your presence, your reach,
and your connection to our kids. I mean, I told
my kids that we were coming on to see you,
and they're immediately lit up. You dad, got your we
got to go out of school, we got to come down,
we got to see her. But in fact you can
reach them. But with this kind of honesty and transparency,
(36:06):
it's not an exaggeration. Quite literally, as you suggested earlier,
it can and it does save lives. So kudos to
you and maybe more important than anything else, that's the
kind of way to live with that kind of status.
A celebrity is fleeting of purpose and meaning and mission.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Yes, yes, when people ask me, you know, what would
you tell to young child stars today is one take breaks,
but two I would also say that you know, fame,
fortune is fleeting, just like you said, and what's most
important is meaningful, the meaningful connections in your life and
because the family and friends are what's going to be
(36:44):
there when everything else fades and yourself.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Your mental health, and we are all on borrow time, Demy,
and we must live life every day to the fullest
because the borrow time may run out soon. So we
got to live it and have fun doing it right.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Partner is a stoics use to say, moment may you
got to remember. I mean, it's this thing. We all
exit the same way, so it's the same precious moment
of life. And so it is. It's not as Seneca said,
that we don't have that much time in life, is
that we tend to waste so much of it on
(37:18):
things that don't matter, are not essential. And so as
you say, it's about family, it's about relationships, and it's
finding something more important than yourself. And I think what
I love about and just closing them is I think
that's so so self evident in your journey and in
this documentary Child Star, where you really go through that
journey of self exploration, and it's a journey that's so
(37:40):
familiar because it's the human journey. And that's why again
this film is so much more important than it appears.
It's not just about acting, it's not just about celebrity.
It's about who we are and it's about uncovering who
we can be when we're fully expressive. So really grateful
to have you on this podcast, and thank you for
being on the journey you're on and being part of
(38:03):
our show.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
Thank you so much. Thank you both for having me.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, Demmie, our politic and pod listener podcast is loving
what this show is all about, and we appreciate you
joining us and keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 5 (38:14):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Thank you, Demie Levado. Everybody
Man, what's hand him?
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You got Marshaw Be Small Lynch, Doug Hendrickson and Gavin
Newsome and you're listening to politickets.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
You know to be, you known to be.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
It's great to be with my partner Doug Hendrickson, and
it's great to be here on a podcast with remarkable,
remarkable advocate, activist and actress, singer, songwriter, now director of
a remarkable new documentary on Hulu called Child Star. The
one and only Demi Levado. Welcome to Politicking.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It is great to have you. And Doug and I
were just talking earlier this morning. We both watched this documentary,
and I encourage anyone listening to get out on Hulu
and watch this documentary if you care about issues running
mental health, you care about issues associated with fame, with celebrity,
if you care about just the larger human condition in
(01:06):
a world where we're so inundated with social media and
we're constantly, constantly being reminded not only of our attributes,
but often of our faults and they're reflected back on us.
And you took us on a journey of your life
and your history and Child Star, and you brought in
a lot of remarkable figures that are well known public
(01:30):
figures in part of that journey in a remarkable documentary
about not only your life, but their life. Tell us
a little bit about the documentary and more over what
the inspiration was for it.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, the documentary is basically the good, the bad, and
the ugly of child stardom. You know, this journey of
starting this documentary, it was an idea of mine that
I had probably about ten years ago, and I didn't
get the ball rolling.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Until about two or three years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I just was fascinated with child stardom, the effects that
it has on not only the child star but their families.
You know what it's like, and obviously I had a
personal connection to it, being a child star myself. So
I wanted to explore this and that's kind of how
(02:20):
the film came about.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
And you were The film begins with your own sort
of expression of you know, the celebrity through the sort
of lens of looking at Shirley Temple and saying, you know,
one day that could be me and looking at her life.
I mean, you fell into acting at a remarkably early age, right.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yes, I was my first audition that I ever went
on was I think I was four or five years old,
and I ended up booking Barney and Friends when I
was about seven years old, and I continued to do
commercials and guest starring roles until I booked my first
(03:00):
gig on the Disney Channel at fourteen.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
At fourteen, Doug, you remember Barney back in the day,
did drive you crazy?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well, it's so I'm so fared up to have you
on politics, and I've I've probably seen camp Rock three
hundred times with my kids. They listened to Skyscraper all
the time to get him through problems and issues and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
The real story is he doesn't watch it with his kids,
But that's a whole other conversation tell the truth.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
But no, I love the doc and it's funny Demi.
As you know, I'm an NFL sports agent, and I
can relate so well to.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
It because you also see it in sports.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
You have so many parents and whatnot that are getting
his kids in early and earlier more than I've ever
seen before, and getting him in early, almost like the
entertainment business, because I think that there's that situation where
they want fame, they want fortune, and these kids are
thrown into it, and they're going to private lessons, and
they're going to camps, and they're going to all these
(03:54):
different things, and I can see it so much of
what you went through on the sports lens now now
more than ever in that world.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Wow, that's so interesting.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I've never thought of it from that perspective, but you know,
it does take up your entire life when you are
pursuing a career in any of these outlets, whether it
be through acting or singing or sports. Yeah, it's definitely.
That's a really interesting perspective. I never thought of it
(04:23):
like that.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
And it's interesting with sports we see it. I mean,
you see these parents on the sideline, and you wonder,
is it the parents that wish they were on the
field or is it the kids that wish on the field.
For you, was there that sort of dialectic? I mean,
did you feel pushed into acting? Did your parents or
role models push you or was it something that you
(04:46):
were dragging them to support.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Well, what's interesting is my mom used to be a
country singer and she opened up for I think it
was Reba McIntyre and George Strait and Hank Williams Junior,
and she you know, was always singing in the house,
and so I grew up around music, and you know,
when I saw Shirley Temple on TV, I thought, if
(05:12):
she can do it, I want to do it. And
so I really was the one that was pushing my
parents to help me pursue.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
This, and you know it was Yeah. Was I around
music a lot and.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Was influenced by my mom, of course, but I really
think that I was the one that was pushing.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Do you remember the moment that you felt like a star,
you felt like a celebrity, where you went WHOA something's different.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Yes, I was. I think I was about fourteen or fifteen.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I had just shot camp Rock, but it hadn't come
out yet, and the way that things were at the time,
like blogging and tabloid sites, people already knew that I
was Mitchie from Camp Rock, and so I had a
little buzz around me going.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
But like, I wasn't super familiar.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I hadn't witnessed anything in my career yet.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
The movie hadn't come out.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I wasn't aware of my I guess up and coming
stature or status. And there was a moment where I
went to visit a friend at an autograph signing. He
had been on Hannah Montana and was doing an autograph
signing and somebody screamed like like that, and I was like,
(06:29):
I looked around and was like, oh my gosh, what's
going on?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
You know, scared wow?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
And they said it's samue Levado and I was like what,
like me? And that was the moment that I realized
my life was going to change forever.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And I imagine that felt great.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
At the moment, right, Yeah, it did feel good.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
It felt really good because it felt like all the
hard work had finally paid off in that moment. And
I met my first fan essentially, you know, I.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Didn't have the movie.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
The movie wasn't out yet, and I was blown away
that she even.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Knew my name.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
But yeah, it was like meeting my first fan. It
was really a cool experience.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Well, Demie, it's fascinating because I think everybody in the
public viewpoints, you know, views your life and any celebrities
life is, you know, champagne and roses every day, but
they don't understand the loneliness and the stuff you guys
go through.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
It's in now so much of social media.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You know, when you're walking through somewhere nobody wants to hey, Demi,
how you doing, how's everything going to love your movie?
They want a picture, They want a selfie that that
can put on Instagram. With social media, nobody really wants
to know how you're doing or they ask you questions.
All they want to bust through the crowd to get
to know you or meet you and get a picture.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
And that's all I want. It's so it's so bad.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
You know what's interesting is when people say, I hate
to bother you, but sorry to bother you, but I'm
going to ask for an autograph anyways or a picture
now now it's pictures.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
But you know, it's it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
It's like this weird dynamic between celebrity and you know,
people who aren't celebrities, where they want something from you
and they think they know you, but they don't. And
I assume that you know exactly what this is like,
you know, being in the position that you're in.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
But I think with your journey, it's so it's so
powerful and poignant at the same time because you have
that sort of rush which you talked about of recognition,
but you also in the documentary, I remember at one
point you were talking about looking out on the audience.
And I guess you were singing at the time and
you saw an empty seat, yes, and you felt this vulnerability, Yes,
(08:36):
that that still happens, and that somehow I'm not good enough. Yes,
why is there an empty seat?
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I remember performing at a concert not too far back,
a couple of years ago. I think I was in
Dubai and I saw empty seats and the audience and
I was on stage, and it took me out of
the present moment of performing for my fans because I thought, oh,
I'm not good enough to have sold this place out,
(09:04):
and it was really discouraging. But you know, that's just
something that I've come to accept, that you're not always
going to sell out every arena that you play, and
that's okay. It doesn't mean that you are not you know,
of valuable human being worthy of love and acceptance.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
You know.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
That's But I when I was younger.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I confused the two. I confused my brand with who
I was. Therefore I equated, you know, validation outside validation
with self worth, which was really unhealthy. And I think
a lot of young people in the entertainment industry, and
especially now on social media, I think they deal with
that too.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
What's I thought so wonderful and chime in because this
was in our conversation it was how honest and raw
you've been about your own journey and your own anxieties,
your own securities that are universe shared, this sort of
imposter syndrome, never feeling good enough, having initial early success,
being challenged by that, and looking for validation externally as
(10:11):
opposed to internally. When did you decide to be so
expressive and honest. Was there a sort of point or
was it a bottoming out where you just felt I
have to sort of come out of my shell. It's
time for me to sort of let it all out.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I've pretty much always been vulnerable with my fan base.
I was bullied in middle school and I decided to
be an advocate for anti bullying when I was probably
about fifteen sixteen years old.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And by the way, just on that, just forgive me
for coming out. But it wasn't just that they were
doing a suicide petition.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Yeah, it was really bad.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
It was the next level bullying.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
It was really bad, and so I wanted to be
outspoken for people who had been bullied in school themselves.
And I think the point where I realized I needed
to be vulnerable with everyone was I had a It
was my first time in treatment. I went to treatment
when I was eighteen for mental health issues in an
(11:10):
eating disorder, and I remember my manager, you know, saying
to me, what do you want to How do you
want to navigate this. Do you want to keep it
private and not share, you know, your experience with people
and just kind of brush it under the rug. Or
do you want to use this as an as an
(11:31):
opportunity to be a you know, inspiration to others. And
I thought, well, if I can help people, then that's
what I want to do, and so I've always I've
decided to That was like a turning point in my
life where I end career, where I thought, being vulnerable.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
If it helps people, that's what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
But I imagine there had to be some pushback to
you may have had some or we're all the people
around you saying that's go for that, because there's always
that friction between you know you're going to be you're
taking a big risk here, Yeah, be sacrificing this sort
of persona, which is what we're selling to the public.
Even in you had some amazing interviews Jojo and others,
(12:08):
and you know, just in terms of own sexual identity
and issues like that and potentially how that could impact
one's career. But was that was that part of a
discussion or was it just when you heard that in
that conversation, like, let's do this.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I'm pretty stubborn when I you know, or headstrong when
I set my mind to something. That's that's what I do,
and and that's what I did as I decided to
be outspoken about what I had been through because I
knew that it could potentially help save lives.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
Yeah, well, Deemmie, I appreciate you brutal honesty.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I mean, it's funny. You know, Gavin and I are
a lot older than you. He a little bit more
older than me. But in any event, you know, by
the way, I remember back in high school, you know,
my dad died and back then, there was no counselors
even available to.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Hey, go talk to this counselor. It wasn't talked about.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
And you fast forward now our partner, Marshawn Lynch, you know,
he was you know, the tough guy in the NFL,
and he was the guy that you know, ran over
people and and and whatnot. But his last press conference
he said to all the young people in the NFL
and athletes, take care of your chicken and take care
of your mentals.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
And people are like what and it.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Was so it was so point it take carry of chicken,
take carr of money, and take care of mentals. And
that's the first time a pro athlete has really talked
about the mental health game. And this was really five
years ago. And so since five years every NFL team
now has their mental health coach. You sports has mental
health coaches. It's now really gone fast forward since Marshawan
(13:53):
said that, And and for him to say that was
big because that kind of changed the culture and sports
where he could come out and say that. And you
did the same thing in entertainment business, So kudos to
you because thank you. It's a real thing and people
just they don't understand it. But when he says it,
and you say, people listen.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Well, we're human. Bottom line is we're all human. And
even though we are put in positions that are you know,
where we're under a magnifying glass for millions of people,
at the end of the day, you know, we we're
human and we deal with mental health issues just like
everyone else. And so it's important that we talk about
(14:36):
this because so many people can.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Be helped by it.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
I mean, how does like, if you were if you
were to have kids and do this, how do you
navigate that, you know, the child stardom because you know
nowadays with athletes that come out in nineteen twenty and
you're trying to preach financial literacy and education and whatnot
to them, But you're now doing this with families who
have kids, and the whole the thing to starts sooner
or sooner. If you were to do do it all
(15:00):
over again, what advice would you give yourself and or
family now with a young child that wants to get
in entertainment business or music and kind of get rolling.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I think, first and foremost, if I could give myself
any advice, give my younger self any advice, one of
the main things I would tell my younger self.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Would be it's okay to take breaks.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Taking breaks was something that I didn't think was feasible
in my career because I didn't want to lose the
momentum and you know of my career, and so I
think taking breaks is really important and for me, I
don't know the answer to that question because I don't
have kids yet. I do want to have kids, and
I think that when I do have kids, I want
(15:44):
to one I want to say no social media until
you're sixteen, which I know people might say, well, good luck.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
With that, but I can try, I can dream. And
you know, if.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
They came to me and said I want a career
in the entertainment industry, I would say wait until you're eighteen,
just because I didn't have a full childhood and I
want that for my kids. And I think that until
you're eighteen, you can do all you can to work
on your craft, whether that's voice lessons or songwriting or
(16:22):
if you want to be an actor, act in school plays.
There's other avenues that you can take to pursue your dreams, and.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Then when you're eighteen you can go full force. But
that's what I want to do with my kids.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
And you know, and I think the movie expresses that beautifully,
just through the the lives of Drew Barrymore and her
own experiences. I mean, it's always a you know, people
read about it. It's one thing to hear Drew talk about
at eleven years old using substances. It's you know, to
hear the stories of all these other young child stars
(16:55):
at all. They lost their childhood in some respect. They
also had some in common which I thought was so interesting,
this notion of disassociation, Yes, quite literally, sort of being
disassociated from their environment and there's almost this blur in
terms of their own experiences and lived life.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
So something that you know, I came to learn after
talking to the participants in the film was, like you said,
this common threat of disassociation, which I personally believe is
while fame can be a privilege, I think that it
also can be very traumatic, especially to minors, and I
think that the disassociation was probably a direct trauma response
(17:36):
to the fame and the pressure that was put on
all of us as young child performers.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Were any of those conversations in the documentary surprising to you?
More revelatory? I mean, these are old relationships people that
we that you worked with. There was a lot of
honest exchange too, apologies, Yes, how way people felt treated.
The interactions also a lot of love. When you had
(18:03):
that wonderful conversation with your co star about running into
the bathroom, you talked about an eating disorder. Yeah, and
she saw you purging and you were expecting to be judged.
Instead you were embraced.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Yes, I was embraced.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Alison is just such an incredible person and they're an
advocate as well for kids in the industry. And yeah,
there were apologies that needed to be made because I
didn't treat people the way that I do now. You know,
I would like to think that I'm a different person
(18:36):
than I was when I was seventeen, because because I
was struggling so much inside with those mental health issues
that we talked about, you know, because I was struggling,
I didn't I wasn't the most respectful to everyone around me,
and so growing up, you know, I just I had
to learn. I learned that I was suffering, and that
(19:00):
you know, it was I learned that I was suffering,
and I had to make amends to those people that
I didn't treat the best.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
I love that, And I mean, you know, Drew Barrymore's
obviously I was been an icon and I don't know,
did you know her much before the doc? And then
is there other people you latched onto in regards to
just your story and your life that's been a mentor
to you or someone that you've been kind of going
through the struggle with.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
You know, there hasn't been. I haven't had like a
lot of mentors in my life. I've had people that
I've been close to and I've I've learned from, but
there I didn't really grow up with a mentor in
the industry, which I wish that I had. It would
have provided a lot of wisdom that I feel like
(19:47):
I could have used at fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years old.
Even even now, I would love to have a mentor.
I didn't have one. But I did know Drew prior
to her working on this film with me. She I
had done her show several times, so I did know
her and we were in communication about the film prior
(20:09):
to us sitting down and talking, and I was just
so grateful for her wisdom and experience and.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
What she had to share with us.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
You know, Doug and I have between us, He's got
three kids, I've got four. He's got two daughters. I
have two daughters. I couldn't agree with you more on
the till sixteen. I failed. I got till fourteen, Doug.
I mean, but I just I can't even imagine everything
you went through in the struggles, and you know you
were the I mean, you were right there in the
(20:40):
vanguard when it was sort of that you mentioned Hannah Montana,
there was this this Disney's blowing up. Yes, and Nickelodeon
gets into the picture and they're blowing up a little
bit differently. You talk to Keenan Thompson in this documentary
about that. But social media now and content creators and
YouTube of a case and you know the Jojo comment
(21:02):
where she's posting two hundred and forty posts a day
about our life. I mean, it does feel like we're
drinking from a fire. Was as parents, but I can't
even imagine as children, as young girls in particular, how
overwhelming this moment must feel as well.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
It must be so difficult. I mean, it was difficult
for me to grow up. Social media was just beginning
when I was, you know, twelve, thirteen years old.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
My Space was a thing.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
There was a you know, a couple other blogging sites
that were a thing.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
But remember, asked Jeeves, No one remembers, asked, I do remember, Yeah,
right now, it's kind of the chat gpt of its
air like a year old I am me remember that too, Doug.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
I did am I old, no, thank you clap back.
But yeah, there was, you know, the pressure to look
a certain way and to.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Yeah, it was mainly the pressure to look a certain
way that was put on a lot of us at
that young age. And now you know, people on social
media are dealing with that all over again. Prior to
I believe that, Like, one of the most triggering things
to me was when I grew up there where there
were all of these they called it the heroin cheek look,
(22:25):
you know, the very frail modey look. And you know,
when my body was changing, I got very confused and
was like, why don't I look like them? And I
developed an eating disorder. And I just have to wonder
how many of how many people are doing the same
with the beauty standards today that are enforced through social media.
(22:48):
And it's really troublesome.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
No question. And not only that, Demi.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
The sad thing is, and it's not just for sports entertainment,
it's business, it's real estate. Everybody's taught now you've got
to build your brand. You got to build you got
to build your brand, and no one even knows what
that means. But now it's building your brand in everyone's eyes,
is building content being social media, social media followers likes
TikTok videos, that's all the brand is nowadays.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
And so people consume now with trying to do that.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
And to your point, in your point, Gavin, with our
kids even is that they're all trying to do this,
and it's like, wait a minute. If you're the best
at what you do, I'll llah you or Marshaan in football,
your brand's going to be built. You can't force a brand,
you can't create a brand if you're not really worthy
of that brand. But so many people now in every
industry think I can create the brand on my own
(23:41):
visa the social media, and they're going to flame out quickly.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
It's a real bad recipe for disaster.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
And it's sad because you're right, Gavin, we have kids
same age and best friends that.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
They deal with this.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
But that's what everybody in life teaches you go on
social media, Hey, how to build your brand in real
estate in five way, how to build your brand is right,
And it's a bunch of bullshit. It's really bad, but
that's the world we live in now.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I would love to just see so many young people
just go outside and put their feet in the grass,
you know, get off social media and just try to
be present, like live in the present moment. I'd love
to see kids playing outside rather than on their phones.
They're on YouTube. It's kind of a you know, a
(24:28):
pipe dream.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
But no, I mean, you go to restaurants now and
you see a five year old on their iPad with
the rest of the family, not or or worse, you
see five family members and every single one of them, yes,
a dinner they've ordered. They don't even realize they're eating,
and they haven't talked to one another because they're all
on their iPhones or on their their devices. But it's
I mean, this is serious stuff. And it also connects,
(24:50):
Doug to what you asked me a moment ago, and
and the work and the advocacy you have done. And
I was honored to be able to sign a bill
that you've been have a cating for for some time.
And I want to bring us back before I talk
about the bill we just signed to a different time
in the nineteen twenties and very famous at the time,
(25:11):
perhaps the most famous child actor Jackie Coogan, back in
the Chaplain days and Cougan was a phenom made a
fortune in his day, but was left with what with
nothing because he wasn't protected. And they created a law
(25:31):
in California called Cougan's Law, which did what Basically, it.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Takes a percentage of your money and puts it in
a trust so that when you turn eighteen, you know
you have this amount of money that hasn't been touched
by anyone and it's all yours.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
When you were you you were a beneficiary. I assume
of that in California.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Well, they had it in I believe they have it
in Texas, right, And I had it in Texas and
for the Barney days and then yes, when I came
out to California to work on Disney, and I.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Thought, the only reason I'm bringing this up. It's interesting
when you talk to Keenan Thompson, he didn't have that
because he was in Florida, right, and they didn't have
the benefits of that law. And so he talks about
in your documentary going from rags to riches to rags. Yeah,
because he wasn't protected. Thus the law we just signed
that you've been advocating for in a recognition of this
(26:24):
journey for child stars and content creators. We just amended
in California, with your advocacy and your leadership, Coogan's Law
to include content creators, to associate it with all online
contributions kids are making, to make sure we put aside
money in a trust that will be there for them
(26:45):
when they turn eighteen.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yes, yes, you have to think about you know, there's
so there's so many there's so much money being made
on social media, and how many you have to think
about how many kids are unboxing toys or there on TikTok,
or they're in their family.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Ryan kid? Is that? Yeah, Doug, you've seen this guy Ryan. Yes,
he's one of.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
The I mean they give millions of dollars.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yeah, I mean, we're gonna end up working for this kid.
But I mean he's still a kid. But he's a
perfect example YouTube sensation. And uh and you know we
I mean, I assume his parents are taking care of him.
I don't know. I don't want to judge, but now
they have to. Now they have to on the basis
of the law.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
We just yes, which is incredible. And I'm so grateful
that you signed that into law.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
No, well, I'm grateful for you and in a big part. Again,
I'm sorry to keep bragging on this damn documentary. I'm serious.
Speaker 5 (27:39):
Oh no, good. You should be so.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Proud of it because you highlight this and you highlight
this inequity. But it's also about parents too, and I
thought that was really interesting. And Doug Doug and are
old friends with Chris Columbus, a good Bay Area kid
who's the best. I'm so glad he was in one
of the great directors of our time, and you know,
did Home Alone and obviously the first few Harry Potters.
(28:04):
But you talked to him and it was interesting in
the documentary he talked about casting not just.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Kids, but the family.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, casting parents, casting the broader family members.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
So I guess what had happened when Home Alone blew up?
Was nobody predicted the success that it would have. You know,
with Harry Potter, you kind of you had an inkling
because of how huge the books were, but with.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Home Alone, you didn't.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
They didn't know that the film was going to be
as big as it was. And Macaulay Colchin became a
huge star overnight, but he didn't cast the family. He
casted Macaulay Colchin, and so I guess there was. There
was a lot of turmoil, family turmoil, and so moving forward,
(28:50):
he talked about casting the family so that you know,
it would provide a good environment for the child when
they you know, blew up.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I mean, it's it's so and I just it goes
to that whole issue of parents and and and the
pressure that that kids must feel, and the pressure of
the parents and a lot of I'm sure you've seen
it with a lot of your co stars over the years,
some very active parents that were pretty I imagine, some
very aggressive, some unbelievably loving and supportive.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Yeah, you know, it's interesting because when I was growing up,
we were always taught that like, the easier you are
to work.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
With, the more jobs you get.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
And a part of that came with my mom being
easy to work with, and so she was very you know,
she wanted to be easy to work with so that
I would have more jobs.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
The whole parents and goes back to the point you
were making it just about sports and how parents are
living their lives through their kids and the pressure that
places on the kids. The same time, I.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
Mean, let me ask a question.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
When this bill came to mind for you, was it
just has this been in the years in the making,
or what inspires you to say, you know what, I
want to create this bill and I want to figure
out how to do it and then the steps you
had to take to actually get it on the governor's desk.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Well, I didn't create this bill.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
The way that I found out about this bill was
through an activist named Chris McCarty who I met while
making the film, and.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
They told me about this bill.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
They had actually been working on legislation that tried to
get past in Washington and Washington State, and you know,
so that's where I first came. That's why I first
heard of this bill. And and yeah, I basically I
went on Fallon and I said, Gavin, you gotta sign this.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Was a tagging me Doug on Fallon. She's saying this
Newsome guy, we're going to track him down. And I
think Fallin also said Newsom's watching or something like Jesus
his next level pressure.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
We had to get your intention, got it.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
I'm like I got, I got all these phone calls.
Speaker 5 (31:03):
You get attacked a lot, Gavin, So it's par for
the course.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Well, no, this was this is a no brainer. And
by the way, there's a component part of this DOUG
as well, which is interesting and is if parents that
are also monetizing their kids that are doing a lot
of the vlogging and they're doing some of the creation,
but if they use their kids and their content more
than thirty percent of the time, they have to take
sixty five percent of those earnings and putting them trust
(31:27):
now as well. So we're trying to protect not just
for the children, but also some of the exploitation that
may occur in some instances, not all the time, where
the parents are frankly taking advantage of those kids' earnings
and using the kid as content and not rewarding those
kids when they're eighteen.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
I mean, this is this is incredible.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Yeah, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
And again it goes back to education, financial literacy and
all that.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
So, Jimmy, what's next for you? What do you? I mean?
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Do you I mean do you see yourself going back
on a tour and selling out arenas?
Speaker 5 (31:58):
Do you more? Doction the works? You know? More TV shows?
What what is? What's inspired you the next?
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Acting, directing, singing? Like whatever? I mean, seriously, I met
a lot going on, you got a lot going on
your activists on mental health.
Speaker 5 (32:12):
There's three of us in the podcast. We could use
it a fourth. You might want to join a podcast.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Well, you gotta have a podcast. Everyone has a I used.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
To have a podcast. See, I used to, and then
I don't know what happened with but I moved on
to directing.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
That's what happens. You've yes, I've got how many albums.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
You've you've done, like eight albums or.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Something I've actually done.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I believe it's this next album will be my tenth.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
So I've worked on quite a few.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, and the and the genre keeps changing, the old pop,
and then it kind of is it go with your
sort of age of is your mindset? I mean, but
you keep changing your style a little bit.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
I keep changing my style.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I like to keep it fresh, you know.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
So the next one reggae or something? What do you got?
Speaker 4 (32:58):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
You'll have to wait and see what is it coming out?
Speaker 4 (33:02):
I don't know when I'm working.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I'm just in the studio right now, so it'll come
out when it when it's ready. But I do I
will have a movie coming out next year or at
some point.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
I don't know exactly when it comes out.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
But it's called Tow and I'm very excited about it.
It's an independent film and I play a.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Pregnant non binary person.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Yes, And the movie is about, uh, this woman who
gets her car stolen and then towed, but she was
living out of her car and it, you know, we
go on the journey of trying to fight for her
car back and along the way she meets me, who
(33:51):
happens to be pregnant at the time, and we meet
in the homeless shelter.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
H familiar themes, familiar themes.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I can't tell you, I mean how much I appreciate
you in your story. I mean, you've lived ten lives
at an early age, and you really have. And you're
an incredible mentor to these younger kids and younger generations.
And there needs to be more of you that are
going to help out, speak out, get around bills that
help these kids out and whatnot. But you have so
much to give and so much to offer, and it's
(34:20):
just really inspiring what you're doing because it's needed more
and hopefully what you're doing will lead to other people
doing more things as well, because you know, you are
the hope of this generation going forward. We need people
like you to keep tackling these issues and keep fighting
and battling and being honest and everything you've done, it's
been a really really inspiration of who you are as
a person, what you've gone through. Can't even imagine I
(34:42):
didn't grow up that way. There to Gavin, but it's
really cool to see where you're at today and what
you have in front of you.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Thank you. Well, I'm hoping that this now law.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Yeah, I'm hoping that this sets the precedent for other
states and hopefully becomes a federal.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Uh, it's law as well beyond me, I mean we
we we say about it in in your business, in life, generally,
success leaves clues. It's the power of emulation. Once you
can prove something, as opposed to assert something that it works,
that it sound, that it's viable, then invariably it will
be replicated and scaled elsewhere. And I think Coogan's Law
(35:22):
was a perfect example of that that came out of
California decades ago. And now it's just natural and long
overdue that we've expanded it. But look, and you know,
as we close, I just want to build a little
bit on what Doug said, the issue of mental health
is the issue of our time. If there's any unity
agenda that unites everybody in more ways and more days,
it's issue of how people are feeling, and it's it's
(35:44):
incredibly powerful for someone with your power, your presence, your reach,
and your connection to our kids. I mean, I told
my kids that we were coming on to see you,
and they're immediately lit up. You dad, got your we
got to go out of school, we got to come down,
we got to see her. But in fact you can
reach them. But with this kind of honesty and transparency,
(36:06):
it's not an exaggeration. Quite literally, as you suggested earlier,
it can and it does save lives. So kudos to
you and maybe more important than anything else, that's the
kind of way to live with that kind of status.
A celebrity is fleeting of purpose and meaning and mission.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Yes, yes, when people ask me, you know, what would
you tell to young child stars today is one take breaks,
but two I would also say that you know, fame,
fortune is fleeting, just like you said, and what's most
important is meaningful, the meaningful connections in your life and
because the family and friends are what's going to be
(36:44):
there when everything else fades and yourself.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Your mental health, and we are all on borrow time, Demy,
and we must live life every day to the fullest
because the borrow time may run out soon. So we
got to live it and have fun doing it right.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Partner is a stoics use to say, moment may you
got to remember. I mean, it's this thing. We all
exit the same way, so it's the same precious moment
of life. And so it is. It's not as Seneca said,
that we don't have that much time in life, is
that we tend to waste so much of it on
(37:18):
things that don't matter, are not essential. And so as
you say, it's about family, it's about relationships, and it's
finding something more important than yourself. And I think what
I love about and just closing them is I think
that's so so self evident in your journey and in
this documentary Child Star, where you really go through that
journey of self exploration, and it's a journey that's so
(37:40):
familiar because it's the human journey. And that's why again
this film is so much more important than it appears.
It's not just about acting, it's not just about celebrity.
It's about who we are and it's about uncovering who
we can be when we're fully expressive. So really grateful
to have you on this podcast, and thank you for
being on the journey you're on and being part of
(38:03):
our show.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
Thank you so much. Thank you both for having me.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, Demmie, our politic and pod listener podcast is loving
what this show is all about, and we appreciate you
joining us and keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 5 (38:14):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Thank you, Demie Levado. Everybody
Hosts And Creators
Gavin Newsom
Marshawn Lynch
Doug Hendrickson
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