Even the most tragic child star stories can have a happy ending. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at child stars who managed to turn their lives around after difficult upbringings.
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00:00Because I think anybody who starts so young in this business,
00:03a lot of it really can screw you up.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:07And today we're looking at child stars who managed to turn their lives around
00:11after difficult upbringings.
00:13These are things that so many people go through
00:16and this is something that everybody can deal with and can overcome.
00:22Lindsay Lohan.
00:231998 was a big year for Lindsay Lohan
00:27as she made her mainstream breakthrough by playing twins Hal and Anne Parker
00:31in The Parent Trap.
00:32She quickly transitioned into a teenage icon
00:36before facing numerous legal issues related to drug and alcohol use.
00:40She was arrested numerous times and lost multiple roles,
00:44all while the media relentlessly analyzed her supposed downfall.
00:48The point would be the judge would be wanting to send a message.
00:51That's why there would be a jail sentence.
00:54Luckily, she managed to escape the cycle and is now on the upswing.
00:59Lohan has been returning to the screen with a number of romantic Netflix movies.
01:03She is set to reunite with Jamie Lee Curtis for Freakier Friday
01:07and she got married to financier Bader Shammas in 2022.
01:12The two even welcomed their first child in 2023.
01:16And I came home from work and my son was getting ready for dinner time
01:21and I opened the door and he was watching The Parent Trap was on.
01:25Daniel Radcliffe
01:27I'm Harry, Harry Potter.
01:31So, so it's true.
01:33Frankly, it's amazing that Daniel Radcliffe managed to escape Harry Potter
01:37with a firm head on his shoulders.
01:39But the immense fame and pressure that was thrust upon him
01:42did do a little bit of damage.
01:44Radcliffe has admitted throughout the years
01:46that he turned to alcohol to help battle the constant attention.
01:50Unfortunately, this drinking soon got out of hand
01:53and he soon found himself reliant on alcohol.
01:56How did you sort of pull yourself out of that spiral?
01:59Because that was probably the fulcrum in your life
02:01where it could have gone either way, right?
02:02Yes, I think so.
02:04He even told Heat that he, quote,
02:06went into work still drunk and could pinpoint numerous scenes
02:10throughout the series where he was, quote,
02:12dead behind the eyes.
02:14Luckily, Radcliffe made the decision to stop drinking
02:17and has remained sober since 2010.
02:20And ultimately, it was my own decision.
02:21Like, I woke up one morning after a night going like,
02:24this is probably not good.
02:26Mary-Kate Olsen
02:28You're on the left.
02:28I'm on the left.
02:30Mary-Kate's on the right.
02:30How do you know that?
02:31Because Mary-Kate still makes that face.
02:34The Olsen twins were all of one year old
02:36when Full House debuted in the fall of 1987.
02:40Now, that's starting them young.
02:42They turned their Full House fame into a wildly successful career
02:46and dominated much of the late 90s and early 2000s.
02:49However, Mary-Kate would ultimately battle
02:52some mental health issues in her teenage years,
02:55manifesting in the form of body dysmorphia and anorexia.
02:59Mary-Kate Olsen is the teen idol billionaire
03:01who has bravely battled an eating disorder.
03:04But is she recovering?
03:05Well, tonight, Mary-Kate before entering
03:07the eating disorder clinic and Mary-Kate today.
03:09While it's never been confirmed,
03:11it's likely that her mental health issues were exacerbated,
03:14if not caused by, the constant public scrutiny
03:18and enormous expectations that were placed upon her and her sister.
03:22Olsen entered treatment in 2004
03:25and now lives a relatively quiet and private life away from the spotlight.
03:29And you're just like such an amazing story.
03:32You're like just so successful
03:34and what an amazing career that y'all have had.
03:38Jackie Coogan.
03:39They're all together who keep the Addams family.
03:43Considered one of the earliest child stars,
03:46Jackie Coogan found immense success
03:48playing the eponymous character in Charlie Chaplin's The Kid.
03:51He rode this role to unbelievable fame,
03:54and by the mid-1930s, he had accrued about $4 million,
03:58or to sound more amazing, about $90 million today.
04:03But all this money was squandered by his mother and stepfather,
04:06who spent nearly every cent on various luxuries.
04:10His tragic story resulted in the Coogan Act,
04:13a California law meant to protect the earnings of child performers
04:17and protect them from exploitation.
04:19Luckily, Coogan recovered financially
04:22and went on to have a successful adult career
04:25playing Uncle Fester in The Addams Family.
04:30That was close.
04:31Go ahead, Fester, get another shot.
04:33This time, get him right in the old heart.
04:37Jeanette McCurdy.
04:38Let me go!
04:38Say you're sorry.
04:39I'm sorry!
04:40And what are you sorry for?
04:41For saying you're aggressive.
04:42Watching her as Sam Puckett,
04:44you'd never know that Jeanette McCurdy was struggling behind the scenes.
04:47The young actress suffered from numerous health issues,
04:51including a reliance on alcohol, body dysmorphia, and bulimia.
04:55She attributes these issues partly to the pressures of fame
04:58and partly to her late mother, Debra.
05:00But inside, I was hurting.
05:02It was painful.
05:03I was angry.
05:04I felt unsupported.
05:06McCurdy has described her mother as being controlling
05:09and both emotionally and sexually abusive.
05:12She reportedly pressured and guilted McCurdy into acting
05:15in order to support the family
05:17and often monitored her weight via caloric restrictions,
05:21which led to the aforementioned body issues.
05:24Luckily, McCurdy now considers herself fully recovered from eating disorders
05:28and worked through her trauma in the form of a memoir titled,
05:32I'm Glad My Mom Died.
05:33I think I earned that title through the writing of the book,
05:35but I wanted it to be something that would grab people's attention
05:38and get them to pick up the book
05:41and then hopefully learn by the end of it.
05:43Will Wheaton.
05:44I have these very clear memories of saying over and over,
05:48I don't want to do this.
05:49I just want to be a kid.
05:51Let me be a kid.
05:53This actor came to prominence in 1986 at the age of 14,
05:57playing Gordie LaChance in Stand By Me,
06:00but that wasn't exactly his choice.
06:02Wheaton told Yahoo! Movies that he never wanted to be an actor
06:06and that he was forced into the profession by his parents.
06:09He claims that as a child,
06:11he suffered quote,
06:12incredible emotional abuse from his father
06:15and quote,
06:16manipulation from his mother,
06:18who often enabled his father's behavior.
06:20I have to do what mom wants,
06:22and maybe if I do what mom wants for some reason,
06:25dad will love me.
06:26Growing up, he developed a number of serious medical issues,
06:29including PTSD, depression, and anxiety,
06:33while also succumbing to a reliance on alcohol.
06:36Today, Wheaton has a very successful career,
06:39is estranged from his parents,
06:41has a family,
06:42and has been sober since 2016.
06:44I don't want to be your thing.
06:47And that was how I felt for so much of my entire childhood.
06:54Jodi Sweetin.
06:56And when did you first become addicted to meth?
06:59It was probably a couple years ago.
07:01I had experimented with it and soon began doing it all the time.
07:06Between the ages of 5 and 13,
07:08Jodi Sweetin portrayed the sarcastic middle child,
07:11Stephanie Tanner on Full House,
07:14earning love with catchphrases like,
07:16well, pin a rose on your nose.
07:18I am now officially a teenager.
07:22Well, pin a rose on your nose.
07:25And it was almost immediately after the show ended
07:27that Sweetin turned to alcohol.
07:30She started drinking at 14,
07:32and alcohol soon turned into illegal substances.
07:36Some of her concerned Full House castmates staged an intervention,
07:40but it would be years before Sweetin got the help that she needed.
07:43She finally checked herself into a rehab facility
07:46and became sober in 2008 at the age of 26.
07:49Minus a brief relapse,
07:51she has been clean ever since,
07:53and she has obtained a degree to work as a drug and alcohol counselor.
07:57I worked in treatment for a while before coming back to Full House.
08:00I worked in treatment for like five or six years.
08:02Mara Wilson.
08:04She's now revealing, though, the ups and downs of childhood stardom
08:07in her new book, Where Am I Now?
08:08By the age of 10,
08:09little Mara Wilson had already worked with the likes of Robin Williams,
08:13Richard Attenborough, and Danny DeVito.
08:16But she soon grew disillusioned with the lifestyle,
08:18a disillusionment that was partly caused by the death of her mother.
08:22Susie Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995 and died shortly after.
08:27It was around this time that Wilson lost her passion for acting
08:31and began suffering from numerous ailments,
08:34including obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression.
08:38I've been dealing with it for a very long time.
08:41For most of my life, I was an anxious kid,
08:43and I'm still kind of an anxious adult.
08:45Wilson ultimately decided to leave Hollywood behind
08:48and retired in 2000 at the age of 13.
08:51She has mostly remained private ever since,
08:53instead focusing on writing and doing charity work with non-profits
08:57aimed at improving mental health.
08:59You don't have to be depressed.
09:01You know, you don't have to suffer with it.
09:04You can get help. You can reach out.
09:06Macaulay Culkin
09:07Oh God, that is the most 90s photo I've ever seen.
09:11It's me and Doogie and Urkel and the Fresh Prince.
09:16The 1990s belonged to Macaulay Culkin,
09:18but this earned the ire of his father, Kidd,
09:21whom Culkin claims was abusive and fiercely jealous of his son's success.
09:26His parents also entered into a bitter custody battle when Culkin was in his teens,
09:31often fighting over his substantial finances.
09:34At what age did you see your money?
09:36Um, I didn't see it until I turned 18.
09:39You had the, I call it the slip of paper meeting,
09:42where they kind of pretty much put like a number on a piece of paper
09:44and like slide it across the table.
09:46The young Culkin was forced to take his own parents to court
09:48to block access to his trust fund,
09:51and the instability in his personal life led to burnout in his professional career.
09:55He retired in 1994, and by the 2000s,
09:59he was mostly reclusive and using prescription drugs,
10:03fueling speculation that he was struggling with addiction.
10:06Luckily, everything turned out well for Culkin.
10:09He's acting again and has two children with his partner Brenda Song.
10:13Did you have any say in whether or not you worked when you were young?
10:16Uh, not really, no.
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10:34Drew Barrymore.
10:35One of the sentences that really stood out to me in your book
10:38is when you talked about your mom, you said,
10:41zero protection, zero consistency.
10:44Yeah.
10:44The lovely Drew Barrymore is perhaps the poster child for success stories.
10:49Her recovery, almost the thing of Hollywood legend.
10:52Barrymore was born into a famous family, but her father John was unstable
10:56and her parents divorced when she was young, leading to a turbulent home life.
11:01By the age of nine, Barrymore was already drinking
11:04and alcohol soon turned into illegal substances.
11:08By the time she was 14, she had already done two stints in rehab.
11:12And I raised my girls so much more traditionally and quietly and very protectively.
11:19And it's such an antithesis to my upbringing.
11:22Her personal struggles were highly publicized.
11:25Her career hit a low point and she became notorious for her troubled bad girl image.
11:30But with a good head on her shoulders,
11:32Barrymore reinvented herself in the mid nineties, launching a comeback for the ages.
11:38In the later years and in the younger years, like they're not going to have my life, you know,
11:43not going to Studio 54 at seven years old will probably make them a lot more normal than I was.
11:49Can you think of any other examples? Let us know in the comments.
11:53You pull back the curtain on childhood stardom. It is not a pretty picture.
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