<p>After becoming a <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href=" target="_blank">Disney Channel star</a> at a young age, <strong>Christy Carlson Romano</strong> is now an advocate for other child stars and is hoping for change when it comes to the way minor actors are treated. Romano spoke about her childhood as a Disney Channel star and what she thinks of celebrity today in a recent interview.</p>
<p>The 39-year-old also commented on a story that actor <strong>Elle Fanning</strong> told recently, in which she said that she <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href=" target="_blank">lost a role at 16</a> because she wasn't considered sexy enough. Romano said that she found Fanning's story "very triggering."</p>
<p>Read on to find out more of Romano's thoughts on child stardom, and why she was so disturbed by what Fanning shared.</p>
<p><strong>READ THIS NEXT: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href=" target="_blank">Miley Cyrus Says "There's So Much She Doesn't Remember" About Being a Child Star</a>.</strong></p>
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<div class="title">Romano came to fame as a teen.</div>
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<p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-326563" src=" alt="Christy Carlson Romano on "Even Stevens"" width="500" height="342" /></p>
<p>Romano began starring on the Disney Channel series <em>Even Stevens</em> in 2000 when she was 16 years old. She played Ren Stevens, the sister of Louis Stevens, played by <strong>Shia LaBeouf</strong>. For the same network, Romano also voiced the title character on the show <em>Kim Possible</em> and starred in the movie <em>Cadet Kelly</em>.</p>
<p>More recently, Romano has shared her experiences as a child star on her YouTube channel and on her podcast, <em>Vulnerable with Christy Carlson Romano</em>, which also features interviews with other former child stars.</p>
<p>Romano has opened up about topics ranging from losing much of the money she made when she was younger, to <a rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" href=" target="_blank">struggling with drinking and her mental health</a>, to <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href=" target="_blank">receiving inappropriate fan mail from adults</a>.</p>
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<p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-480745" src=" alt="Elle Fanning at the 2021 InStyle Awards" width="500" height="323" /></p>
<p>Fanning, who is now 25, became famous as a young girl and is known for roles in <em>Maleficent</em>, <em>Somewhere</em>, and <em>The Great</em>. During <em>The Hollywood Reporter</em>'s recent comedy actress roundtable, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href=" target="_blank">Fanning told her fellow actors</a> about being turned down for a role when she was 16.</p>
<p>"I've never told this story, but I was trying out for a movie," Fanning recalled. "I didn't get it. I don't even think they ever made it, but it was a father-daughter road trip comedy. I didn't hear from my agents because they wouldn't tell me things like this—that filtration system is really important because there's probably a lot more damaging comments that they filtered—but this one got to me. I was 16 years old, and a person said, 'Oh, she didn't get the father-daughter road trip comedy because she's un[expletive]able."</p>
<p>She added that being "immensely confident" helped her handle the comment, but she called it "disgusting."</p>
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<p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-481984" src=" alt="Christy Carlson Romano at the opening night of "Humans" in 2018" width="500" height="400" /></p>
<p>In a new interview with Fox News Digital, <a rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" href=" target="_blank">Romano was asked about Fanning's story</a>.</p>
<p>"I'm so angry," she responded. "I felt very triggered, I felt very helpless and hopeless in some ways because I was like, 'This just keeps happening.' These are people who I consider part of my family."</p>
<p>The mother of two added, "We may not know each other, and at times a lot of us are isolated from our own experience, because how are we ever going to come together and know, 'Oh did you actually start at four years old?' Oh yeah. 'Did you have a stage parent?' Oh yeah. It's like, there's no, there's no meeting rooms for recovered child actors."</p>
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<p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-326564" src=" alt="Christy Carlson Romano at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards" width="500" height="753" /></p>
<p>In the Fox News interview, Romano said of the treatment of child actors, "Until there's any kind of changing of the fundamental infrastructure, things can't change."</p>
<p>She put forth that the change might have to come from the SAG-AFTRA union—which she says could be better at enforcing protections—or from the government.</p>
<p>"We have this industry that benefits off of convenience," Romano continued. "We want it loud, fast, funny and cheap, and we need it right now, and that's how productions work. It's not just a Nickelodeon problem, or a Paramount problem or whoever it is. It's not one particular network's issue. It's an entire industry issue. It comes down to SAG, or child labor at the federal level. That's what I have experienced. I think that that's valuable. So, if I'm talking about it, I'm not trying to whistle blow, it's more or less me just advocating for change."</p>
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<p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-411833" src=" alt="Christy Carlson Romano and Alyson Stoner recording Romano's podcast "Vulnerable"" width="500" height="308" /></p>
<p>While interviewing another former child star, <strong>Alyson Stoner</strong>, on her podcast in 2022, Romano said that child stardom is unethical.</p>
<p>"I have been toying with just the concept of improving conditions, but simultaneously, I'm asking myself the ethical questions of: Is there legitimately an ethical way to do this if all of these factors coexist? And I'm not sure," Stoner, who is known for <em>Step Up </em>and <em>Camp Rock</em>, said. "With the current circumstances, and current conditions, and current system, can you justifiably say this is an ethical and healthy decision to make as a parent for your child?"</p>
<p>Romano responded, "No. I'll say that as the parent in the room. It's not ethical."</p>
<p>Similarly, in a 2022 interview with Yahoo!, <a rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" href=" target="_blank">Romano said</a>, "I think that the industry is a workplace for adults. It's not geared towards protecting kids. It's not a kids' workplace."</p>
The post Former Child Star Christy Carlson Romano "Very Triggered" by Elle Fanning's Story appeared first on Best Life.
