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