Childhood Fame Quotes

I was a kid who did a kid show. Then I went away and raised my child, and the world has never met me as an adult.

I'm only realizing now that I was a child actress because I always took myself so seriously.

I've always hate child stars, starting from way back when, when I was a child. The first child star I saw was Shirley Temple. She was six years old, two foot six and the biggest star in Hollywood. She wore ribbons in her hair, and frilly little pinafores and shiny patent-leather tap shoes - just like the boys in Glee do.

I've seen 'Mork & Mindy' a couple times. Robin Williams amazes me. And I love Gary Coleman. He puts me away. He puts everybody away.

When I was on the 'Mickey Mouse Club,' there was Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling and Christine Aguilera. But they were 12 and I was 17, so there was a bit of an age difference.

I was Jenny in 'Jenny and the School for Cats' when I was five years old. That was my first big break. Then I got to play the Artful Dodger in 'Oliver Twist,' and that was the most fun I've ever had.

Back in the Nineties, I was in an R&B group. I signed my first record deal when I was 12.

When I was a kid, I was in all 'The Mighty Ducks' movies, and that sort of created this weird thing when I was very young. And luckily, I had a lot of really good friends and family that kept me from, I guess, going down a more negative path that actors can go down.

Even the pre-schoolers are like, 'I watch you on The Jonas Brothers.' And my own kids. I have been in the greatest movies, even some for kids, and they were never impressed until I did 'Jonas L.A.'

When I was 30, I was very popular. Kids would scream, and women would scream.

I was still thought of as a kid actor even though I was in my mid twenties.

Family is very important to me. People often ask me how I managed to stay grounded and sane, having started as a child star and growing up in the industry, and really, it's God. But it's also my family and God in my family.

From the time I was 8 years old I was on almost every radio show there was.

Before High School Musical, I wanted to be a nitty-gritty actress. And High School Musical came along, and, I was like, "Oh my God, fun!" But the more we did it, the more prude I became.... When I am around kids and they come up to me, of course I am going to act a certain way, but at the end of the day, I'm doing this for myself. I'm going to be doing movies kids can't watch.

I'd change nothing in my career path. I was never built for being a handsome teenage star. That's just not in my psyche, I think. I would have hated to have grown up famous.

When you say a 'former child star,' you may as well say 'failed child star.'

I wasn't aware that the world thought I was so weird and bizarre. But when you grow up, like I did, in front of 100 million people since the age of 5, you're automatically different.

I was weird right from the start. It's just that you can't ever expect people to get you. And I do think that really did mess with my head, being well-known young, when you really don't know who you are.

When I was young, I did Baby Guess and Guess Kids - Paul Marciano saw me when I was a baby and decided I was going to be his next whatever. After Guess Kids, my mom made me stop. She would not let me sign with an agency until I was 17 because she wanted me to be a normal kid and accept myself for who I was.

I can deal with it now, but 13 is a tough age to be recognized and famous. It's a tough age, period.

I remember once, we got an interview, and he said, 'Dad, these people are writing about me like I'm an adult. Don't they know I'm a kid?' I have never tried to encourage him to get a music image like other musicians have.

I don't want to be a 'teen star' because so many people don't ever grow out of that.

I didn't want to be a former child actor for the rest of my life, although in some ways I suppose I am. I am going to be that.

I think if I could do it over again - as much as I loved meeting the people I did on the films after 'Matilda' - I wish that I had stopped after 'Matilda.' I wish that I had just focused on my own life for a while.

When I was nine years old, I was on the cover of 'Sport Karate' magazine.