Former child actress Ellen Marlow, best known for her role as Claire Lyons in The Clique, got real about the trauma she endured while pursuing stardom at a young age.
In a new TikTok video, uploaded to her account on Wednesday, the performer, who made her Broadway debut at just 11, looked back on some of the scars that came with navigating the entertainment industry as an adolescent.
While revealing how she got so ‘funny’ over the years, the 30-year-old implied that humor became a coping mechanism after some unsavory experiences.
This included reportedly being told by her agents, at the time, ‘to lose 15 pounds and strap down’ her breasts for auditions when she was 12.
‘Child actor trauma is so real,’ she captioned her post, which showed her looking haunted by the memory as She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer played in the background.
Marlow did not share any more details of the alleged incident, which left many of her more than 52,300 TikTok followers outraged and disturbed.
Former child actress Ellen Marlow got real about the trauma she endured while pursuing stardom at a young age
‘We have to start holding these people accountable somehow,’ one commented.
Marlow replied: ‘It’s so much better now than back in my day, but yes.’
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Others told the actress that they were ‘so sorry this happened.’
‘The way people in the industry talk to actors is crazy … especially kids,’ another marveled.
Meanwhile fellow child star, Christy Carlson Romano, who starred on Even Stevens and was the voice of Disney Channel’s animated series, Kim Possible, wrote: ‘lol.’
In recent years, Carlson Romano has been open about her own complicated relationship with childhood fame, which included losing money to psychics, turning to alcohol to cope and having her ‘family disrupted.’
Over the years, Marlow has appeared in episodes of Cold Case, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Criminal Minds as well as the pilot for The Forgotten starring Christian Slater.
She was also a part of the touring company of Kinky Boots in 2016 through 2017 and cast in the ensemble/understudy Princess Anna for the Broadway production of Disney’s Frozen in 2020.
While revealing how she got so ‘funny’ over the years, the 30-year-old implied that humor became a coping mechanism after some unsavory experiences
Marlow is best known for her role as Claire Lyons in The Clique (seen above in the 2008 film)
In October, she revealed she was teaming back up with The Clique author Lisi Harrison on writing a new book that will feature the book’s central characters as adults.
They revealed the news in a TikTok video on Marlow’s account.
‘What Mᴀssie Block is doing for real is she is dancing around my head and dancing around Ellen’s head,’ Harrison gushed. ‘And together we are birthing her and writing another book that will tell you exactly what she and the Pretty Committee are doing, now that they are 27-year-old women.’
Marlow added that they had been on endless Zoom calls about the upcoming novel for nearly two years.
‘Thank you all for the love and support over the years,’ Marlow’s captioned the video. ‘We can’t wait to give you the update on the girlies.’
