Mayim Bialik on why she always felt 'different' growing up in Hollywood
Mayim Bialik talks about growing up in Hollywood, and why she always felt "different." "My parents are first-generation Americans, so I always felt different," she tells Yahoo Entertainment. Bialik reflects on Blossom, Beaches, and the one thing she appreciated about being a child actor.
Video Transcript
- Being recognized and having, you know, making decisions about where you go and when because of being recognized. Like that's definitely not normal, but there was a lot about my life that was still normal.
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- Her name is Blossom Russo.
MAYIM BIALIK: Of course, it is. Says so right here on my notebook. See, Blossom Russo, that's me.
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- And coincidentally, she's got your name written all over her notebook too.
MAYIM BIALIK: I don't know if I felt normal growing up. But I don't think that had to do with the fact that I was a child actor. I think that I came from a really unusual family. My parents are first-generation Americans. So I always felt different, like we spoke a different language, and we had different holidays that we celebrated. So I think also I was just kind of like a moody, mopey sort of teenager. So nothing felt normal for me like I always felt different.
So I think being on television definitely didn't help that. You know, it made me feel more of an outsider. But there was a lot about my life that was still normal, you know, I was still treated like a normal kid who had to go to school, and do my chores, and be picked on by my brother, and all those things. I definitely felt protected on the set of "Blossom." My mom was with me all the time.
And we had a very clean set. And that was just really lucky. And also really good management by Witt/Thomas, which was the company that produced our show. So I never saw drugs, or alcohol, or anything like that.
- Be sure to keep in touch, C.C. OK?
MAYIM BIALIK: Well, sure. We friends, aren't we? "Beaches" was a little more complicated because I didn't work the whole time. But for the time that I was there, I definitely felt protected. Also, my mom was with me. I was 12 years old. But it was a very different kind of schedule. You know, a movie schedules, much more rigorous. I would like nap, you know, in my trailer.
And I had a very expensive wig on. And I remember it was like I had to try and not upset the wig. But I was just tired because I had been up so early. I was a little kid. But, yeah, very protected. I've been very lucky in that sense. "Blossom" was kind of ahead of its time in a lot of ways. You know, to have a show about a girl on network television at that time was super unusual. No one thought it would work. And indeed, we lasted 5 seasons.
But in-- I think it's the Pilot Episode of Blossom is shopping. And she's using a canvas shopping bag, which is something that I did at the time. People thought I was crazy when I started doing this in Junior High. And I'm not saying I started any trend. It was just that, like in certain environmental circles, that was a thing that many of us started doing in the 80s.
So it's kind of funny that now, I mean, places charge you to not use reusable bag. So I kind of feel like all those people who teased me hopefully have plenty of canvas shopping bags now. When "Blossom" ended, I was 2 years out of High School. And I think because I come from an immigrant background like the emphasis on education was just so important that I knew that was something I wanted to do.
And I think I wanted to be appreciated for what was like inside of my head and not just sort of what I could provide. Both my parents are teachers. So I was raised with a strong like education kind of ethic. So, yeah, I went to a public University. I went to UCLA. And I got to meet people of all different shapes, sizes, colors, socioeconomic backgrounds. And really had a super positive experience, very different from being in the industry.
My kids definitely have-- they have a love for theater and for plays. They've been involved in Shakespeare for many years. There's a home school Kids Shakespeare Company that they like. But in terms of like us driving them around for auditions, I obviously am a working parents, and their dad is busy homeschooling them.
So I think it might be something that my older son maybe is interested later. But they both have so many other interests. And I think they've seen how complicated it is to be a public person. So I always tell them, if you're interested in acting, make sure that you have a vocation as your backup. So you're either going to wait tables, or you're going to, you know, do something else because not every actor is employed. Most actors are not employed.
Being a child actor, obviously, had its challenges. And growing up in front of millions of people is not easy. But I didn't grow up with money. And so it's not so much to talk about the money of it, but the opportunities I had to travel for my work. Meaning, we film "Blossom" in Paris. And like those are places that I didn't have money to go, I never would have gotten to go. But because of my work, I got to see parts of the world that I've never would have gotten to see.
Some of my favorite memories-- and I don't mean to sound pretentious like, I loved going to Paris. But just being able to see like other parts of the world and like there are people who speak totally different languages and have a whole identity, and existence like it really broadened my concept of the world. You know, because especially as Americans, we can be very like, what I do in my city is what the whole world does. And so the travel that I got to do through work was actually really, really special.
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