Raven-Symoné Recalls Being Asked If She 'Wanted to Stop Being Straight' During “That's So Raven” Fame
The star weighed her Disney fame with her authentic living
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Raven-Symoné during time at Disney (left) and todayRaven-Symoné recalls feeling weighed down by fame as she grappled with her childhood stardom.
In conversation with Demi Lovato (who uses she/they pronouns) for their new documentary, Child Star, Symoné recalled some of the struggles she faced in her later time with Disney Channel.
"There was a moment in my life where I was asked if I wanted to stop being straight. But it was like second season of That’s So Raven. It was like the third album," the 38-year-old remembered.
"I was like, ‘Why would you ask me that question now? Just to make me feel bad to say yes, when you know I don’t really want to be here right now?’ "
Symoné came out publicly in 2013 and in 2020, married Miranda Pearman-Maday.
Both Lovato and Symoné touched on the images they felt they had to upkeep as Disney stars during the documentary. Not only did they feel they had to hide parts of themselves, but they also endured grueling schedules.
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“I didn’t know you could take time off because no one told me," Lovato told Symoné. "At one point, I played 70 shows in 90 days. I was going to have two nights off and then when push came to shove, they were like, ‘We need those two days of rehearsals for the movie.’ ”
Symoné noted, “People are going to milk all of that light out of you because, ‘You’re young and you still have energy,’ But you do not. You’re still human.”
Elsewhere in the documentary, Symoné talked about acting from an early age and navigating the financial side of that with her family.
“I knew it was work immediately. My parents made sure that I understood that this was a job. I get paid for it. You show up professionally," she said of her early career. “I knew at 3 how much I was making and I understood it's a job. If you lose it, you don’t make that money.”
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Kiely Williams, Sabrina Bryan, Raven Symoné, Lynn Whitfield, and Adrienne Bailon in 2005's "The Cheetah Girls"When asked by Lovato how the financial dynamics intersected with her family dynamics, Symoné replied, "We call it a family business. Everybody has a job within the family business, so nobody likes to say one person’s the breadwinner or not ... read through those lines.”
Despite the complex nature of her young stardom, Symoné is aware of how significant her role in TV history is, particularly her beginnings as part of The Cosby Show cast.
“The Cosby Show was the number-one television show in America, especially with an African American cast and so influential within the fabric of society. A young girl from Atlanta, Georgia … that’s the dream of so many Black people at that time," she acknowledged.
"From the age of 16 months, I knew that my job was to entertain other people. That’s a mind thing in itself.”
Symoné said that many families in the business lose sight of the fact that "children, young kids, are performing for their parent. They're performing for their parents' love and affection and their, 'Good job!' And yes, it's a lot of money, it’s a lot of money. And money does crazy s---.”
Child Star is now streaming on Hulu.
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