'School of Rock' child star details bullying, being hypersexualized like Britney Spears
The actor admitted to becoming a 'raging addict' in 2019 due to the downsides of fame at a young age
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A former actor who starred in "School of Rock" at the age of 10 is speaking out about the troubling downsides of fame.
Rivkah Reyes played the role of bass player Katie in the 2003 film starring Jack Black. Nearly one year after publishing an essay about becoming an addict after experiencing bullying and being hypersexualized at a young age, the actor is discussing the similarities they feel to Britney Spears.
Reyes, who uses the gender-neutral pronouns they/them, revealed in an interview with The New York Post that they experienced unwanted attention and even criticism after returning to school after wrapping "School of Rock."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Especially after production wrapped, when I first came back to school, people were really nice or really mean. There was no middle ground," they said. "I was literally followed around the school with people chanting 'School of Rock.'"
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Rivkah Reyes played the role of bass player Katie in the 2003 film starring Jack Black. (Paramount Pictures)
In their 2019 essay, Reyes recalled becoming a "raging addict" and turning to drugs, sex, alcohol, food, self-harm to survive the ages of 14 to 24. They explained the fear that their acting career had "peaked at 10 years old."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In likening their experience to Spears, Reyes admits to previously feeling "unsafe existing" due to over-the-top fans. The former child star also claimed to have been sexualized when they were underage. They recalled reading message boards from older men online who said they couldn't "wait 'til she's 18."
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Reyes remembered feeling the need to land a bigger part just so their peers would "stop calling you Katie."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Britney Spears' conservatorship drama involving her father, Jamie Spears, has been magnified in recent weeks due to the release of the 'Framing Britney Spears' documentary. (Chris Farina/Corbis via Getty Images)
They described their experience after filming the role to being "kind of parallel with Britney's."
Last month, the "Framing Britney Spears" documentary shone a light on the bullying Spears was subject to as a pop star growing up in the spotlight. The New York Times program also led fans of the star to speak out against Justin Timberlake and Diane Sawyer for the way they treated the pop star in the past, while it's also contributed to those calling for Spears to be released from her conservatorship.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reyes since they've now been sober for four years. They told the outlet they've since gotten back into acting, writing for television and has a fondness for tarot card reading and music. Despite the turbulent adolescent years they faced, Reyes still has nothing but kind words to share about working with Black and their experience in the film.
"It was nothing but love and support," Reyes said. "I have never lost gratitude for that, or wish that I wasn’t part of it."