13 Child Stars Who Opened Up About Being The Breadwinner Of Their Families At Such A Young Age

I deliberation we tin astir apt each hold that it should ne'er beryllium a child's occupation to financially enactment their full family. Unfortunately, this sometimes happens, and galore of the astir well-known instances hap successful Hollywood.

Here are 13 kid stars who opened up astir being the breadwinners of their families astatine specified a young age:

1. When Zendaya decided she wanted to beryllium an actor, her ma stayed successful Oakland and worked 2 jobs to enactment the family, portion her dada discontinue his occupation and moved to LA with her. However, arsenic Zendaya grew much successful, she became the household breadwinner. In 2024, she told British Vogue, "I'm astir going done my angsty teen signifier present due to the fact that I didn't truly person the clip to bash it before. I felt similar I was thrust into a precise big position: I was becoming the breadwinner of my household precise early, and determination was a batch of role-reversal happening, and conscionable benignant of becoming grown, really."

"Now, erstwhile I person these moments successful my career – like, my archetypal clip starring a movie that's really going to beryllium successful a theatre – I consciousness similar I shrink, and I can't bask each the things that are happening to me, due to the fact that I'm similar this [she balls up her fist]. I'm precise tense, and I deliberation that I transportation that from being a kid and ne'er truly having an accidental to conscionable effort shit. And I privation I went to school," she said.

2. In her memoir Sorry Not Sorry, Naya Rivera said that, increasing up, her household often faced fiscal issues due to the fact that of her dad's spending habits. After losing his IT occupation successful 2001, helium couldn't find enactment for 3 years. She wrote, "As Dad's stint of unemployment dragged on, I became the lone 1 successful the household who had immoderate money...I didn't person millions — much similar tens of thousands — successful my Coogan account, but these were dire times. There was virtually nary wealth coming successful astatine all, truthful implicit the adjacent fewer years, my ma and I made 2 tribunal visits to petition a withdrawal from my account. I'd miss the archetypal fewer hours of class, and we'd spell to tribunal and basal successful beforehand of a justice to petition for permission."

She continued, "Your honor,' my ma would say, 'this is my girl and she has X magnitude of wealth successful an relationship that I protect, but precocious our household has fallen connected hard times. We would similar to retreat $2,000 from the relationship to screen america for the adjacent month. My hubby is presently looking for work, and I person 2 different children to instrumentality attraction of.' The justice would listen, and past inquire maine if I was good with the idea. I ever said yes."

Withdrawing from her Coogan relationship wasn't the lone mode Naya provided for her family. She said, "Because I'd been a moving actor, I was besides eligible to person unemployment though I was inactive a minor. This brought successful different $700 each 2 weeks, successful checks made retired to maine that my parents cashed, truthful for astir 3 years, from the clip I was 15 until I was a elder successful precocious school, I was astir ever financially helping my household successful immoderate way...I felt similar it wasn't conscionable my vocation riding connected each audition, but perchance the extortion implicit my family's head."

3. On Call Her Daddy successful 2024, JoJo Siwa said, "My parents thought erstwhile I turned 18, I was gonna get my Coogan relationship money, instrumentality each of my money, and person it each beryllium mine...I was like, 'I tin springiness you truthful overmuch reassurance, but I volition ne'er bash that.' That's ever been a fearfulness of theirs, ever has been. Just due to the fact that the accidental of maine leaving them precocious and adust was close there. People person done it before. Child stars person done it before, but I would ne'er bash that to my family."

"Today my ma was like, 'I conscionable privation to accidental convey you for ne'er fundamentally kicking america to the curb. Thank you for buying america this caller house. Thank you for letting america remodel it. Thank you for keeping america successful your bubble,'" she said.

4. When Sydney Sweeney was astir 11 oregon 12, her household moved to LA truthful she could prosecute acting. However, they ended up losing a lot, filing bankruptcy, and adjacent losing their household location backmost successful Washington. So, to assistance marque ends meet, she worked arsenic a Universal Studios circuit guide, cleaned bathrooms restaurants, and babysat. In 2023, she told Women's Health, "It was hard due to the fact that they were supporting my dream, and I couldn’t ideate doing thing else. I didn’t privation to neglect them."

"No substance however agelong it took, I was going to beryllium successful a TV amusement oregon a movie, and I wasn't going to halt until thing happened."

She besides said that erstwhile she recovered occurrence arsenic an actor, she bought backmost her aged household location for her parents.

5. After winning the endowment amusement New Faces arsenic a teenager, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power histrion Lenny Henry became "the household breadwinner" overnight. In 2012, helium told Yorkshire Live, "Which you don't truly privation to beryllium erstwhile you're conscionable 17, but I took it connected due to the fact that I emotion my family."

"I could bargain them a caller fridge and wage for the location to beryllium redecorated," helium said.

6. By archetypal grade, Jodie Foster — the youngest successful her household — was the main breadwinner for her ma and 3 siblings. In 2024, she told the Atlantic, "I was it. There was nary different income too me."

7. In her 2023 Hulu documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, Brooke Shields said that, increasing up, her mom/manager would archer her things like, "If we get this job, we don't person to unrecorded successful our small flat anymore" and, "If we get this job, we tin spell bargain a caller car."

Reflecting connected her mother's acquisition with alcoholism, she besides said, "I felt specified a work to support her alive. My beingness depended connected it, truthful I thought. You know, you conscionable support the peace....You ne'er cognize what to expect with an alcoholic. It wasn't abusive, but it was emotionally abusive due to the fact that I felt benignant of abandoned each clip she wasn't herself."

8. In 2017, Bella Thorne told the Happy Sad Confused podcast, "I didn't privation to audition for Shake It Up! I virtually said successful my audition, 'I don't sing. I don't dance. I'm fundamentally tone-deaf, and I'm not funny. So I don't cognize wherefore I'm here.' And everybody conscionable started laughing. They each thought it was a joke...[But] we were astir to unrecorded physically connected the thoroughfare if I didn't person that role."

She continued, "We were surviving disconnected Stouffer's coupons, and that's each we had to devour each day. That whitethorn not dependable similar a large woody to everybody, but erstwhile you're a azygous ma raising 4 kids with indebtedness and you person thing to your name, it's fucking shitty."

9. In 2022, Keke Palmer told the LA Times, "Ultimately, what happened is that it conscionable deed a constituent wherever my dada could nary longer bash a occupation due to the fact that if helium did a job, past determination would beryllium cipher to instrumentality attraction of my older sister and my younger siblings due to the fact that my ma was ever with me. So it was like, each of our roles were switched. I became the fiscal breadwinner due to the fact that my vocation was bringing successful the astir money, and my parents wanted to enactment me, but they couldn't person their ain jobs due to the fact that their ain jobs would not adjacent let them to truly beryllium capable to prolong a unchangeable household."

She continued, "So everybody's positions were flipped upside down, which is wherefore immoderate years aft that, I did commencement to consciousness pressure. I started to recognize that I was the fiscal breadwinner and that if I didn't person a job, who would person a job? Or however could my parents person a job? Or however could we prolong the aforesaid manner adjacent if they did person a job? Because I was making the benignant of wealth that galore radical ne'er make. It enactment america successful a brainsick position."

10. In a since-deleted Tumblr audio clip from a fewer years ago, Cole Sprouse reportedly said, "My member [Dylan] and I were enactment into acting erstwhile we were 8 months aged by our parent due to the fact that we needed money. I ne'er made the determination to articulation the arts oregon acting specifically. And truthful it was ne'er truly my passion."

Then, during a 2023 quality on Call Her Daddy, helium said, "I don't deliberation I've ever talked astir this… When my begetter was fixed forced custody, we had beauteous overmuch mislaid everything from the youngest parts of our career. That would be Friends and Big Daddy. My parent was an incredibly fantastic and creator woman, but she was financially the astir irresponsible pistillate ever."

He besides said that, portion their dada initially wanted them to beryllium "normal kids" aft the divorce, helium yet decided keeping Dylan and Cole successful acting was indispensable to instrumentality attraction of the household financially. 

11. When Jena Malone was 14, she sought emancipation from her ma and sued her connected accusations that she'd wasted much than $1 cardinal of Jena's earnings. In 2003, Jena told Index Magazine, "Financially I had travel to a descend oregon aquatics situation. I ran into immoderate unusual taxation problems, and the lone mode retired of them was to get to my spot fund."

She besides said, "Well, I wanted to beryllium legally liable for myself. I wanted to motion my ain contracts. If a mistake was made, I would beryllium accountable, and I would larn from it. Unfortunately it's not arsenic casual arsenic it sounds. It was a nine-month process of proving my intelligence and fiscal stability...Actually, [my ma and I] person a amended narration present than ever before. As with immoderate change, you larn a lot. You spot things much truthfully."

12. In a 2019 blog post reflecting connected 5th grade, Wil Wheaton said, "I cognize that, by this clip successful my life, I had been telling my parent that I didn't privation to spell connected auditions oregon beryllium an actor. I retrieve telling her, astir each day, 'I conscionable privation to beryllium a kid,' and I retrieve her dismissing that. She perpetually gaslighted maine astir however I truly did privation to beryllium an actor. She was truthful manipulative astir it. She would archer maine however selfish I was due to the fact that she'd sacrificed her ain vocation to enactment mine."

He continued, "Please enactment for the grounds that erstwhile I was SEVEN FUCKING YEARS OLD, I did not say, 'Mother, delight wantonness your tremendously palmy acting vocation truthful that I whitethorn person 1 of my own.' Please besides enactment that, arsenic I got older, my lone request, ever, was to delight fto maine beryllium a kid and halt making maine work. Until I ended interaction with them, they gaslighted maine astir this whenever I brought it up."

13. And finally, connected a 2021 occurrence of their podcast 4D with Demi Lovato featuring Drew Barrymore, Demi Lovato said, "I noticed that erstwhile I came into the spotlight astatine a young property and past was the breadwinner, similar you said, determination wasn't a dossier, determination wasn't a manual for my parents to read, and it [would] say, 'Here's what to bash to rise a kid star.' They didn't get that. So erstwhile they would effort to crushed maine astatine 17, I would say, 'I wage the bills!' And I cringe present erstwhile I deliberation astir that attitude, but...when the satellite is putting you connected a pedestal, you benignant of deliberation that you tin bash nary wrong."

She continued, "As I've gotten older, I spot my parents conscionable arsenic large kids themselves." 

Drew replied, "Well, I was going to say, I don't deliberation it's the satellite and the pedestal; I deliberation it's the parent-child dynamic that gets wholly reversed. And nary wonderment you won't instrumentality an bid from an authorization fig who is nary longer an authorization fig due to the fact that you've present reduced them down with finances and responsibilities."