On Children’s Day, former child stars talk about the pains and delights of early fame

They discovered fame as children, in the 1980s and 1990s, and from an early age learned to have great responsibilities. Daily life was atypical: childhood games often gave way to commitments on stages or TV studios.

Although they chose this path, the once-child stars weren’t always happy when they were little. THE F5 spoke to some past child celebrities about early success and the impacts it may have had on their lives.

In the 1980s, spiky hair and mullets by Patrick de Oliveira, 43, became a craze among boys. He started in advertising — “Smart boy! Seven years at the beach!” he said in a sunscreen commercial. It was at this age that he started to command the program Cometa Alegria, on the now defunct TV Manchete.

Soon after came global soap operas. Patrick also dedicated himself to dubbing animations such as “The Lion King”. Despite having worked hard, he disagrees that he lost something: “I took my toys to the studio, my friends were the team, I didn’t have that feeling of losing my childhood.”

Eduardo Caldas, 40, was once considered the ‘Brazilian Macaulay Culkin’, and ranks as the child actor who starred in the most soap operas in the country. For ten years he acted intensely, but decided to take a break at the beginning of his adolescence. Born into a musical family, son of guitarist and composer Robertinho de Recife and singer Emilia Caldas [integrante do grupo Afrodite Se Quiser]he rose to success at the age of seven in the soap opera “Felicidade” (1991), followed by numerous other appearances.

When asked about his early fame, he commented: “I couldn’t, for example, go to the beach, because if I got the sun it would ruin the continuity of the scene, I missed parties, and other children feel discredited by the attention you receive and end up excluding you, bullying you”, he says. “But there were gains too”, he ponders.

Last year, Caldas directed a documentary project about children’s notoriety and its implications. “I interviewed more than 65 former child actors from the 1970s and 2000s about what it meant to be subjected to so much responsibility and exposure at such an early age,” he says.

At the age of 14, actress Flávia Monteiro, 52, achieved national recognition when she starred in the controversial film “The Girl Next Door”, in 1987. For the veteran artist, there needs to be a balance between professional and personal life when starting early: “I worked hard, I gave up leisure and rest many times for the sake of my profession. Today I’m rethinking it. Equalizing this is important so as not to have significant losses in the adolescent’s socio-emotional environment.”

The B side of fame

The public’s affection was pointed out as the main positive aspect of the premature success, however, the “B side” also exists. Aline Menezes, 41, began her career at the age of five, and at eight she debuted in “Felicidade”. Since then, there have been several jobs, and despite finding the recording routine “fun”, she also admitted the losses.

“I lost the freedom of being able to play in the street, of having time to go to parties… But for me the studios were an amusement park”, he says. Flávia shares a similar opinion. “As every choice has gains and losses, and it was my choice to be an actress and I was happy there, I have no gaps within me.”

In the early 1980s, Luciano Nassyn was one of the most famous children in the country with the group Trem da Alegria. Despite his concert schedule at the time, he guarantees that he never stopped living his childhood. “My parents encouraged me to play outside and study, but of course the responsibilities were immense, I must have missed out on some things, but I don’t know how to measure which ones.”

Caldas also spoke about the burdens and bonuses of being a child star: “I grew up among the most brilliant artists in the country, being exposed to my ‘artist self’ very early. I traveled a lot and was able to ensure an even more peaceful financial life. It gives to see the good and the bad, but this is a question of worldview”.

Asked if he thinks that childhood notoriety can harm the construction of personality, Caldas says he considers that fame and success can be “problematic” in the formation of an individual. “They are illusory concepts, full of traps. You understand the existence of your ego earlier; which generally leads to demands and illusions of grandeur.”

For Flávia, who became a children’s idol with “Chiquititas” [1997-2001]having a base is essential. “You need a very strong family structure, so that neither fame nor failure can destroy that young person without any emotional preparation.”

Despite being remembered to this day for the character Cabeção, from “Malhação”, Sergio Hondjakoff, 40, started much earlier. As a child, he joined the musical group Terra Encantada and soon after went on television. Regarding the pains and delights of being a celebrity, he pointed out the sense of responsibility at an early age, but also highlighted the damage caused by often giving up the personal side.

“He was a supporter of cannabis At the age of 17, I used it daily at home to sleep, I relaxed, I studied texts under the influence, at first it was functional, but after a while I became predisposed”.

Then he takes a long pause and continues: “With this fame thing, my frustration of not having time for my personal life, of always working, and with my ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), I think I wasn’t so efficient in the conduct of my psyche in function of the job”.

Plans for children

The list of child stars is long. The idols of the past are now parents, pardon the cliché, the question is inevitable — would they encourage their children to follow the same path? Father of four-year-old Benjamin, Hondjakoff doesn’t see any problems, although he assumes that he will be a gamer: “If my son takes a liking to art, I’ll support him,” he said.

Caldas has another point of view on this matter. “I wouldn’t encourage working as an actor or anything else. The only ‘profession’ possible for a child should be that of a student,” he said, who does not have children — nor does he intend to have any.

Nassyn, father of Lorenzo Gabriel, 6, agrees with the actor. “I have no desire, nor does his mother, to encourage a predefined career, as happened to me.” For Patrick, the interest should always come from the child. “The ‘want’ is the big difference in this situation, it has to be his will.”

And they grew

The majority of those interviewed are not nostalgic, they say they prefer to live in the present. For 12 years, Luciano Nassyn has dedicated himself to holistic therapies and performs shows with his band. Currently, Patrick and his wife [a ex-paquita Thalita Ribeiro] They have a career management company for sports athletes, and are parents to little Théo, five years old. Recently, Hondjakoff invested in politics, but was not elected councilor in Rio.

Flávia Monteiro continues to work, balancing cinema and theater, as well as being the mother of nine-year-old Sophia. With no premiere date yet, Eduardo Caldas says that his project “Tormented” will give rise to a podcast series and a documentary.

He explains what it’s about: “I’m going to reveal for the first time the reasons that made me leave everything at 14 years old, why I wanted to escape the public eye. I decided to talk now, 25 years later, about it.” When asked about a possible nostalgia for the past, he reflects: “I don’t. My gaze has always been on the future.”