The cost of growing up in a spotlight is high — and so is the price of briefly finding child stardom only to become convinced …
The cost of growing up in a spotlight is high — and so is the price of briefly finding child stardom only to become convinced it’s a peak that will never come again. Following the February release of “Framing Britney Spears,” child stars from Mara Wilson to Tavi Gevinson have spoken up about their struggles with celebrity and the illusion of power it brought to them as young women. Now, “School of Rock” actor Rivkah Reyes has opened up to The Post about the hardships of early success, from addiction to bullying. Reyes, who at 10 years old played the part of bass player Katie in the 2003 Jack Black film, told The Post they feel their story is “kind of parallel with Britney’s.” The actor, who uses the gender-neutral pronouns they/them, said that like Britney, they’ve “felt unsafe existing” because of obsessive fans — including one man who tried to take photos of them in sixth grade while they were at school. Reyes was sexualized as a minor, with grown men commenting about how they couldn’t “wait ’til she’s 18” on message boards when Reyes was barely double digits in age, they said. Also like Spears, Reyes’ fame resulted in them being bullied as a child, but not by the media or their Hollywood colleagues.
