Video summary
Brett Cooper, a former child actor in Hollywood, reflects on his career with a sense of gratitude for having a protective mother who was acutely aware of the industry's dark underbelly. Despite knowing about pervasive issues like casting couches and drug usage before he entered the scene, his mother prioritized his safety over potential opportunities because she recognized that acting provided him with an essential emotional outlet following the tragic death of his twin brother at age 17. After their father left during a period of family instability, Brett's parents made a conscious decision to focus entirely on raising him and protecting his well-being. His mother understood that performing allowed him to come alive in ways he could not while suppressing himself socially, leading her to actively support his early career moves to New York for Broadway auditions despite the inherent risks involved. However, even with this vigilant upbringing, Brett encountered disturbing experiences within children's television networks like Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, which his mother had specifically warned him against due to their reputation for harboring "creeps." A pivotal moment occurred after a show ended when he was invited by a writer-producer to meet at the Griffith Observatory. During this encounter with two other young actresses, Brett describes being subjected to inappropriate behavior that included sexual fantasies and invasive comments about weight without clothes on. Although his friend initially hesitated to speak up due to fear of ruining her career prospects in Hollywood, she eventually recounted the incident after returning home. Upon hearing the details, Brett's mother admitted they had known the man was "weird" but felt compelled to allow the meeting because both girls were desperate for new jobs and roles, illustrating a disturbing complicity where safety took a backseat to professional ambition. To counteract these vulnerabilities, Brett credits his mother with enrolling him in rigorous self-defense classes starting at age 11 or 12, teaching him how to say no and physically defend himself against sexual assault scenarios twice a week for seven years. This training instilled in him a strong sense of confidence and the ability to recognize inappropriate touch early on, setting him apart from his peers who often remained silent when groped by industry figures. While Brett's mother employed what might seem like helicopter parenting tactics regarding safety protocols, she framed it as an empowering strategy designed to give her son independence while ensuring he understood boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in professional settings that were not clearly defined for other young actors. Ultimately, these cumulative experiences led Brett to conclude that the price of doing business in Hollywood is too high a cost for him personally, requiring sacrifices of personal life stability and control over one's values. He observed how writers and producers often pushed scripts with messages he deeply disagreed with, forcing actors into roles they were uncomfortable portraying simply because they lacked creative agency. Recognizing that the industry demanded total submission to whatever was required at any given moment without regard for an individual's moral compass or personal life, Brett decided in college that acting was not right for him anymore. He now views his past as a cautionary tale about how systemic issues allow predators like Dan Schneider and others to operate with impunity unless individuals are willing to fight back against the normalization of such behavior within child entertainment circles.
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you worked in Hollywood as a child actor
yes what did you make about the recent
news on Nickelodeon and quiet onset and
all of
that none of it surprises me at all I
feel very very lucky because I had a
great experience but I had a fantastic
experience because I had a mother that
was literally a shark who was so I I
cannot say enough good things about her
who was so engaged in every part of my
upbringing and my career not as a
momager but as a mother someone who knew
that this industry had the reputation
that it did she already knew about the
casting couch she knew about child
actors and the drug usage and the
scandals she was not interested in me
doing any of that um but I loved it like
I lived for performing that's all I
wanted to do um and so she saw that in
me and wanted to be able to support that
and I've seen a lot of comments actually
of people saying you know if your mom
knew these things about the industry why
did she let you move to LA to audition
why did she take you to New York so that
you could go audition for Broadway shows
um I just want to take that this
opportunity to answer it my brother died
when I
was 5 years old he was 17 he was an
artist super super creative and up until
that point my mom had kind of
tried not to put my brothers in a a box
but she was like you know it was a more
of a one-size fits-all parenting
approach um my brother who died is a
twin and so she kind of put the twins
together and she was dealing with her
failing marriage with my father and that
kind of took priority over the
kids and after he died she made a
conscious decision with me that she was
going to completely change that she was
like I'm not going to prioritize this
marriage that is you know there is no
future really she had already kind of
decided both of them had decided that
I'm going to put this child first and
then one thing that she said is you know
if I knew that David was going to die at
17 years old and he had all of these
Ambitions and things that he wanted to
accomplish what would I have done to
make make sure that he got those
opportunities that he got to enjoy every
aspect of
that and so that's why we did it because
she saw that I loved it I came alive
when I was on stage
um a lot of things in my family I think
really shut me down losing my brother at
a young age my parents
relationship obviously took a major turn
for the worse after he died my brothers
really kind of went off the deep end and
a lot of ways as well I became
very closed off suppressed I would
literally like hide in kitchen cabinets
when people would come over cuz I didn't
want to speak that all went away when I
got on stage and was performing and so
she wanted to keep that up as much as
possible because that was my one Outlet
so anyway that's kind of the backstory
of how I ended up
there and why she was willing to put me
in those situations and also why she was
so willing to protect me um so then back
to the
point I knew all of that growing up I
knew that it was happening I had
experiences nothing like what was
discussed on
um my I blanking Qui onet I was about to
say after dark quiet onet um you know
Janette MCC wrote her fantastic book uh
I'm glad my mom died about
her very abusive mother Mamer and her
experience with Dan Schneider she didn't
name in her book but she just called him
the Creator obviously for legal reasons
um so when I read her book I remember
getting to the end of her book literally
just like crying because I was like did
you ever interact with Dan Schneider no
I auditioned for some of his projects I
don't know if I was ever in the room
with him I mean it was literally he was
so prolific in Hollywood still at the
time when I was coming up that at least
once a week there would be I could
probably go back in my old email now and
you know Untitled Dan Shina project
Untitled Dan Shina project my mom
already knew about that reputation it
was so commonplace that he was a creep
that I think I might have auditioned for
a couple of them but she drew a line in
the sand and said that guy's a weirdo
she's not going out for any of those
projects she's not going to go work at
Nickelodeon I desperately wanted to be
on the modern iteration of Boy Meets
World is called girl meates World um
which obviously catapulted Rowan
Blanchard and Serena Carpenter to fame
desperately wanted it and so I like
fought with my mom I was like please let
me go out for this please let me go out
for this she did not want me on Disney
Channel did not want me on Nickelodeon
because she knew that those children's
networks were so filled with creeps and
I ended up
doing one children's show at a different
network and that is where my bad
experience was and it's so predictable
because it's The Men Who choose to work
with children with young girls what
happened um it was after the show had
ended and I actually I told the story
with Jordan and I got a call from my mom
she was like you missed an important
component of the story so I can actually
share that here um it was the writer on
the
show and he had wanted to connect with
me and another girl who were on the show
and you know he was always writing new
things and I'm going to create another
show in Hollywood it's very normal you
know oh let's go have coffee your lunch
with this you know person who could get
you this next job it's always like
what's going to get me that next job so
they had reached out he had reached out
to this girl who was the co-star on the
show with me was a very very good friend
of mine at the
time and her mom reached out to mine I
think he had mentioned something about
oh I'd love to see Brett as well so her
mom reached out to mine and said hey you
know Brett's friend is going to go meet
up with this guy would Brett like to go
and connect with him and you know it
would be great he wants to see her and
so we ended up going to the grith
Observatory and this woman told my mom
you know I'm going to be with them the
entire time I'm going to watch them
don't worry I'll be the parent in the
room my mom said okay great last time
she ever trusted anybody in that regard
and so my Mom dropped me off I went up
there her mother was nowhere in
sight watched from the car basically
walked around the Griff theft
Observatory this man immediately
launches into his lesbian fantasies that
he has with me and this other girl at 14
years old again the Creator and writer
of a children's show
and I get immediately very very weirded
out um you know we're walking there's
this part in the gri of Observatory
where you can go and you see what your
weight would be if you're out you know
on the moon or in space and so we went
and like stood on this and he looked at
my friend and said I want to know how
much you weigh with your clothes off
it's like stuff like that and so then we
finally got out of the museum he's told
us about our lesbian fantasies whatever
we're walking back towards the
restaurant and he sticks his hand in our
back pockets like as he's walking like
this and I immediately I'm just like AB
get off
me my friend shoots me a look like don't
screw this up for me like don't say
anything so I don't so we just keep
walking get back to the car whatever I
immediately you know dropped off at my
house I talked to my mom this is so
weird I never want to be around this man
again this was so uncomfortable so
creepy my mom calls her mom her mom
admits that she knew that's why she
wanted me there because I would be a
buffer she said oh you know we know that
he's weird we've gotten very weird Vibes
I didn't want her to be alone with him
so we wanted Brett to be
there so she knew but she was so
desperate to have her daughter and her
daughter was so desperate I don't know
if it was coming from her or coming from
her mother to be in this room and not
rock the boat because she desperately
wanted a new show a new audition a new
job that she was willing to take it and
be in that space and then put another
child in that
situation and the that that was normal
and this guy would show up to he was
very imsh in my friend group for a long
time because he just worked with all
these young people would show up to
teenage birthday parties where maybe
like you know an acting teacher or
somebody would drop by and drop a
present hey happy birthday you know
whoever your name is have a great party
whatever this guy would come stay until
2 a.m. with 16 and 17 year olds who are
obviously like getting drunk and getting
high whatever teenage actors are
doing painted portraits of child actors
was a whole thing on his social media I
was just very very weird um
that's it's nothing compared to what so
many have been
through but even in my limited
experience even with a mother that was
so so careful that I still had that and
I think that
um I was in an interesting position
because I I loved acting and I loved my
career and I loved working but my mom
had done a very good
job kind of saying you know this is not
your whole identity this isn't your
whole life you never have to do anything
you're not comfortable with like acting
is fun it should always be fun it should
be a hobby you should never cross any
lines that you're not willing to cross
for that and I don't think that was
instilled in my peers so like my friend
who was you know shot me that Death
Stare don't you like don't say anything
about him touching my
butt this man groping a 14-year-old 15y
old I think she was a year older than me
um I didn't have it I didn't care like
who cares if he doesn't like me um and
again my mom knew all of this going into
it she put me in
self-defense um against sexual assault
women self-defense against sexual
assault starting at age 11 or 12 I was
fighting literally in like rape
scenarios date rape situations would do
that twice a week was in private lessons
did that for probably seven years and I
think that was a huge part of it martial
arts are just I think so important for
both men and women but
especially young girls I think it's so
underrated because the confidence that I
had because of that because I knew how
to defend myself because one of the
first things that you learn is how to
say no and how to use your voice and
understanding that where you're being
touched that's not right um I had that
and she didn't and I don't and that's
why I was you know put in those classes
my mom was like you're going into rooms
with people that I don't know you know
you're being brought in by a casting
director to go into a room for 15
minutes and do a scene I have no idea
what they're doing to you in there you
need to know again what is appropriate
and what's not interesting this sort of
line that is kind of similar to
helicopter parenting but done in a
empowered safe way that's aiming to try
and give you as much Independence and
security as possible it was the it was
the foundation that was more of a not a
helicopter but like I'm going to be very
very careful so that then you can go out
and do whatever you want I know you know
similar to the flirting and how to
detect whether or not someone likes you
it's the subtle differences it's the the
deafness right it's the Nuance that
that's really really important in how
you do this the wildest thing about that
story is the complicity of both the girl
and the mother in did not care when they
were called on it yeah oh sorry yeah
he's kind weird the price of doing
business and there's a lot of that in
Hollywood that I think that's one of the
reasons why I made you know a conscious
decision when I was in college that I
was like I just don't think I don't
think this is for me because there is
there's a big price you they ask for
your everything they ask for you to be
licit in whatever they want to do they
ask for you to give up your life and
your stability and your control over
your personal life I mean you know at
the drop of a hat you know you need to
fly to Vancouver and shoot this and you
whatever they don't care about your
personal life which is fine it's an
industry they need to you know film
things when they need to film things and
where they need to film things
but I was not a person that was willing
to give all of that I was also not
willing to sacrifice my values this kind
of goes back to the politics stuff I
would get scripts constantly I look at
the characters that I'm playing I would
read the the script in its entirety if I
was you know got a movie script and I
would kind of I would sit down and I
would dissect what are they trying to
tell audiences with this story and I
would deeply disagree with it I would
hate what my character was being used to
convey and you have no control over that
because you're just a shelf that's your
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