Thanks to docuseries likeQuiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, how children are treated on set has been called to the table in the best way possible. The revelations in the doc show what kid actors have gone through in children’s programming, leading to many former child stars speaking out about their experiences.
While Nickelodeon was the focus of that docuseries, other children’s programming networks have also come into focus in different ways. In the case ofKeri Russell, best known for her roles onFelicityand her Emmy-nominated work onThe Americans, the actress is calling out a much different practice during her time on Disney’sThe All New Mickey Mouse Club.
Russell didn’t express that anything predatory happened to her during her time on the show, but she revealed that Disney did have a huge double standard when it came time for boys and girls to leave the series. During a chat with Jesse Tyler Ferguson on hisDinner’s on Mepodcast, Russell got candid about what executives wanted from the girls onThe All New Mickey Mouse Clubin terms of physical appearance and how those standards were different for the boys.
The actress began her time on the show in 1991 when she was 15 but she departed the series just two years later at the age of 17. When Ferguson asked Russell if that was the age that most people had to exit the series, the actress responded bluntly, “It’s usually girls who look like they were sexually active, which probably I was one of the first. They’re like, ‘She’s out. Oh, she is out. That one is gone.'”
Keri Russell Says the Same Rules Didn’t Apply to the Boys on The All New Mickey Mouse Club
Russell made it clear that these rules did not apply to her male co-stars, who tended to stay on beyond the age of 17.“The boys stayed till they were, like, 19,” Russell said. “I was like, ‘By the way, I had sex with that person, so I know they’ve had sex.’ For real.“As to why Disney created such a double standard, Russell said she believes that the company just didn’t know how to approach girls and their sexuality.
“You know, girls and sexuality [is complicated]. And by the way, me, I [had], like, a 12-year-old boy body. There’s nothing really sexy about me, but I think that was what [made Disney] nervous.”
The All New Mickey Mouse Clubaired from 1989-1996, but Russell’s tenure on the show was especially significant because of all the other future stars that were also a part of the cast. Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Christina Aguilera, and J.C. Chasez also brought their young talent to the new edition of theMickey Mouse Club, although they were much younger than Russell at the time.
Regarding the stories that have emerged in the wake ofQuiet on Set, Russell offered a possible explanation as to why she and herMickey Mouse Clubco-stars were able to “get out alive”:
“I think the creepiest part of kid acting is usually it’s one or two kids with all adults, and so that really accelerates the adultification of everything. And forTheMickey Mouse Club,there were 19 of us. The adults were invisible to me, you know what I mean?”
Keri Russell’s 8 Best Performances, Ranked
Keri Russell has had a diverse and interesting career. Here, we celebrate her best performances, from Waitress to The Americans.
As for Russell, her career thrived considerably afterThe All New Mickey Mouse Club. She went on to win a Golden Globe award for playing the titular character onFelicity, and she has earned other award nominations for her time on FX’sThe Americansand the recent Netflix political drama series,The Diplomat. She has also sustained a pretty sold film career, appearing in such movies asWaitress,Mission: Impossible III,Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, andCocaine Bear, to name a few.
