Beloved Child Star Opens Up in Tell-All Memoir After Quiet Exit From Fame originally appeared on Parade.
The little kid who danced their way into our hearts in Missy Elliot’s “Work It” music video is all grown up, and they certainly have a story to tell.
Last year, Alyson Stoner, 31, announced that they were officially releasing a memoir chronicling the experience of growing up in the Hollywood spotlight. Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything hits shelves on Aug. 12, and for the first time, the former child star will lay their truth bare for the world to read. Spoiler alert: nothing is held back.
In a particularly vulnerable passage from the book that was published in Vanity Fair in advance of the book’s release, Stoner recounts their experience training to audition for the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games.
“As an actor, the complexity of the subject matter would allow me to play to the top of my intelligence—something I rarely had the opportunity to do,” they write. “And as a human, it gave me a chance to get up close to the dark underbelly of life, which I subconsciously longed to understand but didn’t know how to explore personally.”
But, for the young actor, getting into character was only the first challenge the role presented. The second was getting into fighting form despite an ongoing mental health struggle that Stoner was battling in secret.
“Katniss was the ultimate role and the ultimate strong female lead,” they explain. “But the role was playing with fire for me. […] If I was going to devote myself to checking every box of the character description, I had to commit to strenuous training without fully succumbing to my eating disorder.”
Stoner recounts the grueling, often crippling workouts and dangerously strict diet they endured in hopes of landing the role, but it wasn’t meant to be. The part ultimately went to Jennifer Lawrence, who delivered a historic performance across four Hunger Games films.
Stoner was a seemingly permanent fixture on the Disney Channel scene throughout the aughts, landing roles in The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and Camp Rock. They also took on smaller parts in major Hollywood films, like Cheaper by the Dozen. Stoner’s career-defining moment came from dancing in Missy Elliot’s “Work It” music video, which has become an enduring piece of popular culture.
But, despite tremendous success, the star on the rise decided to step out of the spotlight. Their departure from Hollywood was slow, but ultimately the result of an industry that Stoner felt prevented them from truly thriving.
In a 2024 interview with People, Stoner made it clear that the only way to tell their story was honestly and openly, no matter how difficult it might be to write or to read.
“I’m eager for this to serve as a larger reckoning for Hollywood and society,” Stoner said. “I’m not holding back on sharing information that audiences deserve to know, information that, after years of research, I haven’t seen presented quite like this. I look forward to the chapters sparking deeper questions and urgent conversations.”
Stoner plans to hit the road on a five-city book tour to celebrate the memoir’s release, plus they’ll host a virtual event for fans who can’t attend in person.
Beloved Child Star Opens Up in Tell-All Memoir After Quiet Exit From Fame first appeared on Parade on Aug 6, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
