Raven-Symoné, Alyson Stoner, and Miranda Maday are all well-versed in child stardom and the toll it takes on young people. The trio joined Teen Vogue's Associate Culture Director P. Claire Dodson in a wide-ranging discussion at Teen Vogue Summit 2025 in Los Angeles. Together, the entertainers opened up about coming of age in the spotlight, navigating being a positive influence at such a young age, and how they're thriving in their careers now.
Despite the complexities of child stardom, particularly in the early 2000s, Raven candidly said, “It builds character.” The actor started working as a baby and learned early on how to keep things private — including relationships. Raven's wife, Miranda Maday, said she's learned a lot from Raven when it comes to privacy and dealing with the nasty comments.
“It's disgusting,” Raven said of the comments. Stoner also took the time to show empathy for Maday and Raven in regards to the hate comments they receive online: “I'm so sorry that you are even spoken to like that,” Stoner said.
Stoner described being a young actor as a “bizarre fishbowl of having folks perceive you while you're still a child.”
“I found myself wrestling a lot in the middle of it,” they continued. “It was a dissonance where I wanted to be a positive role model, but I also didn't know what I was doing yet.”
Maday echoed that statement, saying she grew up around a lot of famous children in LA and realized that acting is just a job, not who people are in totality. “At the end of the day, we're all people,” she said.
Raven has always had to navigate fans conflating fictional roles with reality. “There was no personal social media to really differentiate between who I was at home, and who I was on camera," Raven said. “I've always known that I have certain masks to get through for people to see me."
Stoner said this is often difficult to navigate. “We're compartmentalizing pieces of ourselves and we're playing with what is safe to express, especially those of us who are queer or gender nonconforming or entering spaces that aren't always the safest choice for our personal safety," they said.
Now that Stoner is older, they said they've let go of certain things they've been accustomed to with acting for so many years, including wearing makeup. They described being told they look “sloppy” or “not presentable” without it, and how it's been freeing to let that go.
“I show up [without makeup], and I know those comments are gonna say, ‘Alyson looks tired. Alyson looks so old.’ But no, that's what former child labor looks like on my body," Stoner said. “Did you work 25 years straight, literally with no breaks?”
Raven-Symoné is best known for a breakout role in the early 2000s on Disney Channel's popular series, That's So Raven. The actor's physical comedy and larger-than-life talent made Raven a standout on the channel and led to four seasons of the series from 2003 to 2007. Raven later starred in the Disney Channel original movie The Cheetah Girls, as a member of the rising girl group. But Raven had been acting long before Disney, first starring in The Cosby Show at just three years old, and later acting in films such as The Little Rascals, Dr. Dolittle, and Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Outside of acting work, Raven has also released four albums, co-hosted The View, and now has a podcast with wife Miranda Maday called Tea Time with Raven and Miranda.
Alyson Stoner is also an actor, author, and activist who got their start at an early age on Disney Channel in multiple franchises, including Mike's Super Short Show, That's So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and more. Stoner later starred in major blockbusters like Cheaper by the Dozen and Step Up. But what made Stoner a standout was their dance abilities. The performer starred in multiple music videos and as a backup dancer in the early aughts, including for big artists like Missy Elliot, Eminem, Outkast, and more. Now, Stoner advocates for child actors, the LGBTQ+ community, and has contributed to programming at the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
Miranda Maday is a Los Angeles-based public relations and entertainment manager expert who started out as an assistant and worked her way up in the industry. While she is a writer, podcast host, and producer, Maday is also a doula with a passion for women's health. She also co-founded iSee Pictures with her wife, Raven.
