While Christina Aguilera has gone on to become a music sensation and movie star (who could forget her iconic role in Burlesque?), her loyal fans know that she started in the industry in quite a unique way: at Disney! That’s right, when she was just 13 years old, Aguilera began her career on the small screen in The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. And, as it turns out, her years as a child actor really shaped her career.
In a new interview with Aguilera for Paper Magazine, the mom of two talked about how being a child actor meant surrendering creative control – something she later realized and took action on.
“Growing up, there was a mold that was clear to me they wanted me to meet,” she told the outlet. “And I get it, you want to sell your records. I grew up on the Mickey Mouse Club, I was a Disney kid, so I knew about following a schedule and doing what you can to get ahead and follow this dream. It showed me early on what it feels like to have massive success and still not feel creatively fulfilled.”
Looking back now, she knows just how much the industry has changed too. “Now, artists are coming out and having more of a say and creative control, even in their own voice, with what they can put out over social media,” she said. “It’s a more self-controlled world out there, which is great.”
So after finding success in a creatively-limited moment, Aguilera began to focus on what she really wanted to produce and did a total career 180 when releasing her 2002 album, Stripped.
“So I started accumulating and writing what would be Stripped, while I was having that massive success and charting,” she remembered. “I noticed it wasn’t about that for me. Of course, my dreams were coming true and it was fantastic to feel that wave and see that I was being received by fans, people that would later call themselves ‘Fighters,’ but it showed me that it’s not about charting or numbers.”
“Because when you have that and you’re on stage doing songs that don’t speak truly to your heart, then what’s the point? I need in my soul to be more fulfilled than that,” she said. “So that’s where Stripped was able to be birthed.”
Aguilera then finished her thought with an inspirational quote, one that can be applicable to just about any field. “You’re going to get criticism from both sides no matter what you do, so I learned that I might as well be doing what I want to do and get criticism for it,” she said. Talk about a mic-drop moment!
Before you go, click here to see more celebrity kids following in their parents’ acting footsteps.
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