Hi. Hi. I just want you to know that I watched the documentary, and there was so much stuff I related to. Yeah. And I'm really excited that I might get the chance to talk to somebody that might understand certain things that I have experienced, and felt, and gone through. And this is all about you, but I just can't tell you what a safe space you're in, what an amazing talent and incredible force you are. I just wanna talk girl to girl, woman to woman, I think in our weird trajectory of life you grow up so fast and you're in these adult jobs and yet you're not an adult, but you're hanging out with other kids sometimes and working with them, but your peers aren't kids and- Yes. And what your responsibilities are and what you have access to. Yes, definitely! Like you're the one paying the rent, so it's like really weird. I always rebelled against authority 'cause deep down inside, I was like, "I'm paying the rent around here." My parents, they did the best that they could. There's no manual on how to raise a child star. And when the child star retorts back after the parent says, "You know, you're grounded for sneaking out at three in the morning, whatever." I retorted with, "Well, I pay the bills, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do to keep me grounded?" And so it was challenging. And it was also really, really interesting. I started working on set at eight years old on "Barney and Friends". And so I was around adults at eight years old, and I actually always got along better with adults than kids. For some reason that was just always me. And so when I got around a lot of adults like I felt more comfortable. But the adults leave work and they go and have a drink, the kids, what do we do? So it was this weird thing to think about, especially then when you become a teenager in Hollywood, and your adult peers are, like I said, going to a bar after work or whatever, and you're 17 thinking, "Well, what do I get to do to play?" And it left this weird... I have this mentality of like, if you're gonna work me like an adult, I get to party like one. But the reality was, adults weren't partying like I was, so. Yeah. No, but it's true. I remember I always wanted to be the person who had a martini at the dinner party and was getting a cocktail, but I'm the girl who probably just drinks too many martinis at the dinner party. (Demi laughing) It's like, okay, let's just start earlier because when you have to put the good, the bad, and the ugly out there, even at a ripe young age, I don't understand why the press feels like they have the right to ask you anything. And why we also feel like the people pleasers who have to answer all their questions. Yes, yes, yes, totally, totally. I've battled with that a lot, even in the first few interviews after, or getting ready for the documentary to come out. I was answering questions that I realized, I was like, I don't have to answer these. And so we do... I like to say that I'm an open book with boundaries, because I feel like I do wear my heart on my sleeve, but I also have learned how to protect myself from people intruding a little bit too much on the personal stuff. Well, I got really angry when that guy on the red carpet, I think it's that gentleman, Chris, whatever his name is, I forget his last name, Chris Harrison. And he's a funny guy and he's out there working, and this is no offense to him, it could have been anybody, it's not personal for him, but when he says, "You're 16, what do you know about heartbreak?" Which isn't the worst question that's been asked- Totally!
But I think because the narrative the documentary has just revealed that you had been through so much by 16, I wanted to rip his face off. Why does he have the right to say that to you? You know, I think that the reason why we get angry when we watch that clip back is because we're looking at a 16-year-old girl answering the question. It's really easy for us to look at a teenager and feel empathy for her. I definitely have... I think that's so interesting the way you're speaking about it. It's very high road, it feels very zen and calm. I still have the angry little rebel in me that no matter how open I am, I think when entitled, quippy questions come out I still harken back to times in my life where I'm like, I wish I had had the ability to say, gosh, you know, I've been so open, but I'm gonna have to say, not gonna answer that. Absolutely. And at some point you have to say, all right, I'm putting my foot down, and I gotta say, no, I can't answer these questions anymore. And I think it's never too late to set a boundary with the world. And I learned that, and I've continued to set boundaries where, I know it seems like I've talked a lot about my life, but I didn't talk about everything. And that's where my boundary is. There's things I'll never share with the world because no one could benefit from them. And that's okay. That's for me and my treatment team. I love that because it's sexy, it's mysterious, it's fun, it makes people wanna know more. It makes people think, "Oh my God, there's even more to this person than they've already been so gracious to let me in about." That being said, how do you feel now that you have put that out there in the documentary? Well, so I actually feel like it's just easier to be transparent and honest with people because I couldn't... I don't know, it's just, there's nothing less appealing to me than pretending something didn't happen when it did, and then living a lie trying to pretend that way like that. That's not appealing to me whatsoever, and I've just never been that kind of person anyway. So I feel like it was sometimes in a way like my only option, but not in a sense where I felt obligated. It was just, it was the only thing that felt good to me. Absolutely. And yeah. (upbeat music)
