'School of Rock' star says child stardom lead to bullying and addiction

Rivkah Reyes, the former child star who played 10-year-old bass player Katie in School of Rock, has said that the role led to being bullied at school.

Reyes added that a life of addiction and self-harm was also ushered in after appearing in the 2003 Richard Linklater comedy.

Speaking to the New York Post, Reyes said: “Especially after production wrapped, when I first came back to school, people were really nice or really mean. There was no middle ground. I was literally followed around the school with people chanting School of Rock.”

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Reyes, who uses gender neutral pronouns, revealed the harrowing consequences of their young acting career in an essay published on Medium last year, called Confessions of an Obsolete Child Actor.

In it, they also describe a childhood dominated by 'the textbook definition of toxic stage parents', who forced her to become 'the family’s little prodigy, against my own will', as well as being sexualised from a young age by fans of the film.

Reyes goes on on to say that drug and alcohol use came at 14, along with self-harm, and later, three suicide attempts and eating disorders.

However, appearing in the movie gave her 'nothing but love and support' from the filmmakers and co-stars, adding that they 'never lost gratitude for that, or wish that I wasn’t part of it'.

Reyes got sober in 2017, and still acts, as well as performing stand-up comedy, tarot reading and writing for TV.

They go on to say that School of Rock star Jack Black is 'a great guy' and remains in touch.

“When one of the castmates was falling into some legal trouble, [Black] reached out and asked me if [I knew if] he was OK and if I could send along his contact info,” they told the Post.

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