KEY POINTS

  • Mara Wilson was only five when she started acting
  • Wilson reveals that reporters asked her to name the sexiest actor when she was just six
  • Social media users praised the "Matilda" actress for her honest op-ed 

The release of the documentary "Framing Britney Spears," which detailed the life of the pop star, had led people to reflect on how the media treats women celebrities. Now, actress Mara Wilson has expressed solidarity with Spears and spoken out about being sexualized by the media and public during her childhood.

Wilson was only five when she started acting, and nine when she played the protagonist in the 1996 film “Matilda.” Contrary to what many believe, becoming famous at an early age did not comprise only happy experiences.

The 33-year-old actress recently penned an essay for The New York Times in which she detailed how the media “sexualized” her.

"People had been asking me, 'Do you have a boyfriend?' in interviews since I was 6. Reporters asked me who I thought the sexiest actor was and about Hugh Grant’s arrest for soliciting a prostitute," she wrote.

Wilson also remembered receiving messages from 50-year-old men claiming they were in love with her. She added she felt ashamed when "there were images of me on foot fetish websites and photoshopped into child pornography," when she was 12.

“My sexual harassment always came at the hands of the media and the public,” Wilson wrote.

After the release of Spears' documentary, Wilson had tweeted saying: "How much of what people mistreated Britney for was actually her choice? (Not that it would have been acceptable even if it was).”

Many social media users took to Twitter to express their admiration for the honest op-ed by Wilson.

“This is stellar, moving, and honest writing from @MaraWilson. She's saying things here that can't be said enough and [is] seldom said so well,” a netizen tweeted.

“ Please read this. I love @MaraWilson,” another Twitter user said.

Another actress who opened up recently about being sexualized at a young age was Natalie Portman. The "Thor" actress told Dax Shepard during a podcast interview, "Being sexualized as a child, I think, took away from my own sexuality because it made me afraid," Yahoo News reported.

Portman said she eventually realized she had cultivated this serious, prude and conservative impression because it made her feel safe. “Oh, if someone respects you they’re not going to objectify you,” she added.

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