Bella Thorne On Breaking 'Disney Child Star Curse,' What She Would Have Done Differently

Bella Thorne said she was forced to pretend to be someone she was not during her time as a Disney Channel star.

Thorne got her start in showbiz by starring alongside Zendaya in the tween comedy "Shake It Up" from 2010 to 2013. Nowadays, aside from being an actress, she's also known as a model, singer, director, Onlyfans star and New York Times bestselling author of young adult fiction book "Autumn Falls."

After releasing her latest single "Shake It," in which she celebrates her pansexuality, Thorne reflected on the early days of her career.

"It was definitely harder than I expected," she told Fox News when asked how she avoided "the Disney child star curse," a wild lifestyle that can derail the careers of young celebrities. "When I was on Disney, I was 12, so my audience was younger. Now that I am 23, children aren’t my audience so I don’t cater my material to that age."

"I stopped worrying about what the world was thinking of me and started focusing on my true fans that loved me," she added. "After Disney, I had the opportunity to find my true self and that is reflected in all my work from acting, producing, directing, and writing. I have more artistic freedom to continue to express myself."

When asked about the one thing she would have done differently when she was still at Disney, Thorne said she wishes she "would have been true to myself."

"When it came to filming, I would talk in a higher voice or do different things to make myself appear more innocent," she said of playing the role of dancer CeCe Jones. "It made me feel like a liar because I had to pretend to be someone I was not - even if it made me famous."

The "Midnight Sun" star explained that she "never wanted to be a Disney star in the first place" and only took on the role out of necessity. Thorne recalled that her family had been on the brink of poverty at the time.

"I don’t like being recognized as a former Disney child star because I was always told I had to fit into a certain mold and be this person I wasn’t. It was like being in a box," Thorne said.

Earlier this month, Thorne revealed that she and Zendaya had been pitted against each other when they starred in "Shake It Up." She said this prevented them from forming a close bond in the first season of the show.

But Zendaya and Thorne managed to work out their differences and have since become friends. In fact, Thorne is nothing but proud of Zendaya, especially after the latter made history as the youngest woman to win an Emmy for best actress in a drama series for her performance in "Euphoria."

"Zendaya’s amazing. I f—king love her," Thorne said about her former co-star. "She’s always been amazing and she’s always going to be amazing. I’m just happy that people see that. She’s getting the recognition she deserves. That just makes me so happy. I feel like when people put us against each other, it’s just like, … ‘Why are you doing this? Is it just because we’re women?’"