Alyson Stoner reflects on shooting first intimate scene as a young actor

Alyson Stoner, a former Disney star, has spoken out about feeling pressured to have their first kiss onscreen as a young actor.

Stoner, who uses they/them pronouns, talks about having been informed in a recent episode of their Dear Hollywood podcast titled A Child's Body: Open Access that they were going to kiss Dylan and Cole Sprouse, then stars of the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

Stoner explained that they felt forced to do the scene because they had "already booked the role of Max" and had recorded an earlier episode.

"Writers and executives might decide to make your character do anything on the next episode and it's assumed that you're going to agree to whatever scripted," Stoner said. "My first kiss and several of the times I experienced kissing all happened on camera."

"Did I know that when I auditioned for Max? No," the actor, now 30, continued. "Was I ready for that? No."

"I felt young and uncomfortable but I was already under contract and I didn’t want to be difficult especially because I’m only a recurring role, like closer to a guest star than a lead with less clout."

Stoner explained that they rationalised it to themselves as part of the work of being an actor.

"I felt like, 'This is part of my job. I chose to act and audition for this project. It's only a character.' So in that way, I justified like, 'OK, I can have my kiss here and then I'll have my own separate first kiss at some point.'"

The overarching subject matter of the podcast episode was Stoner's reflection on how young performers have a "lack of control over your body."

The Camp Rock star was cornered in a public lavatory by someone looking for a photo with the star.

"When I was ten, someone walked in on me using the restroom and demanded I take a photo while I was peeing," they recalled. "And I froze in embarrassment and fear. I said something like ‘Please let me finish first, and then we can do this outside.’ I don’t think they felt great about their own reaction and behavior, but something came over them. And not wanting to be troublesome or leave a bad impression, I walked out with a smile and took the photo."