Drake Bell opens up about why he felt the time was right to tell his story in documentaries Silence on set: The dark side of children’s television.
The actor, 37, who has detailed the sexual abuse he suffered as a child actor under his former dialogue coach Brian Peck in the docu-series, explained in Friday’s episode The Sarah Fraser Show podcast that he didn’t want to participate in the series at first because of a previous “bad” experience he had in the past.
“…Another documentary that came out years ago that asked me to be a part of it, and when I declined, the response I got was incredible,” Bell recalled. “They said I’m – people like me are the problem, and that’s why things won’t change in the industry because people like you won’t speak up and won’t come forward.”
Former Drake and Josh Starr said the experience made him “wary” and “on edge” whenever he was approached to discuss the subject. He felt the same when he was Silence on the set the producers reached out, but one of the project’s directors, Emma Schwartz, eventually helped calm him down.
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“She was very sensitive, and before that we became friends [the docuseries], and I could tell it was coming from the right place,” Bell said on the podcast. “When we went back and forth it didn’t [from] angle, ‘Okay, what do I have to say to turn him on’ and ‘I’ll just say what I need to say to convince him.’ I really felt comforted with her.”
Bell said he told Schwartz he would be happy to meet with her if she came to Los Angeles to sit down with him. He did the interview, noting that he “felt very comfortable” despite telling his story “to basically a stranger.” However, he still wasn’t at a place where he felt he could share it publicly.
He said he went to rehab shortly after the interview, which helped him come to terms with things he “didn’t face head-on” or that were “too painful” because of his past trauma.
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“When I walked out, I thought to myself, ‘You know, maybe this is a good time to come back to them and say that I’m not 100% yet, let’s talk a little bit more, but I’m getting closer to being comfortable with finally sharing my story.’ , he said in the podcast.
When it came to including his father, Joe Bell, in the documentary, the actor said he was also “very careful” about it.
“Even though I struggled with, ‘Oh my God, what am I doing telling my story? Should I be doing that?’ [But I was getting this feeling of] ‘Wow, it’s all out now. I can get it off my chest.’ And I felt it would be cathartic and beneficial for my dad,” he explained.
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“I’m sure my dad blames himself a lot,” he continued. “And I thought this might be an opportunity for him to realize that, you know, it’s one person’s fault.”
In 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to charges of oral sex with a minor under the age of 16 and performing an indecent act with a 14- or 15-year-old in connection with Bell’s case. Peck spent 16 months in prison and had to register as a sex offender.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the crisis line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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Source: HIS Education