If you're in your late 20s or early 30s, you probably learned who Alyson Stoner was in 2002, when she danced in Missy Elliott’s “Work It” music video. The adorable nine-year-old slayed the choreography, and the world fell in love with her. She went on to star in the Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Camp Rock, and more Disney Channel shows. It seemed she was on top of the world. But behind the scenes, Stoner was dealing with an immense anxiety as well as mental health issues, she tells People. The interview comes timed with a music video for her new song, "Stripped Bare." In it, she cuts her hair and shaves her head in a powerful move to shed the pain of child stardom.
The video opens with Stoner as a child, in family movies, being told to perform for the camera. She sings, "I can't believe family would be so savage, swore to me I was free, then took advantage." She tells People the pressure to perform and be perfect, to be who everyone wanted her to be, led to severe anxiety, heart palpitations, hair loss, and even seizures. As a teenager, she went on to battle anorexia nervosa, exercise bulimia, and binge-eating disorder, and checked into rehab at 17.
Now at 25, Stoner is making her own rules. To maintain control of her career and her story, she releases her music independently. Part of that story includes coming out in 2008, in a Teen Vogue essay. Stoner revealed that she is attracted to "men, women, and people who identify in other ways." Drastically changing her appearance is another way to take control of her identity.
"Shaving my head is an act of mental health and confidence, not self-destruction,” she tells People. “I can’t tell you how many beliefs and opinions and insecurities fell to the floor with every tuft of hair, and I’m leaving them there. I’m shedding one era and rising as a new being in real time."
"Stripped bare, got nothing left, and I'm finally cutting the strings," Stoner sings as she cuts her hair.
She looks so peaceful as her hair falls to the floor. She stands on top of her van and looks incredibly powerful and free.
On Instagram, Stoner introduces herself as if she's been reborn. And fans are loving it. She writes: "What a gift to remember that your memories are all but a story now. Cells can heal, scars can fade, experiences transform, and you can begin a new story. Welcome to Today. Let’s agree to meet each other for the first time right here. I’m Alyson."
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Stoner looks absolutely beautiful and the song is a bop. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of her journey, and I can't wait to see the rest.
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