Alyson Stoner

Alyson Stoner is the candid, knowledgeable but curious kind who wants to expand beyond her norm. With her weekly podcast, Simplexity alongside her ever-growing YouTube channel, she’s keen to inform and educate others, while also aiming to inspire on how they can live a healthier life, despite all the noise that comes with it. Feeling inspired by Alyson, we caught up with her to discuss child stardom, advice to her younger self and coming into her own as she evolves.

Compared to your contemporaries you’ve taken a much different approach to your career. How would you describe your evolving state as you’ve gotten older?
My method is about subverting and transforming the system from within. I’m healthfully disenchanted and see right through the illusions of Hollywood, and I want to wield this awareness delicately.

You’re very vocal about mental health practices and cultivating a healthier lifestyle through your YouTube channel. Where has the influence on this stemmed from and why do you do it?
If I want to contribute to the world, I have to examine what it needs and what would add value, and then combine that with my skills and the intention to serve. People need basic life tools and support to get all parts of their lives in alignment so we can collectively graduate to solving more complex issues at hand. The content I’m currently creating is the best articulation of this process so far, and it will continue to be refined.

You mentioned in an interview that you’re working on a book highlighting the dangers and pressures of childhood stardom. As someone that has grown up around this environment, this is bound to be beyond interesting. Could you give us insight into the book’s intent and the purpose it’ll serve?
Sure. There are a lot of layers, one of them being that we’ve seen plenty of documentation on talented artists becoming “trainwrecks,” but we haven’t seen an in-depth look from both personal and clinical points of view at how this pattern is generated, everyone’s surprising roles in it (including the audience, yes you), and what solutions can prevent the horror stories from perpetuating, whether inside Hollywood or for young people everywhere.

If you could go back in time and tell your younger self something, what would it be?
You’re going to turn every ounce of pain into power and proactive change. But first, take your time to heal and have some fun.

Tell us about your podcast, Simplexity. It’s great that you’re using your platform to shed light on some things people are a bit wary to ask about. How do you decide what topics to approach each episode? What’s it been like taking your listeners on that journey?
Simplexity is a natural extension of my personality and passions. The episodes are fueled by curiosity and contemplation as opposed to judgment and sharp conclusions, which allows new insight to emerge from the mystery, grey area, and tension. I have been meeting with experts across fields behind the scenes for years for my own self-education. They each have a monumental impact on their industries around the world. People need to know their stories and what’s happening on and to our planet, while also being equipped to step into their own purpose as effectively. People are ready for honesty and action.

Who has been your favorite guest so far? Who would you absolutely love to feature?
I look forward to bringing on select former co-stars to speak on issues more vulnerable than they may have discussed with reporters previously. So far, I’ve enjoyed fascinating preliminary conversations with a marine biologist who I met on a plane years ago. We’ll record her episode soon.

See also

INTERVIEWS

Mr. Eazi & DJ Edu

You’re very open and vulnerable in your art. Writing songs about topics ranging from coming out, to personal liberation by shaving your hair. How has your life changed since putting these out? Did this feel like the right time? If there is one at all?
Once I conceived a vision beyond my present career, it became much easier to release these songs as final testaments to the experiences and ways of giving people a staircase to the future frontier.

You seem like a person who’s seen it all and done it all, but is there something that you really want to achieve/do that is on the top of your bucket list?
I’ve hardly begun. I just attended a training with youth who use meditation to move objects with their minds (receipts on my phone), so all roads are leading far beyond what I previously imagined. And I like that.

Photography: Shanna Fisher
Styling: Veronica Graye
Hair & Makeup: Ashley Donovan