Up to a degree Amber Tamblyn understand what Britney Spears had to face. After all, Tamblyn was also a female child star who was run by her parents.
In a newly published commentary for the New York Times, the actress, who rose to fame first in General Hospital and then in Joan of Arcadia and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, reflected on what it was like to have her mother and father in charge their career and the resulting dynamic.
“My money paid for our vacations, dinners and sometimes even the bills,” she said. “When the time finally came to unravel our personal and professional relationships, it was deeply painful for all three of us.”
Although it’s unclear when that date officially came, Tamblyn revealed that her parents managed much of her professional life until she got engaged to her husband David cross. She was 28 years old at the time.
While Tamblyn introduced that her parents were “supportive and ethical in all respects” and described her father as a “keenly protective advocate,” the dynamic had still taken its toll.
“Having my parents on the payroll has hurt our relationship, whether we understand it or not,” she wrote. “I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that every time I talked to my parents about money, I felt like asking for an allowance – only the allowance came from money I earned.”
