The One Day at a Time star has reflected on entering Hollywood at 12 and how the pressures of performing affected her sense of identity and self-worth.
Mackenzie Phillips has said becoming a child star left her feeling like a “trained monkey”.
The 66-year-old actor, who found fame at 12 in George Lucas’s American Graffiti before becoming a household name as Julie Cooper in the hit CBS sitcom One Day at a Time, also admitted she entered Hollywood without understanding her own identity or worth.
She reflected on the impact of growing up in the entertainment industry during an appearance on her longtime friend and former co-star Valerie Bertinelli’s Getting Naked podcast.
Valerie, 66, and Mackenzie met as teenagers before spending years together on the Norman Lear-produced comedy.
Mackenzie said on the show: “I had no idea the truth of my own worth and value, which is inherent. It is inherent; it is not up for debate.”
Looking back at how she behaved as a young performer, Mackenzie said: “I will tell you that I felt like a trained monkey: ‘Look over here. Here I am. I can tap dance. I can do this. I can do that’.”
She also told Valerie those feelings became apparent to her in “hindsight”, rather than being something she recognised while she was working as a child.
Mackenzie added: “I was always very good at memorising lines… as a little kid, I was a bookworm. I was always in my room reading books, but I forgot the truth of who I really am – or was. You know, God, I probably had a sign on my back that said, ‘Prey,’ (for) the predators.”
Valerie said Mackenzie still possessed a childhood “innocence” during that period.
She added: “It’s that willingness to people-please. It’s that willingness to be anything and everything for anybody if they ask of you.”
Mackenzie said being treated as older than she was could make her feel “bigger and older”, although she did not understand at the time what effect those experiences would have on her.
She also recalled how an appearance with a childhood band led to her breakthrough role in American Graffiti, the 1973 coming-of-age film directed by George Lucas.
Mackenzie said: “We put together this band. My first name is Laura and the band was called Class. Chris, Laura, Adam, and Scott.”
She added: “Chris’s dad was a head of Asylum Records. We put together this band: Chris, Laura, Adam, and Scott… Class. And because of the influence of our parents, little nepo babies, before that even existed as a term, we got a spot at the open mic night at the Troubadour.”
Casting director Fred Roos spotted Mackenzie performing at the Los Angeles venue while he was casting American Graffiti.
Mackenzie recalled: “He was casting American Graffiti. He came up to me, and he said, ‘Would you like to audition for a movie?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God, that would be so cool.’”
She added: “And my mom said, ‘She’s 12, you know’. And he said, ‘No, no, no. I understand that’.”
Mackenzie ultimately won the role of Carol Morrison in the film, which also starred Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Harrison Ford.
She said she remembers little about the audition process because of what she described as “trauma blocking”.
Mackenzie said: “I don’t remember any of it. Apparently I auditioned against 300 other girls, and I got the job.”
She added: “Then when the Blu-ray came out…they had clips of the screen tests. I don’t remember doing that. I’m this little little girl with a braided leather bracelet. That’s how I got American Graffiti.”
Two years later, Mackenzie began playing rebellious teenager Julie in One Day at a Time, alongside Valerie as her younger sister Barbara and Bonnie Franklin as their divorced mother Ann.
The sitcom became one of the defining roles of Mackenzie’s career and ran for nine seasons from 1975 to 1984.
Mackenzie Phillips says child stardom made her preform like a ‘trained monkey’
