Ahead of the premiere of the new documentary, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, a former child star Bryan Hearne is thinking back on his time as one of the few black actors on the Nickelodeon sketch-com series.
The upcoming docuseries will feature numerous former Nickelodeon child stars, including Bryan Hearne, who expresses her distaste at having been cast in stereotypically racialized roles as a rapper and a teenage “drug dealer” in this week’s PEOPLE Magazine.
The four-part documentary series on Discovery explores the costs that many actors claim they incurred while putting in long hours in an emotionally manipulative and occasionally sexually charged workplace.
Bryan Hearne reveals in this documentary series that an adult once called him a “piece of charcoal.”
“Such remarks are detrimental. I was already in an uncomfortable position being in a leotard,” alluding to when he was playing a rapper character called Lil Fetus. It’s definitely not something I’m used to.”
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Hearne made appearances in Seasons 7 and 8 of All That, the first of which debuted in 2002. The series debuted on Nickelodeon in 1994 and is one of more than a dozen TV shows that Dan Schneider created between the 1990s and the 2010s.
A children’s version of Fear Factor, On-Air Dare, debuted in the early 2000s and starred some All That cast members. Each week, one person would be randomly selected to take part in a dare, and the others would be placed in a glass cylinder.
Regarding his experiences as a 13-year-old actor in degrading stunts on the gory game show—such as one in which he was covered in peanut butter for dogs to lick off—Bryan says, “There was never any discussion.”
After leaving Nickelodeon in 2018 due to an internal investigation into his alleged verbally abusive and demanding behavior on set, Bryan Hearne went on to reflect on his time there, telling people that he felt treated differently than some of the other non-black child actors. Hearne also said that his relationship with Schneider was “non-existent.”
Hearne acknowledged that his lifelong friendship with Giovonnie Samuels, an All That alum, helped him get through that period.
Samuels had previously expressed a similar opinion, telling People that they were ignorant of the abuse that had occurred with Handy and Peck. He also said, “We put in 12 to 13-hour workdays, and after working there for a while, you get accustomed to it and let your guard down.”
Nickelodeon has however issued a statement to the public about the purported misuse of previous production sets.
“As part of our commitment to creating a safe and professional workplace free from harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct, Nickelodeon, as a matter of policy, investigates all formal complaints, even though we are unable to confirm or refute allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago.”
“We have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience. Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts, and crew, but of all children,” the statement continued.
