Latest news with #Autopsy(ofanEx-TeenHeartthrob
CBC
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Autopsy (of an Ex-Teen Heartthrob) by Avan Jogia
Avan Jogia grew up as a teen idol. He stumbled into the spotlight during the birth of the internet, the early days of Instagram and Twitter, before everyone online was a star. He spent his time in that spotlight writing, observing the cult of celebrity, the hilarity, the absurdity, and sometimes sinister side of being idolized before you've even had the chance to decide for yourself who you are. Now, in his most revealing and honest work to date, he has assembled a book of poems as an act of self-dissection. Part boozy lovesick rage and part personal reflection on the nature of fame, Autopsy (of an Ex-Teen Heartthrob) is a sharp, tantalizing collection of poems examining Avan's relationship with ego, idolatry, love as an act of worship, rage as an act of prayer, and sadness as confession. Through vivid imagery (and sometimes startling honesty) Avan cuts himself open and observes the false gods he has worshipped, the ways he has sinned, and exhumes a version of himself that looks like someone we all know: a person searching for the means to cure pain, mend the wounds of insecurity, and satiate cravings for love.
CBC
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Former Nickelodeon star Avan Jogia reflects on the dark side of being a teen actor
As a former Nickelodeon star, Avan Jogia had to grow up fast. The Canadian actor got his breakthrough role playing Beck Oliver on the teen sitcom Victorious, which thrust him into the spotlight and turned him into a heartthrob. Now, he's released a new book of poetry, Autopsy (of an Ex-Teen Heartthrob), which takes aim at the artifice of Hollywood and the crushing pressures that young actors face. "I've been writing poetry since I was 15 years old," Jogia tells Q 's Tom Power in an interview over Zoom. "A lot of that poetry was about my frustrations about being on a show that I don't think really represented me creatively." During his time on Victorious, Jogia says he felt like he was simply performing "adolescence and purity," while not actually experiencing much of an adolescence himself. Not only that, but he felt more like a product or a brand than a real person. "Part of being a teen idol is being sort of shapeless as a person and not really having that strong an identity," he says. "There's really a desire for the 'hot guy' to just be a non-person…. You represent a comfort and a perfect thing." Jogia's poem I am on set getting yelled at is about his experience being chastised while filming a Season 2 episode of Victorious. Last year, a five-part documentary series, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, revealed how Nickelodeon failed to protect its child actors from abuse and misconduct. "I think that there's sort of a mock sympathy, especially around documentaries like Quiet on Set," Jogia says. "It's ambulance chasing and tragedy porn masquerading as sympathy. I'm very distrustful of public interest about this subject because I think it's clickbait-y and it's for media outlets and studios to make money. I don't think the sympathy that they're getting from the audience is real." The reason Jogia turned to poetry as a creative outlet to unpack his feelings and observations about the sinister side of fame is because it's very personal, immediate and independent. "Directing a film takes a lot of time and a lot of money and a lot of people," he explains. "Acting requires a gig. It's cathartic, but you're also saying other people's words…. Painting is messy, a lot of paint. But writing is one of the most immediate impulses that I have."
