LOS ANGELES — Drugs. Eating disorders. Bullying. Social media pitfalls. The life of a child star can be dark and dangerous, and the Hulu documentary Child Star sheds light on it all.

Demi Lovato, who began acting when she was about 10 years old, is the co-director, executive producer and subject of this documentary – an idea that Lovato has had for years.

“You know, I wanted to take a detailed look at the history, the past and present of the child stars,” Lovato told “On The Red Carpet.”

“As I approached 30, I started thinking more about my own story and asking myself, ‘Why did I get into this industry?’ And, you know, ‘Why do I stay in this industry?’ And so there was a lot I had to learn along my own path as well.”

In the documentary, Lovato spoke to Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci and Kenan Thompson about the ups and downs they experienced as young artists.

Lovato also sat down with her “Camp Rock” co-star Alyson Stoner, which turned out to be quite a difficult conversation. At the time they were working together, both struggled with eating disorders but didn’t talk about it.

“It was a particularly complex and nerve-wracking conversation for us because it was the first time in about 14 years that I had had personal contact with Demi after a very serious incident occurred during our collaboration,” Stoner revealed.

“So the decision was hopefully for us both to meet as adults and have a healing conversation, a conversation of clarity, and also to reflect on the complexity of what it meant for us to grow up as working children in an environment.”

Raven-Symoné has been working as a child actress since she was a baby. And as we learn in “Child Star,” she understood by the age of three that what she was doing was a job. And she says the stories viewers hear should serve as a warning.

“I hope they know this isn’t just a playground,” she said. “This is a business. And at a young age, we had to be business people who are treated like children in an adult world, but still like adults.”

JoJo Siwa has had to navigate the boundaries between child and adult since her breakout role on the “Dance Moms” franchise. She later worked for Nickelodeon, which she says once owned the rights to everything she did except social media. In the documentary, she said her social media presence grew exponentially and she revealed so much of herself online that at the end of the day there was nothing left for her to share. While that may seem off-putting to some, Siwa says her “open” communication style is simply her way of life.

“Everyone always says, ‘You need to do media training.’ And I say, ‘Nah, I just answer everything they ask me.’ You know what I mean,” Siwa revealed.

“As an adult, those questions get a little harder. And especially in a documentary like this, those questions are harder. But whatever someone wants to know. I have nothing to hide, you know what I mean? And that’s why I’m not ashamed of any part of my life. I always try to live with a good heart, to be a good person. And that’s why I think it’s a good thing to shed light on some things.”

In the documentary, Lovato speaks to children in the Looking Ahead program, an organization that helps young artists. Lovato tells them there’s no manual to becoming a child star, but she told On The Red Carpet that this documentary can help educate them.

“I thought this could definitely be a learning experience for people, simply because being a child star is nothing new to most people. As we worked on the film, it became increasingly clear that protections needed to be put in place for future generations of child actors.”

“Child Star” is now streaming on Hulu.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC channel.