Mary-Kate Olsen: ‘I would never wish my upbringing on anyone…’
August 4, 2010 in Mary-Kate Olsen by Versus
Mary-Kate Olsen is featured in Marie Claire this month and she looks as stylish as ever in princess-like pink gowns, fur and sequins – but besides her fashiony ways, Mary-Kate also wants to share a deeper thought:
Outside of the spotlight, the 24-year-old bohemian star loves designing for her mix of labels — from The Row to her and Ashley’s lower-priced Olsenboye line for JCPenney — because “it’s kind of like a mask to hide behind.” In fact, Mary-Kate likens her and her sister to “little monkey performers” when referencing her childhood in front of the cameras: “I look at old photos of me, and I don’t feel connected to them at all… I would never wish my upbringing on anyone…”
Mary-Kate also opened up about the eating disorder she struggled with a few years ago:
And when the topics turn to her tabloid-plastered problems with an eating disorder (she entered treatment for one in 2004) and with a hard-partying lifestyle (including her time with the late Heath Ledger), she only says that she’s learned to seek help when she needs it: “I think it’s really important to be able to talk when something’s wrong. I learned at a really young age that if you don’t talk about it, it can drive you insane.”
2 more shots when you turn the page!
I know she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love her, I think she’s so beautiful. Saying that, these aren’t the best shots I’ve seen of her, but we rarely get to see that many of her anyway.
I definately agree. I’ve always loved the Olsen girls =] Wish I saw more of them though.
I love the green army looking jacket on her
Is it just me or those eyebrows don´t really suit her?
thick eyebrows suit EVERYONE! especially compared to all the overplucked ones i see these days.
Agreed.
I disagree, too! I think that eyebrows are perfectly plucked when they match your features! If you have too delicate features with a long face, you’ll hardly look good with thick eyebrows, imo.
I disagree.
I have a long face with small delicate features and very thick dark eyebrows and it looks great. I’m not saying I look great but I suit thick dark brows, Thin eyebrows look terrible on everyone but a person could suit a more shapely eyebrow.
actually, I disagree. I recently decided to get my eyebrows thinner than usual and a lot of people have commented on how great they look (and not just to be nice either…)
i didnt say thinner ones were bad. i said overplucked, which is more common these days. eyebrows are the most important edit you can make on your face because it really frames it out.
That’s rather sad. When I was a bit younger I used to really idolize both of them and thought their lives were perfect, but after reading this quote I realize that that’s probably far from the truth. I am so glad I had a relatively ‘normal’ life w/o pushy stage parents.. put in her position I probably would have gone mad lol.
I LOVE HER!
Apparently her dad is a huge jerk but it happens to a lot of people. Some parents are just terrible.
My first thought was to roll my eyes, but she’s absolutely right. They were forced into the limelight at such an impossibly early age. Can you imagine? People trying to stop them from crying/interrupting naptime/playtime to film scenes…and it didn’t stop for years.
same here…my first reaction was here we go again…but really, she never made a conscious choice to become a star, unlike most adult celebrities, she was literally thrown into as a toddler. And then she had to spend her childhood satisying adults around her and having to act like someone other than herself. It really is sad, and it’s not too surprising that she has had so many problems.
agreed! but she wasn’t even a toddler, when full house first started she was just a baby…
I love her! I used to be such a fan when i was little lol she was my idol! weight-wise, she has been the same for the past couple of years, so good for her.
God she’s a whiny b.i.t.c.h…Girls would kill to have had her upbringing. Yes it can’t be easy being a star from that little, but it that what brought her fame and the big money. She didn’t even have to work that much since there is a restriction on how long a kid can work on set and it ain’t much. If she didn’t want to be a star she would have stopped acting earlier, trust me. When she was 5 she really didn’t have a choice but by the time she hit around 15 I’m pretty sure she had a mind of her own and by the time she was 16-18 she could have legally stopped it all if it was that horrible. Unless her parents were cruel and working her like a ‘monkey’, they would of listened to her. All of this sounds nothing more than drama and a pathetic attempt to get attention and be a star again because let’s be honest, the only good work she has ever done is playing the little kid in full house. What better way to get attention than to pity yourself and to pretend you’re some ‘strong woman’ because of it.
She should be grateful she got the chance to shine and be a star rather than be one of the billion nobodies out there.
i agree…soo many kids are forced into much heavier labor at such a young age just to survive and NEVEr get the kind of money she and her sister have…and now at her 20`s she can actually do WHATEVER she wants with her life caue she has the money to do it…some many of us mortals have too choose a carreer because what we want to do doesnt pay enough…and she can do anything she wants…try beiing a designer without that kind of money…so for me YES SHES WHINIn
i like a lot better to hear celebrities talk bout how lucky they are..angelina is deff not my fav person but she tries way harder to give some of what she has to the world
oh well if you have a child, you can put them out to work instead. save you suffering.
you can’t say she’s whining because she didn’t have the worst upbringing in the entire world. yeah, there are people who’ve had it worse than her. there will always be someone who’s had it worse. but that doesn’t mean her difficult childhood should be discredited
Oh so it’s okay that she was doing something NOT NORMAL (acting) for about… 15 years of her life because then she consciously decided to continue living THE ONLY LIFE SHE’D EVER KNOWN?
Ugh… Because people’s upbringings and environments have NO AFFECT on them as adults. Yeah. Great logic.
and how is she whining? she’s just letting people know what she’s been through and how she never had a normal life. hell if i had to deal with losing my childhood at a young age to work then i would the hell with fame. how is she wanting more attention, because of a magazine she’s doing? it seems when a celeb opens their mouth, we either bash them for saying it or try to sympathize but end up bashing them. i would rather see her in a movie than other so called actresses, who aren’t doing anything other than look pretty or get in trouble. don’t you think because she went through would affect her as she became an adult? she probably doesn’t know what it’s like to be normal because she was always from it all her life.
i wish they’re were stricter regulations to protect kids. if their parents won’t we should. I hate when celebrities or their parents justify them working as kids by saying its what they wanted. when my brother was little he wanted to be fireman sam, my mum didn’t buy him a hose and send him out to put out fires!
What if she had to work in the fields with her family just to make enough to eat and survive and never got an education? What if she grew up to be illiterate and poor? Face it, she can do anything she wants to do now, because of the money she made acting. She’ll never have to work again the rest of her life if she doesn’t want to. These grown women are billionaires. Don’t feel sorry for them. She needs to learn more about some real nightmare childhoods.
I mean I’m still trying to put myself and my husband through college so we don’t have to live below the poverty line because our parents could care less.
so only hard work hurts? mental anguish doesn’t count? so a woman who is mentally abused by her husband should just put up with it, whereas if he hits her then she has cause for complaint?
a child carrying the presssures of providing for a whole family, seeing greed driving her parents rather than concern or love for her, feeling as if she has to earn their affection? none of these things you think could affect someone negatively? not being allowed to do anything without being told her every action was being scrutinised and had to be approved as role model worthy or she was leading astray every young american girl who was a fan? never being able to just throw a tantrum without the world judging? these are incredible pressures to grow up under. You are being very unfair and narrow minded.
very well said.. i completely agree. it’s always easier to look at them from afar and be envious, but at the end of the day most of us would leave everything superficial for the love and affection we receive from family and friends… especially the genuiness, and not having to think if people love/like you for who you are in terms of status, instead of deep down.
I don’t recieve love and affection from my family. Or even emotional support. My family would chose money over me but I’m not letting it stop me from being happy and having a good life with my husband.
Very well said!! I hate ignorant people who think people who are wealthy should not be entitled to have emotional troubles or mental trauma. I for one think it falls under the list of one of the most ignorant things a person can do, almost the same as a racist really. Yes, being wealthy means that money is no longer one of your problems, but it definitely does not buy you inner peace of mind or happiness and that is what every human being wants deep down at the end of the day. WHO ARE YOU, to say that a child in some poor country trying to make ends meet is not happy? WHO ARE YOU to say that someone who does not have to worry about money should not WHINE about growing up unhappily. I rarely get upset but reading these comment just shows how ignorant people are.
Sorry for using the word “hate” I dont really hate anyone…especially not some online posters…hahahaha…anyways….ya.
I completely agree! It’s interesting how many people think money erases emotional problems.
I’m one of the least ignorant people on this site.
I agree with everything you said BUT think about this…. everyone goes through struggles while growing up. I am just one in a billion of the people in this world, and I wouldn’t want ANYBODY to be brought up the way I was. I wasn’t broke, but we weren’t rich either. Yet I hated my surroundings and influences. Just like Mary-Kate hated hers. I dont know many people that can confidently say “People should be brought up the way I was”. No one likes the way their brought up. So having Mary-Kate, a girl with a whole bunch of money her whole life say it, makes the statement a bit of an eye roller. I believe this is what the MaryBeth person was trying to say but failed to say it over all the ignorance lol (no offense).
Yes, exactly only hard work hurts and mental anguish doesn’t hurt but that’s called life. Deal with it. Everyone has to go through pain in this life and one every single one of us will die. And I don’t know how you draw domestic abuse into this.
Well it’s not like she is saying that she would have rather worked in the fields than to become an actress. To me it seems like what she’s trying to say is that she would have prefered a normal family life (which she probably could have had) to one in the limelight.
And she seems to make pretty calm reflections on her past it’s not like she is whining about it or anything…
Yes, they are billionaires.
But billions can’t buy you a childhood, nor supportive parents, nor strong friendships and relationships. Things that we humans, as social beings, need.
The only thing I find wrong with her quote is that I feel like she fails to notice that people have the same problems as she does without getting compensated for it…so they do have it worse.
Quite frankly, if I got paid millions for all of the problems in my life, I would still have had the problems, but not needing to worry about how I’m going to feed myself would have at least made it a little easier.
Again Well said, Completely agree!
agree!!
Perfect comment!!!!!
Thank you.
plus, just because you think it can be worse, that doesn’t mean she hadn’t had a hard time aswell
i don’t think she’s a whiny ***ch at all. Just because someone has money and fame does not mean all their worries and problems are over. Money does not buy happiness. She does look beautiful though.
I agree and disagree with her.
I definetly believe that she has had a rough upbringing, and I do think a lot of people envy her life without knowing what it’s like.
However, I think she fails to notice that there are people living the same kind of life that she is…with pushy and otherwise dysfunctional parents, with parents with mental disorders, with parents with addictions…and they don’t get to be rich and famous like she is.
It’s hard to go through the problems that she went through. It’s a lot harder to go through them while in financial hardship and lack of a strong fanbase. Sadly, not all of us get to make millions off of our messed up lives.
(Applause), haha!
No, but really, very well said!
True, but it is all relative.
People can only relate to problems in the context of their situation and people of all social and wealth classes have problems. For a child in a poor, barren country it will be starvation and hardship and for a Mrs Dalloway type it will be emotional suppression and peer pressure.
She’s only commented on her own situation so I don’t think we can say for sure that she is failing to understand that others have it bad, or worse.
I’m not rich and famous so I cannot empathise with her and I certainly have more sympathy for other situations, however a child being forced to work the way she was sounds unbearable. People go on about trade laws for kids but please do really think they are implemented effectively? Just think about how many laws we all break on a daily basis. Does because a law is on place doesn’t mean it’s being followed. Judy Garland is a tragic example of a hard childhood in show business can do to you.
I’m not trying to evoke sympathy for the rich and famous, all I’ saying is that every situation is different. The Olsens’ may not be the sought we would set up a charity for and sign a petition but it does raise awareness as to effects fame can have on children. Makes you want to think twice about leading your own kids down that path.
All these stupid “My life is worse than hers” comments really need to be deleted.
i feel she has been unfairly misrepresented in this post. you see, after she said “i would never wish my upbringing on anyone…” she then said “…but I wouldn’t take it back for the world.”
Hah, did not know that. I would not have posted what I did had I known that….apparently I am just a judgemental holier than thou bitch. NOW I kind of feel sorry for her. That extra comment changes the entire nature of the quote.
Woow its worse that the article cut it off at that statement to emphasize it. But um…. how do you know she said that after??? Did you read it somewhere else?? Do you have a link?? Not tryna be ignorant but I need a more valid source than your comment.
I think there is something very “haunting” in her eyes. To me she just doesn’t look happy…. she looks like a little girl lost. I applaud her for getting help when needed but, lookswise….. I have always felt she looks like a troll doll.
sorry she regrets her upbringing, but mine wouldn’t have been the same without the olsen twins!
LOL very cute
same here!! passport to paris anyone? ahhh <3
simply put, i love her.
What a typical whiny, pampered, ungrateful, melodramatic little rich girl. “I wouldn’t wish my childhood on anyone”? You’d think she was beaten, starved, and verbally abused.
i like that everyone can tolerate different levels of stress and unhappiness. even though her and ashley both grew up the same, mary kate maybe just had a hard time dealing with the lifestyle. its good that her message is to ask people to reach out. thats truly the most important thing.
‘like’
I really disagree with all these comments saying she’s right that she had a bad childhood. Very few ppl have the supportive families and perfect childhoods. I kind of feel that if you didn’t end up with the kind of childhood with abusive parents, poor neighbourhood, rampant drugs, uncaring family, foster care, etc., than you are lucky, because ppl that do have these difficult childhoods, the effects of which usually cause difficult adult lives. I don’t think ppl. are entitled to two awesome supportive parents and great family, they’re just lucky if they have that. Mary Kate’s money might not be everything, but she has a twin sister, tons of people who love her, great career opportunities, the ability to afford any psychiatric care her “traumatic” childhood may have caused her,etc.
She`s beautiful.I`m happy that her life is back on track
She looks sooooo gorgeous in these pics:) I personally love a slightly thicker brow, it’s been said that a thicker brow looks more youthful (perfectly sculpted still, of course). Anyway, as Princess said above ” I’m happy that her life is back on track”
I LOVE her eyes! So beautiful.
She is not a common celebrity with herve leger bandage dress and I appreciate it
i think if they weren’t acting since they were 2 years old they would of been completely different people and mk wouldn’t have that eating disorder. Imagine… not having ANY childhood. They can’t look back and be like oh remember the time we did this blah blah blah…. fame doesn’t screw everyone up but it does screw up some people. Especially when you enter it at a young age. Look at lindsay lohan. If the olsens became famous now, it would be different. They’re grown up and know exactly what they want. But now they just can’t run away from it. Anyways i love her and ashley.
oh boo hoo, her ‘upbringing’ caused her to rake in millions which provides her with the ability to do what she wants in life. if she wasn’t famous, or her sister.. ‘the row’ wouldn’t be as famous.
I would just like to point out that in the full article she states, “I would never wish my upbringing upon anyone, but I wouldn’t take it back for the world.”
So yeah. Context.
To all of you slamming her for saying that her childhood was rough, you really need to learn a little skill called perspective. Does she say she had the most miserable childhood anyone in the history of the universe has ever had? Of course not. Are there people out there who experience much worse things? Of course there are. But don’t be so foolish as to equate fame and money with happiness and a balanced life. Hardship does not only exist in the form of poverty or physical abuse; you all fail to recognize the effects of being deprived of normal childhood social interactions and mental/emotional development.
The fact of the matter is that she and her sister never had the choice to go into the entertainment industry, the choice was made for them when they were only months old. Growing up without a sense of control over nearly all aspects of your life–on their shows/movies/clothing lines, etc. they were told what they were to do, with whom, how they were going to do it, and when they were going to do it, leaving little time for the girls to just be little girls–it’s not something to take lightly. It’s no surprise to me at all that many child stars wind up having psychological issues later in life, because their development is so unusually altered. Think about it, how on earth is celebrity a part of or conducive to child development? It isn’t. She may have stacks and stacks of money, but as we all know, money can’t buy happiness.
I totally agree. She never said she had the worst childhood, but that she wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. I don’t think that means hers was the worst ever. Yes, millions around the world are starving, have AIDS as children, go through child labor with little/no pay, get abused by their family, etc. I’m sure she wouldn’t wish those childhoods upon anyone either. Therefore, everyone should chill out. She said she had a rough childhood, not the roughest.
if any of you had ANY idea what they *really* put most celebrities through, none of you would be talking about how whiny she is. do you brainwashed fools really think everything is as it seems in hollywood? come on.
I think she is quite the normal girl, and mature enough to admit what she went through, I admit I admire her for that. And I love her natural eyebrows!
I agree. I think she has alot to be thankful for like the money which can’t be horrible
and she went through it with her sister so she wasn’t alone, she had someone close to her that truely understood the situation.
But on the other hand it must of been hard to grow up like that and to be honest unless you have been through the same thing you can’t really judge what she said or why she said it.