I’ll tell you up front, this story won’t actually depress you. Former child star Morgan York started acting when she was nine and made her first movie, Cheaper by the Dozen with Steve Martin, when she was 11. When she was 13, she was cast as Sarah on the Miley Cyrus-led Hannah Montana. But in 2010 she gave up acting altogether. However, she did it for a perfectly normal reason, she wasn’t enjoying it anymore. Morgan told a fellow TikTok user that she had planned on putting the breaks on acting when she went to college anyway but decided to give it up because it wasn’t fun. What she didn’t expect was people’s reaction to her making that decision.
Not all child stars want to keep up with their acting crafts. Morgan York, who is best known for her role as Sarah on the popular Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, resurfaced online recently when discussing her decision to leave acting for good after some success as a child star.
The 28-year-old writer now works for a publishing house, but says she is regularly asked why she gave up acting as a teenager.
“I started acting when I was nine and from the beginning my mom told me, ‘The second this becomes not fun or you want to stop, you can stop,'” she shared on TikTok. “I never expected it to be a lifetime thing. I even remember as a kid trying to imagine myself as an adult actor and just not seeing it.”
York, whose last role was in 2010, said she always planned to stop acting when she went to college.
“I think I also wildly underestimated how much of an uproar would be made over it. I thought I could just leave and nobody would ask me for the next 11 years of my life, ‘Why did you quit acting?'” she said. “But yeah, it wasn’t fun anymore. My passion for acting did not outweigh all the costs, like all the time you have to spend away from loved ones on sets and the constant scrutiny from people watching you.”
There was a brief period when one of my kids was into Hannah Montana so I watched it for a couple of months, but I can’t remember much of it at all. I’m sure Morgan was darling, many of the cast were. In her TikTok, she’s matter-of-fact about her decision. There’s no animosity towards the industry, but it definitely sounds like she made the right decision for herself. She’s also confident in her choice and her love of writing.
I have to believe having a mom who supported her in the right way, telling her “this ends when you want it to,” had to help her make that transition. I don’t think acting is right for everybody and it is probably fun for a short bit. It also seems like a lot of work and, as Morgan said, time away from other parts of your life. So the best thing for her was to walk away. Plus it sounds like Morgan was doing it for the acting as opposed to the fame. Some poor folks work their whole lives chasing fame, which is much harder to come by.
I’m not surprised by the amount of times Morgan’s had to answer to her decision, though. I feel for her having to deal with that, but people tend to idolize Hollywood and the film industry. Morgan is doing her thing. She works in publishing, she writes fiction, has her own blog. She’s been married since 2019. Someone on TikTok asked her if she is in touch with the cast of Hannah Montana and Morgan said no, but, again, it doesn’t sound acrimonious. She follows them all on social media. And she’s not totally off Hollywood’s radar. Morgan participated in the Cheaper by the Dozen’s video to raise funds for No Kid Hungry last year.
Photo credit: Getty Images and Instagram
Yeah I don’t know how anyone can hear and know all the stories we do and keep asking these kids why they leave the business. It’s a bit of a horror show that’s why. And if you’re not a huge star earning millions? The personal cost does not seem worth it.
Good for her. She likely earned enough to go to college totally or almost debt free and has cool memories. Not a bad way to do it.
Totally agree, Mia4s!
I love this story. She is very lucky she has a mom who didnt turn her child into a meal ticket. Morgan must be very smart to know it was time to leave.
This!
She had parental support. Too many of them absolutely do not. They might appear supportive, but push them heavily towards staying in acting. I think Miley’s parents did that. And she didn’t know what she really wanted without the influence of them.
I love hearing this story, so much of the time these days we are getting a ‘narrative’ from people, their agents, etc. and here we have a completely normal story about someone who did something fun then it stopped being fun so she followed something else she cared about. See kids, it can be done! Fame/celebrity is not something we have to chase at any cost.
Props to her mother for being genuinely supportive of what was best for her daughter too.
Refreshing to hear of some solid parenting in the entertainment industry, for a change.
I’m glad to see it worked out well for one Disney child actor. I think we soon will see a huge wave of children “actors” who’s parents made them participate in YouTube and social media. I feel sad for the kids. I cannot for the life of me get my children to even smile for a Christmas card. Oh well, they’re happy and I’m taking photos of my beautiful children in my mind. LOL
She was a great comedic actor! For some reason I love the movie The Pacifier with Vin Diesel, which she is also in, and she cracks me up every time I watch it.
I loved this story. She seems cool and her mom sounds great. Her eyeliner is driving me batty, though.
“Some poor folks work their whole lives chasing fame” – *cough*Lindsay Lohan*cough*
This story makes me happy. She sounds like she has a great life. I’m glad her parents supported her and didn’t just focus on the money I’m sure she was bringing in. So many (too many) child stars have awful experiences and/or get hurt by predators. I’m so glad she wasn’t one of those cases.
I love this story 🙂