15 Surprising Facts About Bella Thorne's Childhood
If you grew up watching Disney Channel, there's a good chance you know who Bella Thorne is.
Thorne, who became a popular young actress while portraying her character CeCe Jones on Disney's Shake It Up alongside Zendaya, has lived out much of her teenage and young adult life in front of the cameras and lenses of Hollywood paparazzi that try to snap pictures of her on a daily basis as she became one of Hollywood's favourite young stars to criticize and keep watch of, picking apart her every move.
Regardless of the hate she's faced, Thorne has worked diligently and tirelessly towards establishing the impressive career resume she has today, but that's not to say it didn't come with a few sacrifices. Throughout Thorne's early life, she dealt with many hardships that most children her age would never even imagine of dealing with. She faced challenges and roadblocks that could have stopped her from pursuing her dreams but kept pushing forward.
But before the scrutiny that comes with living life in the limelight, Thorne lived out an entire childhood with no outside cameras or input from anyone but the people she knew and loved. Here are 15 surprising facts about Bella Thorne's childhood.
15 Booking 'Shake It Up' Saved Her Family From Living On The Streets
Although it may seem like every child grows up with a dream of being on the Disney Channel, it was quite the opposite for Thorne. Though she played CeCe Jones on Disney Channel's popular show Shake It Up, Thorne actually had no interest in being on the show or Disney Channel, and only accepted it to save her family from losing their home and living on the streets.
Thorne has publicly spoken about the difficult time her family went through before she began her role on the show, one that she would continue to play for three years and be associated with for the rest of her teenage and adult life. During an episode of MTV's podcast Happy Sad Confused, Thorne admitted that she never wanted to audition for Shake It Up to begin with: “I didn't want to audition for Shake It Up!"
"I literally said in my audition, 'I don't sing. I don't dance. I'm basically tone deaf, and I'm not funny. So I don't know why I'm here.'”
Thorne went on to explain how her booking the role was imperative, considering the fact that her family was living on the brink of poverty: “We were about to live physically on the street if I didn't have that role. We were living off Stouffer's coupons, and that's all we had to eat every day.” While Thorne may appear to be living the lush life now, she certainly went through a great deal to get there.
14 She Was Almost Fired From 'Shake It Up'
Over the course of Thorne's three years on Shake It Up, the actress was nearly axed from the TV show. While Thorne's lack of interest in being on the show in the first place may lead you to believe that her nearly being fired had something to do with it, it is not at all the case. Thorne's close call with unemployment came about when a picture of a young Bella Thorne posing in a bikini on the beach, began circulating online.
The situation was not nearly as bad as it seems. The picture of Thorne was not distasteful or provocative by any means but, either way, Disney was not having any of it given that they are notorious for insisting upon the fact that their stars maintain a wholesome and clean image that will appeal to their fanbase as much as possible. In an interview with Under The Influence, Thorne spoke about the whole ordeal, and the reason the network, just barely, spared her job. “'They said 'you're lucky Bella has such a fanbase we can't afford to fire her at this moment in time but if she does one more thing we will.'"
Thorne is not the first celebrity to work for the Disney Channel who has called out the network. Actress Rowan Blanchard from the Boy Meets World reboot Girl Meets World has previously said that Disney is known for “crafting your voice.”
13 She Lost Her Father When She Was A Child
When Thorne was only nine years old, her father Delancey Reinaldo "Rey" Thorne was involved in a motorcycle accident that left Thorne to grow up without a father, and her mother to raise she and her three siblings Dani, Kaili, and Remy.
The passing of Thorne's father hit she and her family very hard, as they were left to live with very little. Thorne explained how difficult it was for her mother to continue to raise she and her siblings in the difficult financial situation they were left in once their father had passed: “When you're a single mom raising four kids with debt and you have nothing to your name, it's hard." Thorne felt that it was up to her to provide for her family, and she was able to do that through her budding career in the entertainment industry. During that time, Throne became the breadwinner for her family.
The loss of Thorne's father not only manifested itself in her family life but also her professional life. She felt obligated to take jobs just so she could provide for her family, not feeling like she had a choice. In addition, Thorne was also emotionally scarred and developed a fear of driving. In a 2015 interview with Seventeen Magazine, Thorne was asked if she had her drivers license, to which she replied
“No, not yet. I don't have my permit either. My father passed away in a motorcycle accident. I'm not mature enough to accept the responsibility of perhaps taking someone else's life."
Later on, Thorne triumphantly conquered her longtime fear of driving, and received her driver's license, telling Vogue that she put the task on her personal goals list so she knew it was something she needed to do.
12 She Was Diagnosed With Dyslexia In First Grade
If there is one aspect of Thorne's life that she has not kept a secret, it's the fact that she was diagnosed with dyslexia at a very young age. Thorne actively talks about her early struggle with her dyslexia, how she was able to overcome her learning disability and get to a place in her life where she felt that words and reading were her friends, not her enemies.
When Thorne was in first grade, she was diagnosed with dyslexia and has revealed in an interview with Harper's Bazaar that until she landed her role on Shake It Up, she hadn't been to school since the third grade when she got pulled out to be homeschooled. Thorne remembers not receiving an education and that her lack of schooling made her feel inferior and stupid: “It was really hard for a long time because I was always told I wasn't the smart girl." Though she struggled, Thorne was able to read but didn't know how to write. She taught herself how to do so by reading scripts. Her lack of education impacted Thorne, saying: “[It] always made me feel like I was at a disadvantage and it still kinda [sic] does a little bit."
Thorne did not let her dyslexia stop her from pursuing writing-based projects. Thorne has written a trilogy of young adult novels based on experienced she's faced in her life. Although she partnered with a ghostwriter for the project, Thorne worked collaboratively with the writer. She also took on writing her own short film entitled The Her and the Him.
11 She Couldn't Be Herself While On 'Shake It Up'
Many people knew Throne as the clean-cut Disney girl they saw on Shake It Up, but the truth is that Thorne was never truly able to be her authentic self while working for Disney Channel. The famous network stifled Thorne's real personality, altering the way she dressed, acted, and even spoke.
After Thorne's close call with being fired from Shake It Up, she became fearful of losing her job which would result in losing her house and being unable to care for her family.
So she told herself “'Don't be yourself, just be good'”, a mantra that she would abide by until her time, as well as her contract with Disney, was up.
In an interview with Vogue, Thorne's sister Dani explained that her sister was never allowed to be herself: “She wasn't free before. She had a lot of contracts and she had… my mom and like everybody just trying to be like 'You have to be this served on a platter' kind of thing.”
While working for Disney, Thorne was portrayed to the world as a bubbly redheaded girly girl. The network even made Thorne speak in a higher pitch instead of her naturally deeper toned voice to appeal to their younger demographic. In reality, Thorne was the complete opposite of the character she played on and off screen. She was a tomboy at heart, and as soon as she was liberated from the clutches of Disney's constraints she dressed, spoke, and acted exactly the way she wanted.
10 Her Mother Wanted Her To Become A Singer
Though Thorne is now continuing to pursue, what was, her suspended music career, she has a long history with music considering that music and acting were a package deal of sorts when it came to working for the Disney Channel.
Before Thorne's successful acting career took off, her mother Tamara Thorne, who initially worked as a marketing executive before transitioning to the role of a talent manager, originally had plans for Thorne to become a singer. But those plans quickly went down the drain when Thorne found success early on in her acting career after making appearances on Entourage and The O.C.
Later on in her career, Thorne would delve back into the music industry, featuring in multiple songs on several Shake It Up soundtracks with her then-co-star Zendaya. Thorne also collaborated with singer Pia Mia on a single called Bubblegum Boy in 2011. Thorne also recently featured on DJ Prince Fox's song Just Call as well as featured on the soundtrack for her movie Midnight Sun on a song called Burn So Bright. In May of 2018, Thorne dropped her first solo single since 2014. Thorne spoke to Vogue about her aspirations in the music world, saying: “My main aim in the music world is for people to listen to a song and be like 'I agree' cause [sic] then you don't feel like you're alone. You feel like somebody else gets you.”
9 She Made Her First Talk Show Appearance When She Was Eight Years Old
Thorne has made many appearances to promote various projects she's been involved in on talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show and Chelsea Handler's Netflix show. Considering Thorne's lengthy acting career, it comes as no surprise to find out that she made her first appearance on a talk show at just eight years old.
In 2006, Thorne appeared on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Though she was not interviewed, Thorne participated in a skit where she portrayed Keith Richard's daughter where she begs her parents to sleep at her friend's house. Nine years later, when Thorne returned in February 2015, Kimmel confessed that he was not aware of her first appearance on the show. Thorne explained her role in the skit and her experience filming:
“I had to eat spaghetti and meatballs, and they kept telling me 'Don't eat the meatballs, Bella. Stop eating the prop food!' But I love meatballs and I love spaghetti so I just kept eating it and I think they were a little mad.”
Kimmel proceeded to roll a clip of Thorne's skit so that the whole audience and the rest of the viewers at home could reminisce with Thorne.
8 She Began Dying Her Hair When She Was 13 Years Old
Thorne is most significantly associated with the bright orange hair color that she sported during the early stages of her acting career. What many people are surprised to find is that the fiery locks she's known for, are not actually natural. Thorne's was born with blonde hair, that she began to dye her signature red-orange color when she was only 13 years old.
Thorne first dyed her hair for her role on Big Love in 2010, originally going for a deep red color. Thorne revealed to Allure that when she was in the process of preparing for her role on Shake It Up the Disney executives suggested that Thorne go blonde. She must have developed some sort of subconscious attachment to the color because she said of her reaction to the color change: “I don't know why, but I had a breakdown and so overreacted. I wanted to go back to red."
Though the shade and intensity of the color have fluctuated during the course of her career, it has rarely strayed from the red tone until recently. Once Thorne had the freedom to do what she wanted with herself and her appearance, she began to experiment with different hair colors. In 2012 she tried out strawberry blonde, still somewhat in the realm of red and going back to her true red soon after. Up until February 2016, Thorne went back and forth between the two colors until she tried out a sandy blonde color. In late 2016 Thorne began her experimentation with bold and bright hair colors, like bright pink-red hair with neon green dip-dyed tips, multi-colored streaks, teal and dark blue, icy blond and, most recently, bright fuchsia.
7 She Was Bullied As A Child
Thorne has spoken openly and honestly about her struggles with bullying whether it be in elementary school as a child or more recently online in the form of Internet critics.
Thorne's journey with bullying began when she was in elementary school because of the fact that she grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, so English was not her first language. She also was bullied for her dyslexia and her difficulties with reading and writing: “Kids bullied me, they always told me that I was the pretty air-headed girl and that I was never going to be able to act because I couldn't read.” In third grade, Thorne's mother decided that it would be best to homeschool Thorne rather than have her enrolled in a traditional school setting:
“I used to literally run out of class every day crying and that's when my Mom pulled me out because I wasn't getting any work done.”
Thorne deals with a different form of bullying today. And just because she's not able to physically see them, does not mean that its impact is any less harsh. In an interview with People Magazine, Thorne spoke about constantly facing judgement of people who don't even know her personally: “They all think they know what they're talking about," she said. "And they think they know your life and they get their friends to trash you. It doesn't feel good to think that everybody in the world just thinks you're an absolutely disgusting person and just because I'm somebody where people know my name, it's so much worse for me"
Thorne does not deny that the cyberbullying hurts, but she does not focus on the bad energy from haters and remains focused on herself: “I try not to make it about the haters. I try to just say that you should be motivating yourself. Nobody else should be motivating you.”
6 She Volunteered For The Humane Society
There are many differences between the Bella Thorne everyone watched on Disney Channel, and the Bella Thorne we know now. But one of the few things about her that has remained the same is her love for animals. If you're one of Thorne's 17.6 million Instagram followers you would absolutely know just how much Thorne loves her pets. Thorne is the owner of several cats and dogs who make frequent appearances on her Instagram account, some even having accounts of their own.
Thorne's love of animals can be traced all the way back to when she was a child, where she even spent some time volunteering as a animals rescuer with the Humane Society. Thorne, who owns several dogs and cats, has quite a few rescue animals in her little family of pets. In an interview with BellaDog Magazine, Thorne explains her reasoning for volunteering for the organization: “I love animals and wanted to work with them. I saw how many animals don't have homes and how much they just want a little love.”
Most recently, Thorne has adopted a dog with her current boyfriend rapper Mod Sun, whom they named Tampon, with the help of Thorne's Twitter followers. Thorne received some backlash for the unusual name, first stating jokingly that she thought it would be funny if someone would come up to her and ask what the name of her dog was, and she would respond with Tampon. Later, when asked by a fan why she would name her dog such a thing, Thorne replied: “When did tampon become a bad thing? When did someone buy a tampon and it didn't come in handy?”
5 She Didn't Dance Growing Up
Since Thorne is known for playing a dancer and seemed to be quite good at it during her time on Shake It Up, it may come as a surprise to some to know that Thorne had no previous dance experience prior to booking the Disney show.
Thorne may not have been a trained dancer like her co-star Zendaya, but she seemed to have been a natural when she managed to fool audiences with her dancing skills for the three years she was on the show. In a 2013 interview with Teen Vogue, Thorne shed some light on what drew her to the show, despite her lack of dance experience:
“I was actually never a dancer. I just fell in love with the script-so I had to freestyle my way into the audition."
Thorne may have had natural rhythm, but that's not to say that she didn't practice or have help along the way. In order to properly prepare for her role, Thorne took “two or three dance classes per night about for to five times per week.” She would also watch dance shows, and mimic the moves the dancers would do.
As mentioned, Thorne recently revealed that her desire to be on Shake It Up was never genuine and that she blatantly informed the casting directors that she couldn't sing, or dance. Even so, it appears that Thorne picked up a thing or two from her time on Shake It Up. In 2017, Thorne hosted and led an open hip-hop master class at the Millennium Dance Complex in the Los Angeles area.
4 She Grew Up Speaking Spanish
During her youth, Thorne may have had the look to pull off the image of the “All American Girl” but her heritage is, in fact, far from that. Thorne, who was born in Pembroke Pines, Florida, is part Italian, Irish, German, Welsh, English, and Cuban. Thorne's father was of Cuban descent and, due to this, Thorne was raised in a home where Spanish was her first language. The actress actually was bullied at school for speaking Spanish rather than English.
Thorne proudly and strongly identifies with her Cuban heritage and often gets annoyed when people assume that she's not Latina when they see her red hair and pale skin. When the actress spoke to ExtraTV at Latina Magazine's event celebrating 30 Latina women under the age of 30 years old who make a difference in their communities, Thorne explained her feelings towards those who associate being Latina with physical features: “People always say 'Why did she have a Quinceanera if she's not Latin?' People think that I'm not Latin because I have red hair and, mostly, my skin looks pale. I think that's messed up. It's not about your looks… it's not about having dark hair or dark eyes. It's about what's inside.”
3 She's Been Working As An Actress Since She Was A Child
If you browse Thorne's IMDB page, you'll easily recognize that in the short span of 20 years, Thorne has covered a lot of ground in the acting business with 70 acting credits in her repertoire with a few projects in pre as well as post-production. Thorne has been working as early as 2003 when she was just six years old, with her first job as an uncredited role in the film Stuck On You. Since then, Thorne's career has not slowed down one bit, nor does she have any plans to.
In a 2015 interview with Galore Magazine, Thorne explained that because she has been involved in so many projects and played so many roles in her short but prosperous career when people recognize her and approach her, she's never really sure where exactly they recognize her from:
“People ask me, and they're like, 'What are you in? I know you're in a bunch of stuff.' And I'm like, 'Um, you know, like, movies and stuff."But what?' and I'm like… 'Honestly, I have no idea which project you've pulled.'”
Thorne admits that she's a workaholic and that she rarely ever stops. Thorne has gone on record to say: “A good amount of times I don't feel like I'm 20. I'm always like 'I'm just never doing enough.' It's pretty crazy so I'm just always ready to do the next thing.”
2 She Was On 'The O.C.'
In the early stages of her career, Thorne established herself through several small parts like an uncredited role in Stuck On You in 2003, the television show Entourage as well as the film The Seer in 2007. Along with these when Thorne was ten she had a guest-starring role on a 2007 episode of The O.C. where she played the young version, Taylor Townsend. Though her work on The O.C. is not what launched Thorne's acting career, it certainly is a role that many people remember her in.
Thorne's first big acting role was on the television show Dirty Sexy Money where she played Margaux Darling in four episodes in 2007 and 2008. Thorne made several other short-term guest appearances on shows like My Own Worst Enemy, Little Monk, and Big Love the latter for which she is most commonly recognized for aside from Shake It Up, which she booked soon after Big Love.
From her small roles on TV shows, Thorne began booking bigger roles in movies like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Blended, and Amityville: The Awakening, Thorne has received the opportunity to work on some incredible films with incredible actors and people she looks up to in the entertainment industry. When Thorne was asked to be in Xavier Dolan's The Death and Life of John F. Donovan Thorne could not believe she got the opportunity to be included in such an illustrious cast and crew of people. She told Galore Magazine in 2015: “… I'm doing a film with Jessica Chastain and Xavier Dolan's our director. It'll be his first film in English… I'm working with the best actors.”
1 She Used To Model
As mentioned, Thorne has been working as an actress since she was six years old but did you know that she began working in the entertainment industry at just six weeks old? Yes, contrary to popular belief Thorne's career did not begin in acting but rather modeling. Thorne began modeling when she was an infant. She told Vogue: “Ever since I was literally six weeks old when I started modeling all the way to now, I've literally worked almost every single day of my life.”
Thorne's modeling career did not stop after that. In fact, when Thorne appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in July of 2015 Fallon and Thorne discussed her modeling roots and revisited a shot of her when she was a child, wearing multiple bucket hats stacked on her head. Thorne told ABC News Nightline that working when she was young was normal to her. It was all she knew:
“… I modeled every single day growing up- my whole life, like, three jobs a day, you name it.”
Thorne does model occasionally from time to time when shooting for magazine covers or features, but hardly ever does campaigns or ads like she used to. Thorne is currently focusing mainly on her acting career with her music career starting up again.
References: Thefamouspeople.com, Tnp.sg, Justjaredjr.com, Bustle.com, Refinery29.com, Familyliveson.org, Intouchweekly.com, Yourtango.com, Belladogmagazine.com, Hollywoodlife.com, Stylecaster.com, Youtube.com, Cosmopolitan.com, Sarcasm.co, Seventeen.com, Teenvogue.com, Hellogiggles.com, J-14.com, Popbuzz.com, Allure.com, Imdb.com, Galoremag.com, Abcnews.go.com, iTunes.apple.com, Harpersbazaar.com