My Life as a Child Actor: Chaos, Cruelty, & Laughter

This is story of my childhood, Rory Shevin AKA Rory Stevens. This is a true story of two adults who became parents and made an attempt to raise a family of four children. A story about parents who were quite poor, with little to nothing to their name. Each week, they could barely put together enough money to feed their growing family. It is a story about how these four children found creative ways to stave off hunger - finding what they could eat on the floor, in the trash, or growing on the trees in the neighborhood around them. This is a story of parental abuse, where the kids were beaten (literally) black and blue simply for trying to find food to eat and to make their way in the world. This story is also about much more. It is about four kids that would not be put down or held back, no matter what. A story about four kids that became so close through their adversity that they hold a lifelong bond that, to this day, cannot be broken. This is a story about four kids who had little right to survive, let alone succeed, and all did so each in their own grand fashion. It is also the story of how I was pushed to become a child actor so my parents could collect the money I earned to support our family. By the time I was 5 years old, my parents had sealed my fate. Like it or not, I was to become a child actor. This is my story.