“I was shocked and horrified…” | BANG Showbiz

Emma Roberts had ‘no idea’ of the abuse that was going on when she was a child star on Nickelodeon.

The 33-year-old actress began her career as a teenager when she landed the lead role of schoolgirl and aspiring songwriter Addie Singer on the TV series “Unfabulous” and was “horrified and shocked” to watch the recent Discovery+ documentary “Quiet On Set,” in which a series of other former child actors who also starred on the network around the same time spoke out about abuse and a toxic work environment at the hands of producer Dan Schneider.

She told Variety: “I watched[Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV]and I was completely horrified and shocked because that was not my experience. It really, really, really saddened me to see that this was happening to people that I saw a lot and had no idea about. For my show, Unfabulous, the showrunner that we had was an incredible woman named Sue Rose.

“And I didn’t realize it at the time, but a female showrunner was not very common at the time.

“But that’s how I got into working on a TV show. Plus, my mom was with me 24/7, and even I would say, ‘You don’t have to be here all the time,’ and she would say, ‘Actually, do it. I’m not taking my eyes off you. You’re not going to a fitting alone at 13.’”

The “American Horror Story” actress felt “really sad” watching the film — in which former “Drake & Josh” star Drake Bell revealed he was subjected to “extensive and brutal” abuse at the hands of Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck, while others claimed “iCarly” producer Dan created a “hostile environment” by casting Amanda Bynes and Miranda Cosgrove as teen stars — and was “empowered” by what she learned.

She added: “It makes me really sad, and I feel like children need to be protected on sets just like adults, and I feel like we’re working towards a better working environment in that sense. But yeah, this documentary really kept me up at night.”