Scarlett Spears, the eight-year-old actress who is currently making waves in Hollywood with roles on “General Hospital” and “Wicked: For Good,” is opening up about loneliness in the latest episode of “State of Mind with Maurice Benard,” premiering Sunday, December 7 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT on YouTube.
In a remarkably candid conversation with Maurice Benard, who also plays her TV dad on “General Hospital,” Spears opens up about loneliness and fear of silence, telling Benard about what makes her sad.
“Yeah, sometimes it would make me sad if I’m being ignored… I just don’t like being alone… like being in my bedroom… it scares me when I’m alone and I’m like ignored.” She adds, “Whenever I’m playing with my dolls… I’ll ask my dad to turn the TV on, and when I hear voices, it feels like people are actually in the room with me… I just don’t want it to sound like silence.”
“This is a mental health talk with an eight-year-old. It’s amazing… You have to be comfortable in the silence,” says Benard in response to Spears’ revelation.
“Now that I’m thinking of it, I am getting that way, that I don’t need the TV anymore to keep me company… Something I like to do in silence is draw because I can actually think [for] myself,” reflects Spears.
“You’re smart for your age… I didn’t think we would have this conversation,” shares Benard in response.
Watch the clip below.
Spears can be seen in “Wicked: For Good,” the wildly successful film starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. In the movie, Spears portrays a young Glinda. Meanwhile, on “General Hospital,” Spears appears in the recurring role of Donna Corinthos, the daughter of Sonny (Benard) and Carly (Laura Wright).
Launched in July 2020, “State of Mind with Maurice Benard” focuses on mental health and mental health awareness. The podcast is hosted by Daytime Emmy Award winner and New York Times bestselling author (“Nothing General About It: How Love (and Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital”) Maurice Benard.
Following each episode’s release on YouTube, an audio-only edition is later made available to all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Apple and Google Podcasts.
