Being a child star comes with its added issues as kids often aren't equipped with the tools needed to handle the onset of fame. Billie Eilish has spent the better part of her teen years in the spotlight, and she hasn't minced words when speaking about her disdain for fame in the past. However, the 19-year-old Grammy-winner has grown to love the outpouring of praise and recognition that comes with her career. Eilish and her brother Finneas appeared on the SmartLess podcast co-hosted by acclaimed actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, and the singer spoke about her struggles with fame.
"The parts I hated three years ago, those are the parts that I'm digging now. Fame, in general, I used to just despise it, I hated everything about it," she said. "I hated being recognized, I hated not being able to go out, I hated not being able to post a place because then people would show up at that place wherever it was because they'd figure out where it is."
"And I felt stupid because I had this thing that like, is really cool, people would kill for, and I didn't like it at all," Eilish continued. "And I was also forgetting that I was really, really depressed and that can make you hate almost anything. I don't really know what changed, but I f*cking love fame. I love it."
"I definitely like what I'm doing with it," she added. "I feel more confident with it. There were some years where I felt like I had to prove myself all the time, especially to the kids I grew up with." The singer shared that whenever she would attend events back home with her peers, she felt as if they saw her as a "joke."
"I felt like I had to prove that I was actually doing pretty well," said Eilish. Listen to her episode of SmartLess in full below.
