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Former All That Child Star Bryan Hearne Alleges He Was Called a ‘Piece of Charcoal’ While Working at Nickelodeon

Former All That child star Bryan Hearne, who is Black, is reflecting on his work experience as one of very few Black actors on the Nickelodeon sketch-comedy series, ahead of the release of a new docuseries.

Investigation Discovery’s four-part docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, premiering on March 17, uncovers the price many actors say they paid while working long hours in an emotionally manipulative and sometimes sexually charged environment. Hearne further reflected about his time on the network, telling PEOPLE that he felt like he was treated differently than some of the other non-Black child actors and that his relationship with Schneider — who left Nickelodeon in 2018 after an internal investigation into his allegedly verbally abusive and demanding behavior on set — was “non-existent.” But she says her experiences on set — such as being the sole Black actress not given a hairstylist or being trained to avoid choking during a sketch that required drinking enormous amounts of fake coffee sugar and felt like "waterboarding" — often proved traumatizing.

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