Coming-of-age: Messy, beautiful, and real in ‘Growing Up’

When asked to describe what growing up is like, the young people in the opening credits of a new Disney+ series use words like unpredictable, a chance to change the world, tumultuous, cringey, confusing, messy, beautiful, and mandatory.

“Growing Up,” debuting today, features the stories of 10 young people – culled from hundreds – talking about everything from race and gender identity to depression to advocating for often-taboo subjects like period poverty, or the lack of access to menstrual products. 

The show is the brainchild of actor Brie Larson, who pondered the ways shame can affect people and wondered about telling stories about those feelings to help others feel less alone. The “Captain Marvel” star sought out a production company to partner with on her vision for a coming-of-age series, and landed at Culture House Media.

The head of production there, Nicole Galovski, and Ms. Larson are two of the executive producers of the show, and both are among the directors. The showrunners sought out directors for each episode who have had similar life experiences to the young people being profiled, whom they call “heroes.” The shows include a mix of first-person interviews, with each hero and their relatives, and reenactments of key events. 

Writer Gregory Wakeman recently spoke to Ms. Galovski about the series, telling new coming-of-age stories, and the importance of opening up about our vulnerabilities. Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

During the opening credit sequence, Amiri says, “We have the power and responsibility,” and Sage says, “We deserve to be heard.” Why was it so important to have those sayings front and center?

I think that’s a huge piece of where we are at culturally right now. As far as that being in the opening sequence, it really speaks to the stories. In the show, you’re going to hear from people that are advocating for themselves. You’re hearing the stories of activists. I don’t think that’s all there is to their stories. I think their stories are extremely personal. But I do think that advocacy is a huge pillar right now in Gen Z culture. That’s what’s happening in our world.

What was missing from conversations about growing up and adolescence that you wanted to address and bring to a wider audience?

I mean, what isn’t missing? The standard coming-of-age stories that we’re used to hearing are from a certain type of performance and a certain demographic. We thought that it would be great to come from a lot of different perspectives and backgrounds that you’re not used to seeing.

Season 1 deals with colorism, disability, ableism, mental health, and being in the LGBTQ community. When we were in development a few years ago, these stories were few and far between on screen. We wanted to be as authentic as possible. There are a lot of coming-of-age stories about adolescence. But they’re from a pretty dramatized standpoint. We just wanted to be real, while still getting to the dramatic things that happened to us.

We also wanted to keep joy at the center of the show. So it wasn’t just a show about trauma, but a show about how everybody goes through this growing up process and how we deal with the things that have happened to us.

How involved was each hero in the dramatization of their story?

The heroes were incredibly involved. We knew that, in order to be vulnerable and to share [their] story, they couldn’t really be hands off. We didn’t really want them to be. We wanted to make sure that they were still very much the authors of their own stories. We were just helping them bring it to life and give it more of a narrative arc. ... All the way through, they were part of the collaboration.

What can older viewers learn from the show?

Brie and I have been joking that we made the show for young people, but we actually think it’s for us and anybody in their mid-30s and beyond. Reflecting back on our own coming-of-age experiences is so relatable, regardless of the specific circumstances. Those underlying human feelings of what we all go through are the same.

I think the parents are the unsung heroes. Just how they were able to articulate their support for their kids as they were going through what they were going through. Young people will get a lot from directly correlating with the experience that’s on the screen. But adults will also get a lot out of watching, because the genre itself is so universal.

It’s a really interesting intergenerational experience. It’s a really great conversation starter. You get to see what other parents have done when their kids have encountered some of these issues.

What do you want audiences to take away from “Growing Up”?

Even though everyone is the most connected they’ve ever been in human history, the prevalence of loneliness is just skyrocketing. We hope that young people will resonate with the stories that they’re hearing. We hope that other people that have had similar experiences, and felt similar things, will feel less alone. Hopefully, it will make them realize that they don’t have to carry that burden.

“Growing Up” is available to stream on Disney+. The series is rated TV-PG.