On this episode of Our American Stories, at just 13 years old, Taylor Dooley became a familiar face to millions of children when she starred as Lava Girl in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. But behind the excitement of Hollywood came an endless cycle of auditions, rejection, and the mounting pressures of growing up in the movie business. Watching their daughter struggle, Taylor's parents made a decision she couldn't understand at the time. They pulled her out of acting and sent her back to an ordinary high school, bringing her Hollywood career to an abrupt halt.

Fifteen years later, Taylor Dooley shares why she now considers that decision one of the greatest blessings of her life. Away from the cameras, she found her faith, went to college, got married, became a mother, and discovered a life far richer than the one she had imagined for herself as a child star. And just when she thought Hollywood was behind her, director Robert Rodriguez came calling with an unexpected invitation: reprise her childhood role as Lava Girl in Netflix's We Can Be Heroes.

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