The child star from the 1994 comedy Blank Check has recalled his experience filming the movie amid backlash against it.
Actor Brian Bonsall stars in the film as the title character Preston Waters, an 11-year-old boy who inherits a blank cheque and uses it to purchase houses under different names.
Part of the plot involved the pre-teen having a romantic relationship with Shay Stanley (played by Karen Duffy), a 30-something-year-old FBI agent posing as a bank teller.
Check out the trailer for Blank Check:
In one scene, the actress - who was 31 at the time - ends up kissing the fifth-grader on the mouth, and tells the young boy that they can go on a "date" in six years... which would make him just 17 years old.
The kiss scene left many viewers unsettled, especially TikToker Rob Anderson who filmed his reaction to show how shocked he was by what he had just witnessed.
"Imagine being this grown actress #fyp #foryou #awkward #xycba," the user - who goes by the handle @heartthrobert - wrote in the caption of the clip. The overlay text of the video also read: "This Disney movie Blank Check has the most awkward scene ever."
The TikTok was posted back in 2020 and has now been viewed 3.9 million times. It has prompted plenty of outrage from critics who can't believe Disney+ is streaming the film for audiences.
One shocked user wrote: "Never seen or heard of this for good reason AND HOW IS THIS IS DISNEY WHAT." Another person questioned: "Umm ... how is this not illegal[?]"
Some users even denounced the streaming giant for adding the flick after moving the Love, Simon spinoff series Love, Victor to Hulu over concerns it wasn't the right fit for the family-friendly network. The popular show spotlights a high school student's journey with his sexual orientation.
"But they canceled the Love, Simon series because it's not ‘Family friendly," someone penned, while another exclaimed: "BUT THEY WONT PLAY LOVE SIMON-"
A few more viewers have also been taking to platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to comment on the disturbing scene after watching the film as adults and realizing how deeply problematic it is.
"Blank Check is inappropriate as hell. Can’t believe we watched that as kids," one person commented, while a second remarked: "Between Blank Check and Mikey, Brian Bonsall got a raw deal with scripts cosigning much older women to have inappropriate kisses with him."
"Never Forget that Disney's "Blank Check" was 100% inappropriate!...The '90s was wild y'all," one final user shared.
Despite all the commotion surrounding the controversial movie scene, Bonsall has since said on Facebook that he has fond memories of filming. He wrote: "I had an absolute blast filming this movie!"
Bonsall went on to say that everyone "was a joy to work with" and added: "It's awesome to see so many people still enjoy it!"
Blank Check is still available to stream on Disney+.
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