Drake Bell is sharing an update on his life amid a difficult chapter.
The Drake & Josh alum—who came forward in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV as the then-unnamed minor in a 2003 sexual abuse case against Brian Peck—recently reflected on the aftermath of the docuseries.
"I'm still reeling with the idea of this all—my soul being bared to the world, but you see such good coming out of it," Drake shared during a panel at Investigation Discovery's FYC Event April 9. "People are approaching me at the airport on my way here and telling me their stories, and how they have the bravery to come out and speak, and how they're trying to go to their legislatures and get things changed."
In the early aughts, after Drake told his mom about the abuse he suffered from Brian—who has no relation to actor Josh Peck—the acting and dialogue coach was arrested. He later served over a year in prison and was made to register as a sex offender.
"I'm in the thick of it right now," the 37-year-old said of his journey. "It's having this sensitive story and something that I've held inside for so many years. You always imagine, 'OK, if I ever come out, how am I going to do it? How am I going to say it?'"
While Drake knows people expect him to keep his son Jeremy Drake Bell—who he shares with ex Janet Von Schmeling—away from acting after detailing his own experience, it's a complicated decision.
"I didn't want to do anything else," Drake recalled of his career. "I didn't want to play baseball. I didn't want to play soccer at school. I wanted to get up on stage and make people laugh. I was given this outlet to be able to do that every day on a giant stage and make kids laugh all over the world."
The Amanda Show alum emphasized that young actors deserve to pursue their careers in Hollywood safely.
"If that's what their calling is and that's all they want to do, I don't want to take that away from them," Drake explained. "But I would want to make sure that if that's the path that a young artist wants to take, there're things in place that make it possible for things like what we've seen in the documentary and shared with our stories to never happen again."
—Reporting by Olivia Modarelli
Keep reading to learn more bombshells from Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.