Drake Bell wants the public to allow celebrities to have "redemption" over their past mistakes.

The 39-year-old actor endured a number of personal struggles in the years after he found fame as a child on Nickelodeon, but achieved sobriety after entering rehab in 2023, and believes that those in the public eye should be afforded the same chance for "reinvention" as those who are not famous.

Speaking on the Tea Time with Raven and Miranda spin-off Miranda Moments, he said: "With the way that the public...think about people in your life. There's always a bad apple in your family, it's like 'God, if Jimmy could just get his act together...'

"How many people in your life have redeemed themselves for something? Or you have an alcoholic brother who hasn't drank for 18 years and has a great family, but 18 years ago, dude, you didn't even want him in the family.

"If everyone in the public would think about that person in their family and then apply that to the celebrity.

"Do you really want your brother when he was 22 and did that really stupid thing? But now he's 35 and you want that 22 thing...that's what defines him? I'm not talking about murder or rape or that you should be put away and strung up for, but there's gotta be room for redemption, reinvention, and rehabilitation because otherwise we're all doomed. Everyone's doomed."

The former Drake and Josh star also noted that working as an actor can be a lot more physically demanding than most people realise but he doesn't want to come across as "annoying" in making that point.

He said: "It's so funny, you could have a wide shot, the scene is it's pouring rain, it's a period piece, the house is here, the horse and buggy are here, the family is loading up the horse and buggy in the rain.

"You watch that as a spectator and you're like 'Oh, okay...' Well, it's freezing, the entire surroundings are ice and snow, they've cleared out this certain area to make it look like the summertime.

"They're pouring rain, you're in these clothes from the 1800s, and you're having to carry bales of hay and straw, and bags of rice, and run in the mud. You're actually doing this physical labour while everyone [else] is in tents with Parkas, hot cocoa, heaters, and monitors going 'Does it look real enough to you?'

"But I feel like sometimes I complain about that, it's so annoying. It's like [mock-crying voice] acting is so hard.

"Sometimes I have to pretend to be cold when it's hot, and sometimes, I have to pretend to be hot when it's cold!"