Soleil Moon Frye on ‘The Carters’ Doc, Nick Carter’s conversation about Aaron
Soleil Moon Frye knew Aaron Carter when he was only a teenager. “He was just this lively, bustling, clear, beautiful light,” she says about the late singer.
When she met Angel Carter Conrad, Aarons twins, a few years ago, they quickly made contact.
“She had already lost two of her brothers and sisters and her father and lost her third brother or sister in the process of our journey,” says Frye. “From the moment I met her, I was blown away by her courage, her strength, her grace, her love and her beautiful heart. And I really wanted to create a safe space for her to share her story. And I remember that I said to the team:” If you were to make me a documentary, I am in the core, in the core, in the core. ”
In the upcoming documentary from Paramount+, “The Carters: Hurts to Love You”, she does exactly that. The Carter family currently consists of Angel and her older brother Nick Carter. Their other three brothers and sisters, Leslie Carter, Bobbie Jean and Aaron, all died of drug -related causes between 2012 and 2023. In 2017, their father, Robert Carter, died of a heart attack.
A Still by Aaron, Angel, Nick, Leslie and Bobbie Carter in “The Carters”, streaming on Paramount+, 2025. Photocredit: Carter Family Archive/Courtesy of CBS/Paramount+
Angel Conrad/Courtesy of CBS/Paramount+
The documentary reveals home videos that show child abuse that the Carter children have endured. Jane Carter, the mother of Angel and Nick, refused to be interviewed for the doc.
“We put his hand out and they did not respond. And at the same time something that stuck me so deeply was the incredible love that Angel has for her parents and that she really understood and felt that they did best with the tools they had,” says Frye. “She really wants to break that generation cycle. I think that so many of us have the past generation trauma that is being passed on. She really wanted to break that cycle for her own daughter, for the son of Aaron and for Nick’s children. So something that was deeply for me, she was really how protective she wanted to be from her parents.”
Frye looked at hours of archive images and while she focused on telling Angel’s story: “There were so many parts of it that related to my own experiences,” she says. “I felt that I looked at the story of so many people. This is such a universal story to tell through their lens, because we have such a crisis in this world and worldwide about psychological disorders and addiction, and I really believe that there has never been a more important time to share this story. That was really important to me, to show it there to show the pain there.”
Frye had not met Nick to make the documentary. She and Angel went to Chicago where he performed and went to visit him during rehearsals. While he doesn’t interviewShe really took two unexpected conversations on that trip.
“They came to the room and sat down and just started sharing with each other. Everything I had with me as far as a camera was my iPhone, and I just started documenting it.” The next day they came together and had this incredibly in -depth conversation and allowed me to document it. It was always the journey of Angel and Nick was part of her journey. “
The documentary does not include any of the accusations of sexual violence against Nick, whom he has all denied.
“The film that I wanted to make is told from Angel’s point of view. It is her truth and her journey. The fame and the fortune that followed came faster than she could fully process, and the story records what she came across while it all started unraveling,” says Frye about the choice not to take up. “Angel looked through the lens of mental health – about recognizing the signs early. You don’t have to be famous to feel the pressure and fear that so many young people experience. It is important to have those conversations – and to keep them.”
She continues: “Angel wants people to understand how early the wheels started to fall for the children. Why did no one see what happened? Why did it not reach that someone would help? For her it all went back to the money. This was the story of Angel to tell. If you are young and famous – the world sees you as an idol – nobody sees you pain. That is what people want to understand.” That is her focus. “
“The Carters: Hurts To Love You” is executive produced by James Goldston, Steven Baker, Cynthia Childs, Soleil Moon Frye, Susan Zirinsky and Terence Wrong; Aysu Saliba and Cara Tortora supervise producers.
The two -part documentary premiere on Tuesday 15 April on Paramount+.
