Child stars have been a topic of public fascination since the early days of Hollywood.
We get to see these kids grow up before our very eyes, but what happens to them once the
cameras stop rolling?
These child stars from the 2000s are all grown up now, and their adult lives are just as
fascinating as their childhood careers.
Jake Thomas
Jake Thomas may have been Lizzie McGuire's annoying younger brother, but he was more
than just a sidekick.
"I did exactly what you said, but I used my sister instead of a hamster."
After Lizzie McGuire wrapped in 2004, Thomas appeared in another Disney Channel show, Cory
in the House.
He's gotten pretty steady acting work since his child star days, but he's also developed
quite a talent for working behind the camera.
A gifted photographer, Thomas has built up an impressive photography portfolio.
Thomas is still acting, and has also continued pursuing his educational goals.
He graduated from college in 2018, writing on Instagram: "I'm in an interesting position,
in that I'm already working in my career, so my goal with education has always been
that of self improvement."
Freddie Highmore
Even as a child, it was clear that Freddie Highmore was going to grow into a powerful
adult actor.
He's been racking up awards and nominations since he was a little kid and built up a reputation
for himself starring in movies like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Finding Neverland.
"But why did she have to die?"
His role in Bates Motel as a young adult showed the depth of his range, and his latest role
as an autistic surgeon on the hit show The Good Doctor proves that Highmore is truly
one of the great actors of his generation.
“Okay!
Okay!”
“Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can’t do.”
“Hey!
Hey Shaun!”
"I want to make my own decisions.”
In spite of his early fame, Highmore has managed to stay grounded and took time away from the
industry to focus on school.
He told The Telegraph in 2016:
"I took the time away from acting so if and when I got back into it, it would be by dint
of actually wanting to do it and it being a conscious decision."
Taylor Momsen
The adorable Taylor Momsen captured hearts everywhere as little Cindy Lou Who in 2000's
How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
"No matter how different a Who may appear, he will always be welcomed with holiday cheer."
From there, Momsen kept acting, landing a major role on the teen drama Gossip Girl in
2007.
Fans thought that her future acting career was set in stone, but as Gossip Girl continued,
Momsen appeared in fewer and fewer episodes.
The reason for her absence in the show's later seasons was because she was exploring the
singing talent she displayed in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Her band, The Pretty Reckless, took off and soon Momsen was a bona fide rock star.
These days, her focus is all on her music and she's uncomfortable when people bring
up her Gossip Girl days.
She told People in 2016:
"It feels like someone asking you about junior high.
It literally was my junior high, so that's what it feels like to me.
It's such a past life that it's a strange question to continue to get asked."
Jake T. Austin
Wizards of Waverly Place star Jake T. Austin might still be most famous for his magical
role, but the actor had been in show business for years before landing on the show.
After Wizards of Waverly Place wrapped, Austin starred on The Fosters and continued voice
acting with a role in The Emoji Movie, but it sounds like he still remains close with
his wizarding family.
He explained:
"Everyone is great about keeping in touch and checking in on each other, making sure
that everyone's where they need to be in their life."
Aside from acting and keeping up with his Wizards of Waverly Place fam, Austin spends
his time getting totally ripped and posting pictures of his muscles on Instagram, proving
that he is all grown up.
Haley Joel Osment
Who can forget Haley Joel Osment's spooky and captivating role in The Sixth Sense?
"I see dead people."
Osment earned a 2000 Oscar nomination for his role in the chilling flick, but his acting
career started long before that.
Osment has been acting since the 90s.
You may recall that he played Forrest Gump's son.
"Hello, Mr. Gump."
After The Sixth Sense, Osment stormed the early aughts in films like Pay it Forward,
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, and Secondhand Lions, sealing his fate as one of the biggest
child stars of the era.
But for a while his career seemed to be at a standstill.
Osment never really left the industry, he just took time away to hone his craft.
He told The Telegraph in 2015:
"I went to New York University to study experimental theatre in 2006 and was there pretty consistently
until 2011....it was hard to be in college and do films, too.
So for about five years I was basically just in college."
These days, Osment is back in front of the camera more than ever before.
Tyler Posey
It doesn't seem like that long ago since Tyler Posey played Jennifer Lopez's adorable son
in 2002's Maid in Manhattan.
While most kids go through an awkward phase in adolescence, Posey never stopped being
cute.
He kept acting steadily until he landed a role on the show Teen Wolf, which debuted
in 2011, establishing him as a bona fide leading man.
The heartthrob reunited with his movie mom in 2014 at the Teen Choice Awards where he
introduced her as a presenter.
Even J.Lo was shocked at how much Posey had grown up.
Jennette McCurdy
Jennette McCurdy has been acting since she was a little girl.
The former iCarly and Sam and Cat star was a mainstay of Nickelodeon for years, but McCurdy's
child star days are far behind her.
The 20-something actress is still in show business, although her career has been a bit
quieter than it was when she was a kid.
Now that she's an adult, she's determined to live life on her own terms.
She has been vocal about the downfalls of the industry and the false ideals it creates.
She wrote on Reddit in 2015:
"I am not a role model.…I encourage you to find role models in the people around you…to
base your idea of a role model off of someone you know well enough to see purely, not in
the light, cameras, and actions of Hollywood."
Kiernan Shipka
Child star Kiernan Shipka rose to fame on the 2000s AMC hit Mad Men.
Even though she was a superstar at a young age, she was kept largely inoculated from
her fame.
She told W:
"I didn't watch Mad Men until I was 13 when I was home sick and watched all the seasons
on Netflix.
It was a lovely treat."
The actress is coming into her own and has landed lots of roles since her Mad Men days,
in spite of a lack of formal training.
She said that she learned how to act from observing her co-stars.
"It really was like an acting school, and just to be able to watch it all and take it
all in and be a part of it was amazing."
Shipka is staying busy, and is next set to star in the Netflix show The Chilling Adventures
of Sabrina, adding yet another role to her growing list of iconic characters.