Who among us didn't dream of skipping middle school for a chance at fame and fortune?
Many of today's richest stars actually started acting as kids — and they kept that cash
flow going with long-lasting careers.
From hit sitcoms to major movie franchises, these child stars have amassed millions upon
millions of dollars.
So which celebs are going to make you rethink your life choices — or possibly sign your
kids up for acting classes?
See for yourself.
Dakota Fanning
With roughly $16 million dollars to her name, Dakota Fanning easily has the lowest lifetime
earnings of her Hollywood peers on this list.
Yes, that's still a ton of dough.
But over a 20-year career, 16 million actually seems surprisingly low, especially considering
her films have grossed more than $1.4 billion dollars at the box office.
Even so, for Fanning, acting has never been about the money.
Talking to Vogue Australia about how she approaches roles, the starlet explained,
"There was just something about the project or about the character that I was like, [...] 'Oh,
I want to do that.
I want to be the one who gets to say that!"
Brooke Shields
Already a successful model by the age of 12, Brooke Shields' acting career took off with
her controversial starring role in 1978's Pretty Baby.
According to People, Shields later earned $300,000 dollars for The Blue Lagoon, which
was so successful that she was then able to raise her asking price to $500,000 dollars
— and this was the early '80s.
Shields continued modeling and eventually found success on TV with the hit sitcom Suddenly
Susan.
These days, Shields has seemingly turned her focus towards motherhood and other pursuits,
but she's managed to retain an estimated $25 million of her career earnings.
Elijah Wood
At just 8 years old, Elijah Wood's career started with his brief cameo in Paula Abdul's
video for "Forever Your Girl."
Nearly 30 years later, the actor has amassed lifetime earnings of around $30 million dollars.
Of course, Wood's most notable gig was when he snagged the lead of the epic fantasy series,
The Lord of the Rings.
It's not clear exactly how much Wood made from his adventures in Middle Earth — although
he did tell The Guardian that director Peter Jackson gave him "the Ring" as a keepsake.
Frankie Muniz
In 2010, Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz replied to a random Twitter user's dig
at his, quote, "awful acting" with this sick burn: "Yeah, but being retired with $40,000,000.00
at 19 has not been awful.
Good luck moving out of your moms house before you're 35."
Perhaps that's where Celebrity Net Worth derived their figure for the former child star turned
race car driver.
That's right, Muniz took the leap into professional race car driving in 2006, according to People.
In addition to the nice sum of cash he's racked up, Muniz has also accumulated a staggering
list of bodily injuries since his career change — so he may have shared a healthy chunk
of that $40 million dollars with the ER.
Natalie Portman
Oscar-winner Natalie Portman earned her stripes at 11 years old with her critically-acclaimed
role in 1994's The Professional.
From there, it was basically nothing but prestige projects for the actress, who also made big
bank on blockbusters like all three Star Wars prequels, and two Thor flicks.
In 2015, Portman landed the Number 18 spot on Forbes' World's Highest Paid Actresses
list with the claim that she made $6 million dollars that year.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, years of continuous earnings like that have apparently
resulted in Portman having an estimated $60 million dollars on her balance sheet.
Kaley Cuoco
Back in the 90s, you may remember when a young Kaley Cuoco made an appearance on the teen
drama My So-Called Life.
Years later, if you're wondering why she's been with The Big Bang Theory since 2007,
well, here's our best guess.
According to Forbes, Cuoco was the fourth-highest paid actress in Hollywood from June 2016 to
June 2017, earning a staggering $26 million dollars that year alone.
Daniel Radcliffe
Talented British actor Daniel Radcliffe will likely never fully step out of Harry Potter's
shadow.
But he probably doesn't mind, since the role is essentially responsible for his estimated
net worth of $110 million dollars, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
This comfortable sum has allowed Radcliffe to spread his creative wings, though perhaps
less lucratively.
For example, one of the first non-Potter projects Radcliffe took on was the celebrated play
Equus.
Later on, there was Swiss Army Man, the film where Radcliffe portrays a farting corpse
on a deserted island.
Any chance they're building a multi-million dollar toy line around that?
Probably not.
But it doesn't matter, because even if Radcliffe flushes away 90 percent of his $110 million,
he's still set for life.
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