Being a child star might seem like a dream at the time, but once the bright lights fade
away, and the party stops, what you're left with can be a pretty demoralizing demotion
in popularity.
Some child stars find a new path to fame, while others are fine to fade into anonymity.
But for a few, that fleeting taste of fame is too hard to forget, so they refuse to let
go.
Here a few former child stars who just don't get that they aren't famous anymore.
Jeremy Jackson
Though he'd already been acting for seven years, Jeremy Jackson hit the big time with
the role of Hobie Buchannon on Baywatch in the early nineties.
For eight years, he starred on the show that helped define a generation of TV, but he just
couldn't translate the success of everyone's favorite lifeguard soap opera to anything
else.
It didn't help matters that he quit the show in a huff and turned to drugs.
He did get a shot at a comeback on reality TV by joining Confessions of a Teenage Idol.
But even reality TV couldn't drag Jackson out of the gutter.
In 2015, he was arrested in not just one, but two different stabbing cases, one of which
he was sentenced to jail time for.
And he got booted from Celebrity Big Brother for assaulting housemate Chloe Goodman.
"Last night, while alone in the toilet with Chloe, you deliberately opened Chloe's dressing
gown.
Big Brother deems your behavior to be wholly unacceptable."
Given his track record, it would probably be better—for everyone—if Jeremy Jackson
just ducked out of the spotlight for the next few years.
​Zachery Ty Bryan
Landing the role of Brad Taylor on Home Improvement, Zachery Ty Bryan found success almost right
out of the gate.
But like a lot of child stars who spent the better part of a decade on a hugely popular
sitcom, that success did not lead to other juicy parts.
In fact, Bryan retired from acting altogether in 2009, after he played Thor in SyFy's TV
movie, Thor: Hammer of the Gods.
Bryan said he ditched the makeup chair for the production trailer as part of his long-held
plan to move behind-the-scenes, saying:
"I love getting to be part of the entire process, from raising the finances to the actual filming
to post-production, it is like getting to be the painter, not the paintbrush."
But now he's coming out of retirement for a "small role"—he is literally billed as
"Actor"—in Adi Shankar's Gods and Secrets.
We'll just have to wait and see how that works out for him.
Brenda Song
For people of a certain age, Brenda Song will always be London Tipton, the vapid rich girl
from Disney's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
Outside of that very specific role, the most notable thing she's done is a small part in
The Social Network, in which she plays a "groupie" who does some decidedly non-Disney things
in a bathroom stall.
Song also has an identity in the tabloids, as the on-again-off again girlfriend of Miley
Cyrus' lesser known brother, Trace.
And more recently, as the new love interest of none other than Macaulay Culkin.
That's like a dual nostalgia power couple for the ages, but we're not sure if it will
raise Song's profile in a way that will get her favorably back into the spotlight.
Haley Joel Osment
The Sixth Sense star Haley Joel Osment has been trading almost exclusively on his child
star recognition factor to land roles ever since his return to the biz a few years ago.
Osment resurfaced after a self-imposed hiatus to complete college and study "experimental
theatre."
"It was a time to really… sort of the last chance to figure out, like, do I really want
to do this?"
And even though he'd like to break out of that box, the roles he's landed in recent
years have almost seemed like parodies of himself, in things like Will Ferrell's melodrama
spoof The Spoils Before Dying, the Seth Rogen Hulu series Future Man, and HBO's Silicon
Valley.
For now, Osment says he'd like to land a recurring role on a show so he can really "dig into
a character," but unless someone's out there writing the series, "Hey, It's That Kid From
That Movie!," we're not so sure he should hold his breath.
Drake Bell
Nickelodeon star Drake Bell blew up thanks to his starring role in Drake & Josh.
And he even looked like he was going to parlay that fame into the mainstream when he landed
the lead role in the parody flick Superhero Movie.
But then... nothing happened.
Bell went on to bit parts and voicework and only recently started gaining notoriety on
social media again for all the wrong reasons.
First, Bell came under fire for making seemingly transphobic remarks about Caitlyn Jenner.
Then, there was the whole Josh Peck wedding debacle, where Bell acted hurt for not being
invited to his former co-star's nuptials, then reversed his entire position and apologized.
Aside from being a social media menace, Bell continues to dabble in music.
He had a bit of a viral moment when he stopped one show to scold a kid in the crowd who repeatedly
threw balls on-stage, but otherwise?
There's not much to say about him nowadays.
​Orlando Brown
Last but certainly not least, Orlando Brown starred in 100 episodes of Disney's That's
So Raven.
After that, things got really dark.
Four years after the show ended, Brown got busted for a DUI, which he managed to draw
out into a two-year legal battle by repeatedly failing to show up for court appearances,
resulting in him getting a 180-day jail sentence.
After the DUI debacle ended, Brown then allegedly threatened a woman's life, and got into a
fight with his girlfriend in a police station parking lot while he had meth in his pocket.
Four months later, Brown released a rap single skewering his unfortunate status as a tabloid
mainstay.
So it was no surprise that when it came time for Raven-Symoné to cast the That's So Raven
sequel series, Raven's Home, Brown did not get the call to reprise his role.
Initially, Brown reacted fine, wishing Raven-Symoné the best, but then just days later he explicitly
described supposed romantic encounters with his former co-star.
Nowadays, you can still find Brown giving rambling, incoherent interviews about drug
use, his x-rated tape, rappers he hates, and of course, Raven-Symoné.
Hey, nobody ever said former child stardom makes people classy.
"Mmmbop, doopy dop a doowop"
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