Folks can’t get enough of child stars, they’re cute, precocious and often steal the spotlight
from even the biggest stars.
I mean, just look at Jacob Tremblay in Room.
However, some of the biggest celebrities in the game were child actors once upon a time,
whereas some called it quits before their careers even began.
So today on Top 10 Beyond the Screen, I’m going to be counting down our list of the
Top 10 Child Actors You Won’t Believe What They Look Like Today - Part 2.
Before we begin, be sure to stick around until the end of the video where I’ll be responding
to some of your comments.
Let’s jump in.
10 Cole and Dylan Sprouse Twin brothers, Cole and Dylan Sprouse rose
to fame when they landed the title roles on the 2005 Disney Channel sitcom, The Suite
Life of Zack and Cody which ran until 2008.
Which saw the twins living in a lavish fictional hotel.
As a result of the series’ success, the two brothers became heartthrobs for young
teens, and the following year the brothers launched a franchise known as the Sprouse
Bros band, which included a clothing line, book series, and magazine.
In 2007 and 2010, Cole and Dylan were two of the wealthiest children alive, and were
the highest paid teenage Disney actors, earning 40,000 per episode combined.
Now, of course like all child actors, you grow up.
The twins went off to college, both attending New York University with plans to pursue acting
once they graduated.
However, only one was successful.
Cole.
Who now stars as Jughead Jones on the television series Riverdale.
He’s grown up, and has been quite the looker.
Dylan, on the other hand, is a co-owner and brewmaster of the All-Wise Meadery in Williamsburg,
Brooklyn.
And, because they’re twins, they still look the same.
However, Cole dons a dark doe, while Dylan has his natural light brown locks.
9 Anna Chlumsky Anna Chlumsky is best known for playing the
lead role of Vada Sultenfuss in My Girl alongside Macaulay Culkin all the way back in 1991.
However, between 1999 and 2005, Chlumsky’s career began to slow down, resulting in the
actress taking a hiatus and attending college.
Following graduation she returned to acting, starring in sevela indie films, such as, Blood
Car and In the Loop.
And from 2012 to 2019 she starred as Amy Brookheimer in the incredibly successful HBO series Veep
for which she received six Emmy nominations.
Now, for most, they don’t even realize that Chlumsky is My Girl all grown up, with the
actress looking strikingly different from her child acting days -- saying that, the
smile definitely gives it away.
8 Fred Savage Fred Savage is probably best known for playing
Kevin Arnold in the tv series The Wonder Years which ran from 1988 to 1993, during which
time he earned several awards and nominations, such as a People’s Choice and Young Artist
Award.
You may also recognize him from the fan favorite movie, The Princess Bride which gained him
national attention for playing the role of the grandson.
Sadly, like most child actors, the older Savage got, the fewer roles he was landing, and seems
to focus instead on voice acting.
Lending his voice to projects like Family Guy, Kim Possible, Justice League Unlimited,
and Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn’t Happen.
However, in 2017 Savage joined the cast of the Netflix series Friends From College, before
hosting Child Support in 2018 alongside Ricky Gervais.
Sadly he didn’t maintain the adorable cuteness he did when he was younger, but still resembles
his Wonder Years even in his Older Years.
7 Thomas Brodie-Sangster This is an obvious pick, but how could I avoid
one of the cutest child actors in history, who made all of our collective hearts leap
when he chased his crush through an airport just to talk to her.
Other than his iconic role of Sam in Love Actually in 2003, Thomas also appeared in
Nanny Mcphee, Tristan and Isolde, That Last Legion and Nowhere Boy where he played Paul
McCartney.
Of course, as of 2019, most will be familiar with him thanks to his role in Game of Thrones
where he had a recurring role for 10 episodes.
Aside from that, he mostly focuses on voice acting, lending his sound to Thunderbirds
Are Go and American Dad!
Looks wise, Thomas pretty much looks exactly the same as he did in the early 2000’s,
only now, he’s taller.
6 Tina Majorino You may not know her name, but you definitely
know her face.
Tina Majorino is an actress that pops up everywhere, in films such as Napoleon Dynamite, and the
tv series Veronica Mars.
However, most of you will remember Tina during the 90’s when she was a child actor starring
alongside Kevin Costner in Waterworld, or when she played the adorable Toni in Andre,
or even as little Molly alongside Whoopi Goldberg in Corrina, Corrina.
She had a thriving career in the 90’s, but it wasn’t until her 2004 role in Napoleon
Dynamite that left fans asking where they recognized her from, and then just to present
day, fans are now asking whatever happened to the girl from Napoleon Dynamite.
Well, the actress looks drastically different, sporting a short bob and usually dyed hair.
In 2014 she starred in the Veronica Mars movie, and then Grey’s Anatomy in 2012-2013, but
aside from that, she hasn’t done much of merit.
5 Jerry O’Connell Who could possibly forget everyone’s favorite
chubby Vern in Stand By Me, the film which saw a 12-year old Jerry O’Connell star alongside
Cory Feldman, and River Phoenix in the heartwarming, emotional coming of age film.
Following his iconic role, he went on to appear in works such as Police Academy 5, Jerry Maguire,
Scream 2, Can’t Hardly Wait, and Clayton.
Unlike a lot of other child actors, Jerry’s career continued to thrive with works such
as Scary Movie 5, Space Station 76, Piranha 3-D and Veronica Mars.
Personally, I was shocked to discover that Jerry O’Connell was the child actor from
some of my favorite films growing up, with the actor losing all of his baby weight, slimming
up, and looking completely different than his character chubby Vern.
4 Dante Basco Dante Basco is probably not a name that will
ring a bell, however, you know him...just, perhaps as another name instead.
Rufio.
That’s right, this former child actor starred alongside the late great Robin Williams in
Steve Spielberg’s 1991 movie Hook, where he played the self-proclaimed leader of the
Lost Boys.
He went on to have a successful acting career, but no role was as iconic as the one that
made him.
Basco, now at the age of 44, has done a lot of voice acting for many animated productions,
including Avatar: The Last Airbender, Saints Row, Skat 1, 2, and 3, and Mortal Kombat X.
As of 2019, Basco looks a whole lot different than he did in 1991, when he was sporting
a red and black mohawk and swinging around Neverland.
3 Elijah Wood Oh Elijah.
A lot of you younger viewers may be shocked that this Lord of the Rings actor is on our
list, but yes, at one time he was a very popular child actor appearing in some of my favorite
childhood movies.
In the early 90’s a young Elijah began to achieve recognition for his acting after landing
roles in works such as Avalon, Radio Flyer, The Adventures of Huck Finn, and The Good
Son where he starred alongside an evil Macauley Culkin.
However, unlike a lot of other child actors, his career never slowed, and into his teen
years he continued to land roles, including in works such as The Faculty, Deep Impact,
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sin City, Green Street, and of course, his most
iconic role, The Lord of the Rings where he plays Frodo Baggins.
Once you see baby Elijah in his 90’s roles you will shocked that you missed him, the
actor has aged but his baby face has never changed,
2 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen A lot of you were upset that we didn’t include
the most iconic twins in history on our first part, but come on, that would have been way
too obvious.
The Olsen Twins began acting at the age of just 6 months when they were cast in the role
of Michelle Tanner on the ABC sitcom Full House.
In order to comply with child labor laws that set strict limits on how long a child actor
may work, the sisters took turns playing the role.
Genius.
The twins continued to play the role up until the show’s end in 1995.
However, that was only the beginning for the twins, he went on to have their own TV show
and series of movies, including So Little Time, Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!, and
New York Minute.
Following their success in acting, the twins turned to fashion, launching their own couture
fashion label called The Row, named after Savile Row in London.
And in 2012 the twins were named Womenswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion
Designers of America.
Not too shabby.
Though successful, the twins certainly hide away from the spotlight, and appear somber
looking whenever papped, but, for the most part they look just like they did 10 years
ago, just moodier.
1 Josh Peck Kenan and Kel may have been an iconic duo
in the 90’s, but Drake and Josh were by far the most iconic duo in the 2000’s.
This tv series starred Dark Bell and Josh Peck as a couple of mismatched step brothers
that you couldn’t not love.
The show was wickedly, with Drake being the good looking musician, and Josh being the
chubby comedian of the two.
However, how times have changed.
During the 2000’s, Josh Peck starred in works such as Snow Day, Mean Creek, Spun,
and Drillbit Taylor, during which time many fans began to notice the actor shedding his
weight and becoming lean.
Now the former child actor resides on YouTube, and makes frequent appearances in David Dobrick’s
vlogs.
He leads a relatively quiet life with his longtime girlfriend Paige, and their newborn
son, Max, in LA.
Well, there we have it!
Do you guys agree with our list?
Were there any child actors that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below and perhaps we can
do a part 3.
Before I go though, I just want to respond to a few comments from one of my last videos,
Top 10 Celebrities With Chronic Illnesses - Part 2.
Zaeem said “Hi Lucy, what’s your date of birth?”
-- Weird question, but January 18th, 1993.
Philip said “Damn, can’t escape you.”
-- No, never.
I’m always here, lurking.
Shyra Stacy said “I just want to say thank you.
I have several chronic illnesses and this list made me feel like less of a freak.
It’s been Hell and I stay in pain 24/7.
I understand 100% what it’s like to hate the doctors who tell you to suck it up.
Thank you, Lucy.
I have a lot of these conditions as well.
This list has helped me gain some confidence.
I love yall, thanks.
Can’t stop crying.”
-- No!
I’m crying!
Thank you, so SO much for this lovely comment.
It’s for people like yourself that we’re making this video, and I’m glad you found
something you could take away from it, and that it gave you the confidence we all deserve.
I hope your pain eases and you continue to fight the good fight.
And on that note, if you haven’t already, be sure to give this video a big thumbs up,
subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss another Beyond The Screen vid.
And until next time, see ya later.