while some former child actors are still
working in front of the camera
others have found their calling in a
variety of careers
from sets of famous twins to disney
channel superstars here's where a number
of famous former child actors
ended up in what they're doing today in
the early 90s
angelic mara wilson stole hearts across
the world
after earning fame and acclaim for
playing the youngest daughter of sally
field and robin williams in mrs
doubtfire
wilson appeared in the 1994 remake of
the classic film
miracle on 34th street but you probably
know her best for her leading role in
matilda
roe dolls classic story of a sweet
well-read girl with amazing powers
sadly a personal tragedy caused wilson
to stop acting when she was still young
while the child star was filming matilda
her mother passed away due to
complications from breast cancer
leaving her grieving in the years that
followed she stepped away from acting
wilson ultimately attended new york
university where she performed a
one-woman show
about her past and in 2016 she released
a book about her experiences
as a child star according to wilson
herself her acting days are over
and these days she focuses exclusively
on writing
with his huge eyes endearing attitude
and clear comedic chops macaulay culkin
was catapulted to stardom
in the 1990 film home alone culkin
portrayed young kevin mcallister
left behind when his parents go on a
holiday trip though culkin had already
appeared in uncle buck in 1989.
home alone was an even bigger success
spawning sequels and making culkin one
of the most famous young actors of his
era
after appearing in the 90s films home
alone 2 lost in new york
richie rich and my girl among other
films culkin took a break from acting to
attend school
before long he returned to the limelight
ready to change his image
all together with daring edgy films like
party monster
and saved despite the fact that culkin's
roles have been relatively small
throughout the years
he's stayed in the public eye from high
profile advertisements mocking his home
alone success
to his odd velvet underground cover band
in 2020
culkin teamed up with ryan murphy to
appear in future installments of the
creator's anthology series
american horror story after his big
brother macaulay won over audiences it
was time for kieran culkin
who appeared in small roles in both home
alone movies
to take center stage like his brother
the younger culkin also began his career
as a child actor
working with steve martin and diane
keaton as the adorable maddie
in father of the bride and father of the
bride part two
more recently culkin reprised his role
as maddie in a covid19 inspired third
film
in the father of the bride franchise
where he appeared with the original cast
by 2020 culkin was plenty famous in his
own right
and scored an emmy nom for his role as
the outlandish
borish roman roy on hbo's hit drama
succession kieran may be the younger
culkin but he certainly achieved plenty
of success on his own
amandala stenberg may have made her film
debut in 2011 at just 13 years old in
the action flick colombiana
but most audiences will recognize
stenberg from her breakout role in the
hunger games in 2012
adapted from suzanne collins book
trilogy the hunger games imagined a
dystopian world where impoverished
families
must send their children into a
horrifying fight to the death each year
stenberg plays the tiny yet incredibly
smart roux
who ends up teaming up with jennifer
lawrence's protagonist
katniss everdeen in the years since the
hunger games stenberg has continued
acting
perhaps most notably stenberg led a
high-profile
and acclaimed adaptation of the young
adult novel the hate you give
in 2018 as star carter who witnesses a
police officer kill
an unarmed young black man stenberg has
also appeared in television projects
like sleepy hollow
everything everything and 2020's mr
eddie
one of the most famous child stars of
all time neil patrick harris
earned fame and acclaim as the title
character in doogie hauser
md which began its run in 1989 with
harris as a genius boy doctor
harris could have easily retired after
the success of the show
but instead he kept working and became
one of the most popular television
actors of his generation
after lampooning himself and harold and
kumar go to white castle
harris took on his next big television
role in 2005 harris joined the cast of
the cbs sitcom
how i met your mother as the womanizer
with a heart of gold
barney stinson he's also appeared in
shows like netflix's a series of
unfortunate events
from dramatic turns in gone girl to his
tony award-winning run
on broadway in hedwig and the angry inch
harris has remained
one of hollywood's most beloved and
recognizable faces for years
dookie may have been an iconic role but
clearly harris raised the bar to create
even more memorable performances
throughout the years
nickelodeon spawned plenty of young
stars during its heyday
thanks to ensemble comedies like all
that in the amanda show
though a fair amount of familiar faces
popped up on the amanda show it also
helped launch
some careers within the network and when
it came to a young
josh peck the series served as a
launching pad for his next big project
after the amanda show josh peck went on
to headline
drake and josh a nickelodeon sitcom
alongside drake bell
since then peck has continued acting in
recent years he's appeared with john
stamos in shows like grandfathered
and in fox's short-lived pitch currently
peck runs his own podcast
curious with josh peck in an ltv
interview
josh said going straight to my audience
is really powerful because i don't have
to wait for anyone to give me permission
or hope that something is received
correctly
he's also slated to appear in disney
plus upcoming turner and hootch reboot
a certain generation of young girls
their childhoods were defined by the
famous twins
mary kade and ashley olsen who rose to
prominence as michelle tanner
on full house after the overwhelming
success of the show
which cast both twins as michelle at
just six months old the olsens continued
their winning streak
appearing in their own movies by the
time they were six years old
between theatrical releases like it
takes two and new york minute
to direct to video films like passport
to paris the olsen twins were
everywhere for most of the 1990s and
2000s
however when the twins turned 18 and
officially left acting behind
they've remained relevant throughout the
years thanks to their work in the
fashion industry
together the olsen twins have created
high-end fashion lines that include
elizabeth and james in the row
both of which have proven enormously
successful
if you watch the 1994 best picture
forrest gump closely
you might notice a young haley joel
osmond as forrest's son
just a few years later osman scored a
huge role
in m night shyamalan's film the sixth
sense
as coulseer osman perfectly portrayed a
young boy
who can see ghosts that don't know
they've died he even earned an
oscar nomination for his performance in
the years that followed osman continued
his acting streak with films like pay it
forward
and ai artificial intelligence as well
as voice appearances in movies like the
hunchback of notre dame
osman's career has never returned to the
heights he did with the sixth sense
but in recent years the talented actor
has shown up in small appearances
on popular shows like hbo's silicon
valley
amazon's the boys and fx is what we do
in the shadows in 2001
disney channel viewers found their new
favorite series
lizzie mcguire which told the story of
an average lovable middle schooler named
lizzy who was trying to get through the
seventh grade
duff won over audiences everywhere with
her hilarious yet heartfelt performance
as lizzy
ultimately the show proved so successful
that it even spawned its own feature
film
the lizzie mcguire movie released in
2003
through the years she's worked as both a
musician and an actress
after the success of lizzie mcguire duff
appeared in teen fair
like agent cody banks a cinderella story
and both cheaper by the dozen remakes
she also recorded huge albums like
metamorphosis
in 2003 duff returned to television as
an adult
starring in darren starr's delightful
comedy younger
as publishing executive kelsey peters
if you're an adam sandler fan you
probably remember his silly yet
emotional comedy
big daddy and if you do you definitely
remember his adorable adopted on-screen
son
julian this role was the big screen
debut for young twins dylan
and cole sprouse who would go on to work
with sandler again
in movies like eight crazy nights and
occasionally take on their own roles
in 2005 the dynamic duo got their own
series
the suite life of zach and cody on the
disney channel
in which they played twins after a
spin-off in a television movie
the sprouse twins left their acting
careers behind temporarily to attend
college
the sprouses attended new york
university from 2011 to 2015. after that
cole ultimately returned to television
as jughead jones
on the cw's riverdale in 2018 while
dylan
runs all-wise meadery in brooklyn and in
2020
snagged a major role in the movie after
we collided
when it comes to childhood tearjerkers
few films loom
quite as large as 1991's my girl
the story of the close friendship
between young veda
played by anna klumsky and thomas
portrayed by macaulay culkin
my girl has one of the most tragic
endings in cinematic history
thanks in large part the emotional
performances by klumsky and culkin
after appearing in my girl 2 klumsky
took a significant break from acting and
attended the university of chicago
earning a degree in international
studies in 2002
however klumsky still wanted to act and
after training
at new york city's atlantic acting
school she booked the role of a lifetime
as amy brookheimer on hbo's biting
political satire
thief alongside julia louis-dreyfus and
a host of other talented comedians
klumsky shined as the uptight eternally
stressed amy
and earned six emmy nods for her
supporting role if you were a fan of my
girl and haven't caught veep yet
it might be shocking to see little veda
display such a foul mouth
but there's no denying that klumsky's
performance on veep
is a comedic tour to force when it comes
to instantly recognizable child
stars few faces are as familiar as
jonathan lipnicki
who cornered the market on portrayals of
precocious children
in the 1990s and 2000s in 1996
lipnicki earned instant fame and acclaim
alongside
tom cruise and renee zellweger in the
smash hit jerry maguire
from there he went on to movies like dr
doolittle stuart little
and its 2002 sequel as well as the
little vampire
and 2002's like mike in the years since
his childhood success
lipnicki has appeared in a string of
independent films like for the love of
money
limelight and 2018's andover there's
nothing i'd rather do with my life you
know
whether whether i'm doing doing big
movies like i did in my childhood
or you know i've actually done more work
as an adult he's also appeared on a few
television programs
including competition and reality shows
like drop the mic
a celebrity edition of worst cooks in
america and celebs go
dating before her breakout role dakota
fanning appeared in small roles in
commercials and on shows like er
but it was her starring role in the 2001
drama
i am sam alongside sean penn that really
put fanning on the map
from there fanning became one of the
most in-demand young actresses around
appearing in everything from romantic
comedies like uptown girls to sci-fi
blockbusters
like war of the worlds to fantasy fair
like the twilight saga
fanning hasn't stopped working for a
second her recent high-profile roles
include a cameo in 2018's ocean's 8
a scene-stealing turn and once upon a
time in hollywood and a leading role on
the television
series the alienist clearly fanning
navigated her years as a child star well
and moviegoers should expect many more
great performances from her to come
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