Child Actors Forever Changed by Their Breakout Roles

There are countless stories in the entertainment industry of how people’s lives are affected by becoming child stars. It’s a no-brainer that certain films and television shows require younger actors to portray appropriately young characters, but oftentimes it comes as a detriment to said younger actor’s mental health and ability to live a private life.

While some child actors struggle to outrun their most notable roles, others wouldn’t be where they are today without landing one important role early in their career. Sometimes, it’s these parts that inspire actors to keep chasing success or redefine their public perception in ways that they’re happy to live with forever. Some are even able to escape from the shadow of the role to find higher success in their adult lives as actors.

While a lot of child stars wind up with normal jobs as grown-ups, and others end their career after doing one movie, these child actors vary between appreciating the careers they’ve led after their most memorable role, and growing spiteful of their own celebrity. They may have been one person when they were first cast in an iconic role, but afterwards, these young performers found themselves completely changed.

Drew Barrymore captured hearts around the world when she starred in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” at seven years old as Gertie, the little sister of Elliott (Henry Thomas), the boy who discovers the titular alien in his backyard. However, child stardom was rough for the young Barrymore, who grew up in an abusive home before being thrust into the limelight. Not only did she come from a family of famous actors, but there was also a pattern of alcoholism that ran through each generation. Luckily, she had a special relationship with Steven Spielberg on the set of “E.T.,” with the director adamant about not robbing Barrymore of her childhood during production of the film.

By her teenage years, however, Barrymore had already been exposed to the world of narcotics and promiscuous Hollywood parties. She was 13 when she first entered rehab for substance abuse, and it wasn’t her last. As the actress told The Guardian about this period of her life, she never let go of hope despite all the trauma that came in those later years, saying, “I never went all the way into darkness. There were so many things I could have done that would have pushed me over the edge and I just knew not to go there.” Perhaps Gertie kept a few lessons from E.T. in mind after all.

The world was re-introduced to Ke Huy Quan in 2022 when the actor starred in the Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Quan went home with the award for best supporting actor for his role as Waymond, the weak-willed husband of Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) and father to rebellious daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu). However, most audiences likely remember Quan from one role in his childhood: Short Round, the sidekick of Harrison Ford’s iconic title archeologist in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

Although some might assume that a memorable role in one of the biggest movie franchises in cinematic history would be enough to fill up an actor’s schedule, that didn’t happen for Quan. After another successful appearance in 1985’s “The Goonies,” he struggled to book roles. This was hard on the young Quan, who had fallen in love with acting thanks to “Temple of Doom,” telling People, “Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would end up being an actor … I have such fond memories of working on [‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’].”

Not everybody in Hollywood forgot about Ke Huy Quan. The actor kept in touch with Steven Spielberg after the production of “Temple of Doom,” even receiving annual Christmas presents from the director. And during his journey from out-of-work actor to award winner, Quan found work choreographing fight scenes for movies like “X-Men” and “The One.”

Macaulay Culkin rose to international acclaim as Kevin McCallister in 1990’s “Home Alone,” starring as a boy forgotten by his parents who gets to spend Christmas by himself, thwarting the schemes of two nitwit burglars. The actor had plenty of other memorable roles in the ’90s and even hosted “Saturday Night Live” when he was 11, but nothing was more iconic than the troublesome tyke of this essential holiday classic.

However, Culkin didn’t like the attention that followed “Home Alone.” In particular, the friendship he forged with Michael Jackson after the movie’s release led to speculation of wrongdoing on Jackson’s part, which Culkin has denied. As his life became tabloid fodder, Culkin felt overwhelmed enough by the attention that he quit the business, telling Time, “People thought I was doing heroin and spending all of my money, the whole cliche, classic tale of a child star … But I’m not going to go down that route.”

Although he took a step back from acting to go back to school, Culkin seems to be doing just fine today, having made appearances in Season 10 of “American Horror Story” and the movie “Changeland.” The latter connected him with future partner Brenda Song, with whom he now has two children.

Many ’90s kids likely remember Anna Chlumsky’s lead role as Vada in “My Girl,” a 1991 drama co-starring Macaulay Culkin and Dan Aykroyd. At 11 years old, Chlumsky’s performance in the film (and its sequel in 1994) was memorable, particularly given the gravity of the film’s subject matter. However, the child actress didn’t remain in the limelight for long, opting to finish high school and pursue higher education rather than chase fame.

Chlumsky ended up taking an office job at a publishing company after graduating college, while keeping acting as a side pursuit and making brief appearances on shows like “30 Rock” and “Law and Order.” She gained further recognition as an adult when she was cast in HBO’s “Veep” as Amy, a role which earned her six Emmy nominations for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy.

Chlumsky shared her candid thoughts on “My Girl” with The Daily Beast, saying, “I think it’s a great thing that it was a resonant film and it meant a lot to a lot of people … But I think when you’re constantly identified with something that happened so long ago and that was at an age that is not your age now, it just becomes sort of unfair.” Despite that, she credits “My Girl” with inspiring her return to acting as an adult, thanks to a fortune teller who recognized her and advised her to go back to the craft.

Kirsten Dunst is one of the few actors who’s more recognized for her film roles as an adult than her years as a child actress. The New Jersey-born movie star has had major roles in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette,” and even nabbed an Oscar nomination for “The Power of the Dog.” However, she was also a busy pre-teen, even if many have forgotten about her breakout role in 1994’s “Interview with the Vampire.”

Dunst played Claudia, the vampire child of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise’s characters, and even performed a scene where she had to lock lips with Pitt. While many actresses would leap at the opportunity, Dunst has acknowledged how weird it was at the time, given that she was 11 and Pitt was 30. She nevertheless alleviated concerns about any foul play on set and noted that she felt she was treated very well by her co-stars, telling British GQ, “I was very protected on set … I felt like Brad’s little sister, and Tom made me feel like a princess.”

Aside from the acclaim that followed her role as Claudia, which included a Golden Globe nomination, Dunst’s biggest takeaway from “Interview with the Vampire” was the professionalism it taught her, from staying patient through a long audition process to enduring grueling night shoot schedules.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been around for a long time. He made his screen debut with TV guest roles on “Family Ties” and “Roseanne” before joining the cast of “3rd Rock from the Sun” as Tommy, the teenage son of the Solomons, a family of aliens masquerading as humans on Earth. Gordon-Levitt starred on the show between the ages of 12 and 20, spending the majority of his adolescence in front of TV audiences.

Gordon-Levitt, thankfully, has a glass-half-full view of his time on “3rd Rock from the Sun,” as it allowed him to afford a college education without being overwhelmed with student loan debt. Part of the reason he decided to pursue education is because he felt like he needed a challenge from life that the sitcom wasn’t providing, telling The New York Times that he found said challenge through his university professors: “They made me see I wasn’t just alive to have fun … I started to care about the world, and I wanted to somehow connect with it.”

Although Gordon-Levitt started attending Columbia University towards the end of the sitcom’s run, he dropped out in pursuit of a full-time acting career. He quickly landed roles in “The Lookout,” “500 Days of Summer,” and “Inception,” turning the former teen alien into