Dramatic Transformations of Child Stars

Child stars have long captivated audiences with their talent and charm, often becoming household names at a young age.

From the early days when young actors were thrust into the spotlight with little understanding of the pressures they would face, to the more recent generation, where social media has intensified the scrutiny, the journey of these young talents remains fraught with challenges.

While some, like Dakota Fanning and Abigail Breslin, have successfully navigated the transition from child star to respected adult actor, others, like Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes, have battled with the pressures of fame and often lost.

Dakota Fanning blew onto our screens at just eight years old as the daughter of a man living with a disability in I Am Sam, and she’s never looked back. The young star was even nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role alongside Sean Penn and became the youngest member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at just twelve.

While she has worked steadily in Hollywood since those days, Dakota told Porter magazine that the life of a child star is not easy. “The difficult part about starting so young, which I’ve totally come to accept, is that when you grow up and become a woman, people think you’re younger.”

Most recently, Dakota starred in the critically acclaimed show The Alienist from 2019 to 2020 and Ripley in 2024. As for advice for prospective child stars, she told People, “As long as you love it, you’re in the right place.”

Haley Joel Osment was the king of child stars after his incredible performance in 1999’s The Sixth Sense opposite Bruce Willis, even garnering an Oscar nomination at just 11 years old. After his huge success, he largely left the spotlight in 2006 when he went to college to avoid the “predatory, aggressive” tabloid culture of the time, so he told E! News.

After living in NYC for 15 years and honing his craft, he moved back to Hollywood after the tabloids had “mellowed out a bit” and had roles in Wednesday and The Kominsky Method, amongst others. The actor recently appeared in various projects, like The Boys and What We Do In The Shadows.

Lindsay Lohan was a 2000s it-girl and teen idol after rising to fame for her talented turn in the 1998 film The Parent Trap and later for Mean Girls in 2004. Lindsay also released two successful studio albums and cemented her status as a bonafide star, but the pressure of fame was too much, and she spiraled into a drug addiction.

She explained to Piers Morgan in 2013 the trajectory of her downfall at just 20 years old. After multiple trips to rehab, Lindsay made her acting comeback in 2021 with Falling for Christmas. The 38-year-old now shares a son with her husband, Bader Shammas, and has a slew of upcoming projects in the works.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster won hearts as Liam Neeson’s precocious stepson in Love Actually. He went on to star in films like Nanny McPhee and The Maze Runner trilogy. His experience as a child star was different from his American peers, as he told Yahoo!

Thomas brought his talent into adulthood and even received an Emmy nomination for his supporting role in The Queen’s Gambit. He is now married to Talulah Riley, an actress in her own right and former wife of Elon Musk.

Little Miss Sunshine herself, Abigail Breslin, is another child star success story. After bursting onto the scene with her performance in the above film at ten years old and earning an Oscar nomination, she went on to have a steady career throughout each stage of her life.

On her Vulnerable podcast, Abigail spoke about the issues with their profession and how they were treated. More recently, the 28-year-old starred in the hit film August: Osage County and Zombieland: Double Tap with Emma Stone. She married her longtime boyfriend, Ira Kunyansky, in January 2023.

One of the most famous child stars ever is Daniel Radcliffe, the star of Harry Potter. He was cast as everyone’s favorite wizard at just 11 years old and dedicated over a decade to the character. He told Off Camera how he coped with the fame. “In my case, the quickest way to forget about the fact that you’re being watched is to get very drunk.”

After recovering and completing the franchise, he pivoted to indie roles to great acclaim and is now conquering Broadway after winning a Tony this year. He welcomed a son with his longtime girlfriend, Erin Darke, in April 2023 and told Newsweek how his kids will have a different experience than he did.

Another multi-hyphenate child star is Hilary Duff, who rose to fame as Lizzie McGuire in the early 2000s. After starring in projects like Cadet Kelly and A Cinderella Story, Hilary’s star power rose to new heights. She broke into the music industry, earning mainstream success and topping the charts.

After a break from acting, she returned to the scene in Younger, which ran from 2015-2021. She also produced and starred in How I Met Your Father and began filming a reboot of Lizzie McGuire before the studio ultimately scrapped it.

Macaulay Culkin, the star of everyone’s go-to Christmas movie, won hearts in Home Alone and its sequel. However, he became emancipated from his parents at just 15 years old so he could control his own money, he told Esquire. After rumors of drug use swirled in the 2000s, Macaulay took time away from Hollywood.

During this time, he met his girlfriend, Brenda Song, a child star in her own right. The two now share two kids and are as loved up as ever. His on-screen mother, Catherine O’Hara, praised him during a speech when he received a star on the Walk of Fame.

The world’s most famous twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, got their start on Full House when they were just nine months old. After the show ended, they built their brand as teen idols and starred in a slew of films. They even created their own entertainment company, Dualstar, which is now a billion-dollar enterprise.

Mary-Kate retired from acting in 2012. The twins turned it all around with their hugely successful fashion label, The Row, which has been worn by the likes of Gigi Hadid and Jennifer Lawrence. Ashley married Louis Eisner in 2022 and gave birth to their son in 2023. Mary-Kate was married to Olivier Sarkozy from 2015 until 2020.

Perhaps the saddest story on this list is that of Amanda Bynes, whose stratospheric stardom led to one of the most public celebrity breakdowns in recent decades. She got her start on Nickelodeon sketch comedy All That in 1996, leading to her own show.

After shaking off her child star history, she became a rom-com queen. In the following years, Amanda would be arrested for various offenses, and her tweets became erratic. When she was 16, she tried to become emancipated from her parents, eventually being placed under a conservatorship in 2012. This lasted until 2022.

Following the end of the conservatorship, the 38-year-old released a statement about her hopes for the future. “In the last several years, I have been working hard to improve my health so that I can live and work independently,” she said. “I am excited about my upcoming endeavors and look forward to sharing more when I can.”

Source: Particle News