Child Actors The Greatest Former Child Stars  

Originally by carlybobarly

348.7k votes 16k voters 499.5k views 221 items Follow

List Rules Actors who became stars before they were 18 and remain successful and famous as adults

1

6,193 1,304

carlybobarly added Drew Barrymore 1975-02-22

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

2

5,213 1,294

carlybobarly added Leonardo DiCaprio 1974-11-11

"Growing Pains" (1991-92)

3

4,428 1,530

carlybobarly added Jodie Foster 1962-11-19

Tom Sawyer (1973)
Freaky Friday (1976)
Taxi Driver (1976)

4

4,505 1,108

carlybobarly added Reese Witherspoon 1976-03-22

The Man in the Moon (1991)
A Far Off Place (1993)
Jack the Bear (1993)
Return to Lonesome Dove (1993)

5

3,825 1,650

carlybobarly added Ron Howard 1954-03-01

"The Andy Griffith Show" (1960-68)
The Music Man (1962)

6

4,244 1,237

carlybobarly added Christina Ricci 1980-02-12

Mermaids (1990)
The Addams Family (1991)
Addams Family Values (1993)
Casper (1995)
Now and Then (1995)

7

3,173 1,315

carlybobarly added Kirsten Dunst 1982-04-30

Little Women (1994)
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Jumanji (1995)
The Virgin Suicides (1999)

8

4,105 1,278

carlybobarly added Neil Patrick Harris 1973-06-15

"Doogie Howser, M.D." (1989-1993)

9

5,017 3,072

carlybobarly added Natalie Portman 1981-06-09

The Professional (1994)
Heat (1995)
Beautiful Girls (1996)

10

3,846 1,272

carlybobarly added Joseph Gordon-Levitt 1981-02-17

A River Runs Through It (1992)
Angels in the Outfield (1994)
"3rd Rock from the Sun" (1996-2001)

11

2,942 1,230

carlybobarly added Kurt Russell 1951-03-17

The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1968)
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)

12

4,517 1,748

carlybobarly added Jessica Biel 1982-03-03

"7th Heaven" (1996-2006)
I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998)

13

4,724 1,421

carlybobarly added Dakota Fanning 1994-02-23

I Am Sam (2001)
Uptown Girls (2003)
Man on Fire (2004)
War of the Worlds (2005)
Charlotte's Web (2006)
The Runaways (2010)

14

2,665 1,430

carlybobarly added Christina Applegate 1971-11-25

"Married... with Children" (1987-97)

15

2,806 1,344

carlybobarly added Winona Ryder 1971-10-29

Lucas (1986)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Heathers (1989)

16

2,413 551

RandallIkeKing added Emma Watson 1990-04-15

Harry Potter series (2001-11)

17

2,732 1,121

carlybobarly added Elijah Wood 1981-01-28

Radio Flyer (1992)
Forever Young (1992)
The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)
The Good Son (1993)
North (1994)
The War (1994)
Flipper (1996)

18

3,037 2,086

carlybobarly added Alyssa Milano 1972-12-19

"Who's the Boss?" (1984-1992)

19

2,328 1,485

carlybobarly added Natalie Wood 1938-07-20

Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

20

1,931 1,470

carlybobarly added Jennifer Connelly 1970-12-12

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Labyrinth (1986)

21

1,814 1,067

MikeHumphrey added Christian Bale 1974-01-30

Empire of the Sun (1987)
Newsies (1992)

22

2,548 1,264

carlybobarly added Elizabeth Taylor 1932-02-27

Lassie Come Home (1943)
The White Cliffs of Dover (1943)
National Velvet (1944)
Little Women (1949)

23

1,800 1,069

moosiclvr added Hilary Duff 1987-09-28

"Lizzie McGuire" (2001-04)
Agent Cody Banks (2003)
A Cinderella Story (2004)
Material Girls (2006)

24

1,946 1,029

carlybobarly added Sean Astin 1971-02-25

The Goonies (1985)
Like Father Like Son (1987)

25

2,591 1,334

carlybobarly added Mila Kunis 1983-08-14

"That '70s Show" (1998-2006)

26

2,405 1,265

carlybobarly added Scarlett Johansson 1984-11-22

North (1994)
Just Cause (1995)
Manny & Lo (1996)
Ghost World (2001)

27

2,111 1,219

carlybobarly added Jason Bateman 1969-01-14

"Little House on the Prairie" (1981-82)
"Silver Spoons" (1982-84)

28

1,887 1,150

carlybobarly added Sarah Michelle Gellar 1977-04-14

"All My Children" (1993-1995)
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997-2003)

29

1,908 1,175

carlybobarly added Fred Savage 1976-07-09

The Princess Bride (1987)
"The Wonder Years" (1988-1993)
Little Monsters (1989)

30

2,075 1,213

carlybobarly added Jennifer Love Hewitt 1979-02-21

"Kids Incorporated" (1989-91)
Sister Act 2 (1993)
"Party of Five" (1995-99)
House Arrest (1996)

31

2,207 1,292

carlybobarly added Brooke Shields 1965-05-31

Pretty Baby (1978)
The Blue Lagoon (1980)
Endless Love (1981)

32

1,559 1,309

carlybobarly added Tiffani Thiessen 1974-01-23

Saved By The Bell (1989-1993)

33

1,596 1,159

carlybobarly added Jeff Bridges 1949-12-04

"Sea Hunt" (1958-60)
"The Lloyd Bridges Show" (1962-63)
The Loner (1965)

34

1,594 1,105

carlybobarly added Joaquin Phoenix 1974-10-28

Russkies (1987)
Parenthood (1989)

35

1,642 1,123

carlybobarly added Milla Jovovich 1975-12-17

Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)
Chaplin (1992)
Dazed and Confused (1993)

36

1,624 1,180

carlybobarly added Claire Danes 1979-04-12

"My So-Called Life" (1994-95)
Little Women (1994)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)

37

1,387 1,156

carlybobarly added Michelle Trachtenberg 1985-10-11

"The Adventures of Pete & Pete" (1994-96)
Harriet the Spy (1996)
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (2000-2003)

38

1,666 1,359

carlybobarly added Macaulay Culkin 1980-08-26

Uncle Buck (1989)
Home Alone (1990)
My Girl (1991)
The Good Son (1993)

39

1,374 968

carlybobarly added Seth Green 1974-02-08

Can't Buy Me Love (1988)
My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)
It (1990)

40

1,854 993

carlybobarly added Hayden Panettiere 1989-08-21

"One Life to Live" (1994-97)
Guiding Light (1997-2000)
Remember the Titans (2000)
"Ally McBeal" (2001-02)
"Heroes" (2006-2010)

41

1,529 1,075

carlybobarly added Anna Paquin 1982-07-24

The Piano (1993)
Fly Away Home (1996)
Amistad (1997)
She's All That (1999)

42

1,559 953

carlybobarly added Helen Hunt

"Amy Prentiss" (1974-75)
"The Swiss Family Robinson" (1975-76)

43

1,923 1,272

carlybobarly added Jessica Alba 1981-04-28

Camp Nowhere (1991)
"Flipper" (1995-96)

44

1,104 991

carlybobarly added Juliette Lewis 1973-06-21

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Cape Fear (1991)

45

1,177 1,031

carlybobarly added Josh Brolin 1968-02-12

The Goonies (1985)

46

1,073 839

carlybobarly added Diane Lane 1965-01-22

A Little Romance (1979)
The Outsiders (1983)
Rumble Fish (1983)

47

1,062 860

carlybobarly added Michelle Williams 1980-09-09

Lassie (1994)
Species (1995)
Killing Mr. Griffin (1997)
"Dawson's Creek (1998-2003)

48

913 715

Christian Slater 1969-08-18

The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)
"Ryan's Hope" (1985)

49

1,114 315

Daniel Radcliffe 1989-07-23

Harry Potter series (2001-11)

50

1,152 856

carlybobarly added Shia LaBeouf 1986-06-11

"Even Stevens" (1999-2003)
The Battle of Shaker Heights (2003)