Former Child Stars Who Grew Up To Become Hollywood's A-List Fixtures

Several former child stars have spoken out about the pitfalls of fame. There's the intense pressure to be the perfect role model, while many child stars become exposed to drugs and alcohol, sadly developing an addiction that destroys their careers instantly. This child star "curse" has plagued stars like Corey Feldman, Macaulay Culkin, and Edward Furlong. Although they have recovered from addictions and hardships, they are still associated with their iconic child star roles and have had a tough time securing acting jobs as adults.

Only a few child stars have had successful and continuous careers as they got older. The celebrities below found a way to navigate the demanding world of Hollywood. They continue to thrive in their careers by releasing music, working in major motion pictures and television shows, and even venturing outside their careers to establish other businesses. These former child stars who grew up to become A-listers in Hollywood are a rarity.

Selena Gomez started her career on television at ten when she was cast on the children's program "Barney & Friends" from 2002 to 2004. However, Gomez's big break would be landing the lead role in the Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place," which ran from 2007 to 2012. The show made Gomez a household name, and she starred in several movies soon after while also launching a singing career.

Gomez released her debut solo album titled "Stars Dance" in 2013, with the song "Come & Get It" reaching the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She continued to find success with her sophomore album "Revival" and nabbed her first number one hit in the U.S. with the song "Lose You to Love Me" off her third album, "Rare." The song was allegedly about the end of her on-again, off-again relationship with Justin Bieber.

Gomez's career continues to flourish. She created the makeup line Rare Beauty in 2020. She also went back to acting when she starred in the Hulu show "Only Murders in the Building," for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination in 2023. Reflecting on how working on her new series has been entirely different from her Disney days, Gomez shared (via Complex), "I signed my life away to Disney at a very young age, and I didn't know what I was doing ... It's just really nice to be back on TV and it's nice to be cast as my actual age."

"Hannah Montana" may be a thing of the past for Miley Cyrus, but it certainly helped make the musical chameleon's career blossom. She starred in the hit Disney series when she was 14, and by the time the show concluded in 2011, she was a ways away from her Disney persona with her 2010 album "Can't Be Tamed." What followed was a constant change in musical stylings and many colorful costumes with the albums – "Bangerz," which included her number one hit, "Wrecking Ball," and 2015's "Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz," which featured a psychedelic sound. However, by 2017, with the release of "Younger Now," fans saw Cyrus embrace her Nashville roots and a softer side of the singer with her song "Malibu."

Despite her constant sound change, Cyrus believes she stays true to herself. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar in 2017, she shared, "People get told that it's a bad thing to change. Like, people will say, 'You've changed.' And that's supposed to be derogatory. But you are supposed to change all the time.'" In 2020, Cyrus showed a new side of her with the release of "Plastic Hearts." The record was influenced by rock and roll and featured guest vocals by Billy Idol, Joan Jett, and Stevie Nicks. In January 2023, Cyrus released the song "Flowers" from her eighth studio album, "Endless Summer Vacation."

Drew Barrymore found massive fame at seven after starring in Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." However, Barrymore found herself immersed in a world of heavy drugs and alcohol as a kid. Barrymore had her first alcoholic drink at nine while she began doing cocaine at 12. She admitted to being banished from Hollywood then, telling The Sun, "I don't know how I ended up here, but I will never lose sight of how lucky I am. Being blacklisted at 12, I appreciate every job I have." The young actor went to rehab twice and was placed in a mental institution, and at age 14, was emancipated from her mother.

Luckily, Barrymore was able to grow out of her troubled years. In her late teens, she found success with movies like 1992's "Poison Ivy" and 1994's "Bad Girls." She appeared in "Scream," "Never Been Kissed," and starred alongside Adam Sandler in "The Wedding Singer" and worked with him again in the romantic comedy "50 First Dates." In 2000, she starred in "Charlie's Angels" and its sequel with Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu. 

Besides acting, Barrymore was behind the director's chair for 2009's "Whip It." In 2012, she launched her makeup line Flower Beauty. She starred in the Netflix series "Santa Clarita Diet" from 2017 to 2019. Since 2020, the star has hosted her talk show "The Drew Barrymore Show," which has been nominated for several Daytime Emmy Awards. 

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Zendaya made her television debut on Disney Channel's "Shake It Up" when she was 14. Although the show ended in 2013, she returned to Disney two years later on her own terms, when she starred in "K.C. Undercover." "The only way I was going to come back to the Disney Channel was if I was in a position of more power. One thing that is really important to me is diversity on the channel," she told Cosmopolitan, adding, "Representation is very important."

Zendaya's career skyrocketed when she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2017. She was cast as MJ in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and has since appeared in 2019's "Spider-Man: Far From Home" and 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home." On those projects, Zendaya worked alongside Tom Holland, her current boyfriend. She's also starred in "Dune" with Timothee Chalamet, reprising her role in 2023's "Dune: Part Two." 

In 2019, Zendaya portrayed the character of Rue, a teenager battling a drug addiction on the HBO series "Euphoria." The show became an instant hit, and the actor received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama TV Series in 2023.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Actor Ryan Gosling was just 12 when he joined the likes of Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera on Disney's "The Mickey Mouse Club." Although he's now a successful actor, Gosling shared to Interview magazine that he doubted his talents after working alongside the other members. "I remember one time they put four of us in a dance routine, but I was so off. I was on the end, so they just pushed the shot in closer on the other three guys to frame me out," he recalled. However, despite his uncertainty, he showed off his acting chops in 2001's "The Believer." The role opened doors for Gosling.

In 2004, Gosling became everyone's favorite heartthrob when he starred alongside Rachel McAdams in "The Notebook." He would go on to star in "Half Nelson," earning his first Oscar nomination, "Lars and the Real Girl," "Blue Valentine," "Drive," and his first comedy, "Crazy, Stupid, Love." In 2012, he starred alongside Eva Mendes in "The Place Beyond the Pines." Gosling and Mendes began a relationship after working together on the film and welcomed two daughters. In 2022, Mendes finally confirmed that the two were married. 

Gosling's next big role came in 2017 when he starred in "La La Land" opposite Emma Stone. The actor took home a Golden Globe award for his performance and was nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. As of this writing, in 2023, Gosling will star with Margot Robbie in the highly anticipated film, "Barbie."

Dakota Fanning was only seven years old when she began making a name for herself in Hollywood. She was cast in the 2001 film "I Am Sam" and became the youngest person to be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. From there, Fanning worked with director Steven Spielberg in the television series "Taken," starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in "Sweet Home Alabama," and at 10, acted with Denzel Washington in "Man on Fire."

Fanning's acting career skyrocketed when she starred as Tom Cruise's daughter in 2005's "War of the Worlds." The actor went on to star in "Charlotte's Web," "The Secret Life of Bees," and starred as Jane in the "Twilight" movies. In 2019, she worked with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in the Quentin Tarantino film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and switched to television after starring in "The Alienist" and Showtime's "The First Lady."

Although Fanning continues to thrive in Hollywood, the star admitted to Net-A-Porter in 2019 that she had made mistakes growing up just like everyone else but managed to keep them out of the public eye. Once she turned 21, the actor felt like she had much more freedom after detailing how young Hollywood stars are often scrutinized over anything they do. "I felt like there was such an expectation for me not to mess up. Which could have driven me crazy because that's an outrageous thing to put on a younger person, who's supposed to make mistakes," Fanning said. 

Hilary Duff was labeled a teen idol when she began working on the 2001 Disney Channel series "Lizzie McGuire." It would help the young star land movie roles in "Agent Cody Banks," "Cheaper By the Dozen," and "A Cinderella Story." At the same time, Duff was launching a music career. Her 2003 album "Metamorphosis," which included the hit songs "So Yesterday" and "Come Clean," peaked at the number one position on the Billboard 200 charts. She has since released four other albums, her latest being 2015's "Breathe In. Breathe Out," as of this writing. 

Although Duff had a successful music career, she has mainly focused on acting. In 2019, she starred as the late Sharon Tate in the thriller "The Haunting of Sharon Tate," and from 2015 to 2021 starred as Kelsey Peters in TV Land's longest-running original series "Younger." In 2022, Duff starred in the Hulu series "How I Met Your Father, which she also produces.

Duff came out on top after being a child star. However, in 2022, she told Cosmopolitan that the only thing she would have changed in her life was continuing to pursue her education. "But I can't look at life and be like, 'I wish this was different,' because I don't know if it would get me to where I am right now,'" Duff shared. 

Actor Jodie Foster called herself a "TV baby" on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" after revealing that her acting career began when she was three. By the age of six, she shared that she landed her first feature film and starred in several hit sitcoms in the '70s, including "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," and "The Partridge Family." But it wasn't until she starred in 1976's "Taxi Driver," at 14 that people really began to notice her acting. The role scored her an Oscar nomination. 

Foster continued to work throughout the '70s and '80s and even attended Yale University while shooting five films. Her next breakthrough was starring in 1989's "The Accused," which won her the Best Actress award at the Academy Awards. She then won the award for the second time for "Silence of the Lambs." The actor would work in several notable movies in the '90s including, "Nell," "Maverick," and "Contact." Her acting career expanded into the 2000s as well with "Panic Room," "Inside Man," and "Flightplan."

Foster switched gears when she took up directing. She directed George Clooney and Julia Roberts in the 2016 film "Money Monster" and has directed episodes for Netflix's popular series "Orange is the New Black." In addition, the actor took home her third Golden Globe Award for her work in the 2021 movie "The Mauritanian." Foster has devoted her life to acting, and there's no stopping her. 

Christina Ricci was a child star of the '90s. Her first role was in the 1990's film "Mermaids" at the age of nine, where Cher portrayed her mother. Ricci was soon known for her darker roles when she played Wednesday Addams in "The Addams Family" and reprised her role in the film's sequel in 1993. Two years later, Ricci played Kat in "Casper." As a teen, she starred in several independent films and took on more mature roles in movies like "The Opposite of Sex" and "Pecker." However, she also appeared in bigger film productions alongside Johnny Depp in "Sleepy Hollow," and Charlize Theron in "Monster."

Ricci's acting credits show that she worked throughout the 2000s, starring in movies and television shows, including 2011's "Pan Am" and 2015's "The Lizzie Borden Chronicles." Her star power rose even higher when she joined the cast of Showtime's "Yellowjackets" in 2021. The following year, Ricci thrilled fans when she joined the Netflix series "Wednesday," where actor Jenna Ortega transformed into Ricci's most-known role as Wednesday Addams. 

Ricci shared with People in 2018 that she enjoyed working as a kid, despite the outcome of other well-known child stars. "I loved working. I loved being a kid who had talent. I loved being good at something. I loved all that positive reinforcement I got every day. I loved getting to use my imagination in a way that really created things. It was incredible to be able to do that so young," she said. 

Neil Patrick Harris' most notable early role was that of a teenage genius and doctor in "Doogie Howser, M.D." which ran from 1989 to 1993. The show was extremely popular, and Harris became a household name. Looking back at the role, Harris told The Guardian, "It's a little bizarre that people — what is it, 30 years later? — still refer to me as that. People say: 'Hey, Doogie, I like your new show!' But hey, better than anonymity, I suppose.'" 

Of course, nowadays, most people recognize Harris in "How I Met Your Mother." The sitcom ran from 2005 to 2014, but in between the shows running, the actor took on various roles. He starred in films such as "Beastly," played himself in the "Harold & Kumar" films, and took on a more serious part in "Gone Girl." In 2017, he portrayed Count Olaf in the tv series "A Series of Unfortunate Events," and in 2022, he starred in the Netflix series "Uncoupled." He's also been on Broadway, winning a Tony Award in 2014 for his role in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

During an interview with Today in 2019, Harris thanked his parents for ensuring he didn't succumb to the child star curse. "I think they took the entertainment industry, and Hollywood in general, as a cautionary tale as opposed to this beautiful ether that they want to jump in and swim," Harris shared, adding, "They were a very grounding force."

Natalie Portman's acting resume is extensive and goes back to when she was just 12. She scored her first lead role in 1994's "Léon: The Professional." Two years later, she was cast in "Beautiful Girls." Interestingly, Portman was offered a role alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in 1996's "Romeo and Juliet," but was later deemed too young. She was also asked to star in "Lolita" but turned down the part because of its sexual nature. When she looked back at the many roles she was offered as a child, Portman shared on Dax Shepard's "Armchair" podcast that they affected her sexuality. "I would start choosing parts that were less sexy because it made me worried about the way I was perceived and how safe I felt," she said.

Despite this, Portman would land one of her most significant roles. At 16, she starred as Padme Amidala in 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" and acted in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy. In 2004, she was nominated for her first Academy Award for "Closer" and continued to cement her name in Hollywood with roles in "V for Vendetta," "The Other Boleyn Girl," and "Black Swan," for which she won Best Actress at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011.

Portman joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2011 when she starred as Jane Foster in "Thor." She reprised her role in 2013's "Thor: The Dark World" and 2022's "Thor: Love and Thunder." 

Actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster will forever be linked to his role as Liam Neeson's stepson in the 2003 holiday classic "Love Actually." The actor was thirteen when the film was released, and although he has since starred in several major films and television shows, he doesn't mind being attached to the character of Sam. "I don't think 'Love Actually' is going to go anywhere. I don't mind that, that's fine,'" he told Mr. Porter. 

Something good did come out of playing Sam when Brodie-Sangster discovered that his "Love Actually" co-star Hugh Grant is his second cousin! "His grandmother and my great-grandmother are sisters," he recalled (via Times of India). "Then he kind of remembered my mum and uncle. So for the rest of the shoot, he went 'round saying: 'Hello cousin.' That felt quite cool,'" the actor added.

Brodie-Sangster's acting resume has grown ever since his iconic child role. In 2005 he starred in "Nanny McPhee," and in 2008 starred as a younger version of Paul McCartney in "Nowhere Boy." In addition, he starred as Jojen Reed in the HBO hit "Game of Thrones" and starred as Newt in the "Maze Runner" trilogy. Brodie-Sangster also starred in Netflix's hit series "The Queen's Gambit," for which the actor was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. From 2007 to 2015, Brodie-Sangster voiced Ferb Fletcher in the animated Disney television series "Phineas and Ferb" and also voiced John Tracy in the animated science fiction show "Thunderbirds Are Go."

"That '70s Show" launched Mila Kunis' career, but many people might not know that the actor lied about her age, so she would play the part of Jackie Burkhart. The actor told Vanity Fair in 2022 that she was only 14 when she auditioned for the role, but had reportedly told the show's producers that she was a lot older. However, when she got the part, Kunis let everyone know her actual age, and thankfully, they liked the actor so much that they didn't care.

Kunis also described that she had a great experience on set even though she was working alongside actors older than her. "I was never treated as lesser-than. If I did by one of the cast members, another cast member would stand up for it," she said, adding, "I looked up to them at 14. The trajectory of my career or my life could've gone any which way ... but the set was cool." It was also the same set where she met her husband, Ashton Kutcher. The couple is the parents of two children. 

Her career only shot up after starring in the sitcom for eight years. Her most notable roles included "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," "Black Swan," "Friends with Benefits," and "Bad Moms." Since 1999, Kunis has voiced Meg Griffin on "Family Guy." 

Jason Bateman became a teen sensation in the '80s when he starred in 1987's "Teen Wolf Too," a movie produced by his father, actor Kent Bateman. However, he has been working in Hollywood since 1981, when he was first cast in "Little House on the Prairie." He went on to star in several memorable sitcoms like "Silver Spoons" and "The Hogan Family." 

Bateman continued to work throughout the '90s, but very little. He recalled to The Guardian that the decade was his "wilderness years" after he decided to take a break from acting to experience life as a teenager, which included partying and getting caught up in drugs and alcohol. "Having thought, 'This is really fun,' and staying at the party a little bit too long, I'd lost my place in the line of business; it was a case of trying to claw that back towards the end of the 90s, and not getting a lot of great responses,'" he shared. 

The actor found his footing when he was cast as Michael Bluth in "Arrested Development," which ran from 2003 to 2019. His next big role came in 2017 when he portrayed Marty Byrde on Netflix's "Ozark." According to an interview with Variety, Bateman directed several episodes of the hit show and shared that he relished sitting in the director's chair. "Acting is still enjoyable, but I'm a bit of a hedonist, and right now, directing is where I'm getting the most pleasure," he declared.