Sometimes, a child is required to do a bit of acting. Obviously. There are children in stuff. A lot of the time, these performances are met with a pretty poor response and the career of the child star fizzles out into nothing.
However, on occasion, the careers of childhood stars end up taking a more interesting turn after their 18th birthday. Sometimes this becomes a happy story, while other times it’s a bit sad. We’ve put together a list of 10 of the more interesting child stars and what they’re up to these days.
Jaden Smith
Somehow, we can’t help but think Jaden Smith had a little bit of a leg up in the acting world, what with being the son of legendary Fresh Prince star Will Smith. Then again, during his time as a child actor proved himself as a natural talent.
His major debut was in The Pursuit Of Happyness, playing the son of his actual father before he turned heads in his starring role in 2010’s The Karate Kid. In the 2010s, he let acting fall to the wayside in order to focus on music, but since becoming an adult, he has since returned, acting in two Netflix shows: The Get Down and Neo Yokio.
Frankie Muniz
In the first few days of the year 2000, Frankie Muniz made his first appearance as the titular Malcolm in Malcolm In The Middle. Considering he was just 15, his performance was universally praised and led to an Emmy nomination and the Young Star Award from The Hollywood Reporter.
While his acting isn’t anywhere near as prominent as it once was, Munitz takes on the occasional low-profile role or guest appearance. Unexpectedly, 2008 saw him pursue a racing career, before 2012 took his career in a different direction once again, as he became the drummer in Kingsfoil. Finally, he is now the owner of Outrageous Olive Oils & Vinegars in Arizona.
Sasha Pieterse
Sasha Pieterse began her career with a main role in Family Affair from 2002-2003 as Buffy Davis, before moving towards a string of lesser-known appearances in the likes of House, CSI: Miami and The Adventures of Sharkboy And Lava Girl In 3D.
Aged just 14, Pieterse took on the central role of Alison in Pretty Little Liars, and since the show came to a close, has appeared on Dancing With The Stars. Back in 2013 she even had a brief musical career, releasing a string of country/southern-rock infused pop tunes.
Freddie Highmore
While Freddie Highmore made his film debut back in 1999, it was his starring roles in Finding Neverland and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory back in 2004 and 2005 respectively (and both opposite Johnny Depp) that turned him into a household name.
He even won the Critics’ Choice Movie Award For Best Young Performer twice in a row. His acting career has remained almost as prolific in recent years, having gained a starring role in Bates Motel back in 2013 and recently taken on the starring character of Dr. Shaun Murphy in The Good Doctorsince 2017.
Josh Hutcherson
As a child, Josh Hutcherson was in just about everything you can think of. From a string of commercials in the early 2000s to a motion-capture performance for The Polar Express and a central role in the heartbreaking Bridge To Terabithia, he’s had a busy life.
As you probably know, his time as a child star was only the beginning. In 2011, he took on the award-winning role of Peeta in the Hunger Gamesseries and has gone on to direct and produce a number of interesting projects which he also starred in.
Miley Cyrus
Miley is another example of a child star whose later exploits gained her even more attention than those early in her life. Since becoming known for playing the titular character of Hannah Montana from the age of 14 (2006-2011), Cyrus wanted to reinvent herself.
Her daring change of persona was debuted at the 2013 MTV Music Awards and received a fair bit of controversy. Despite a few years of unexpected moves, Cyrus seems to have settled on her current, much less polarizing persona, in which her musical ventures are balanced out by some actually quite brilliant acting performances, such as the Black Mirrorepisode ‘Rachel, Jack And Ashley Too’.
Daniel Radcliffe
The first of the three central Harry Potter stars that we’ll delve into in this list, Daniel Radcliffe has had an interesting life. Despite Harry Potter being just his third acting role, he dove straight into the role as one of (if not the) biggest known character in media history.
You’d think that could be the sort of thing that may mess up a 10-year-old, but since the series came to a conclusion, Radcliffe has matured his acting style and appeared in a variety of unexpectedly low-budget pictures, as well as embracing theatre. Considering the amount of money he must have generated before he was even old enough to get a job legally, he seems to mostly build his career on what he thinks is the most fun these days.
Emma Watson
Emma Watson had a more formal acting education than her Harry Potter co-stars, and this can be seen in her ventures outside of the Wizarding World. The once-upon-a-time Hermione Granger continued to channel her character’s ambition by balancing acting with education and graduating with a degree in English literature from Brown University in 2014.
While high profile roles that saw her appear in The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and Beauty And The Beasthave expanded her career since her 18th birthday, she was also appointed as the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and has had a major role in the development of gender equality. Impressive.
Rupert Grint
Despite, let’s be honest, being the best of the three central Harry Potter characters, Rupert Grint’s post-Potter career has been somewhat less luxurious. He’s been in a wide range of interesting projects, such as the 2017 series Snatch, the 2014 Postman Pat: The Movie and the music video for ‘Lego House’ by Ed Sheeran, but his career has slipped much more under the radar than that of Radcliffe and Watson.
Having said that, pretty much soon as it was physically possible to do so, Grint realized his childhood dream and bought an ice-cream truck. If that doesn’t simply scream success then I don’t know what does.
Jake Lloyd
The final entry on our list is a sadder note than most of the others. While he was still a child (and an actor, for a while) in the 2000s, Jake Lloyd’s most known role came from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace just before the turn of the century. We all know his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker was notoriously bad, but working with the lines and direction of George Lucas combined with the immense pressure and expectation meant his role was always doomed. He retired soon after the film, leading to a high-speed car chase and a charge of reckless driving in 2015.
He is currently in a psychiatric facility following a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
