Child Actors Who Are Still Working Today: Then Now

Weirdly enough, a lot of child actors are still acting today.

Imagine what it’s like to be a child star. Could you handle the intense shoots, regardless of whether you’re working on a film or a TV show? Could you memorize your lines with ease and then remember to say them on cue? Could you deliver the right emotions and make your performance gel together with the rest of the project? It’s no mean feat, to be sure, but there are some actors in Hollywood who got their start in show business as children, which means they were faced with doing all of the above when the rest of us were going to elementary school. Add to that the pressures of not only managing your fame at such a young age but also successfully making the transition from child star to teen star and even grown-up movie and TV star, and you’ve got a lot to marvel at. Seriously, how do these actors do it?

There are plenty of kids who have acted over the years, but these stars have done it, nailed it, and built thriving careers from their early work in film and TV. They’re stars you know and love, who you have seen in a ton of projects and who have skillfully navigated the unwieldy world of fame from such a young age and managed not to get eaten alive by the whole rigmarole. They’ve done something amazing and should be proud of the healthy transition they made.

Get ready to find out which child actors are still working in Hollywood today. (You might be surprised at who pops up!)

Below, see which child actors now continue to work in Hollywood as actors.

A version of this article was originally published on Feb. 2018. 

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Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore comes from a long line of actors and made her big-screen debut in 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Since then, she’s starred in films like Santa Clarita Diet, Charlie’s Angels, and Blended, along with having her own talk show called The Drew Barrymore Show.

Regina King

Regina King got her start in television, first appearing in the network sitcom 227 from 1985 to 1990. Since then, her decades-long career has given her a mountain of accolades (and an Oscar for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk!) Her most notable work is also Ray and The Harder They Fall.

Daniel Radcliffe

After spending his childhood as Harry Potter in the Harry Potter films, Daniel Radcliffe transitioned to indie films in adulthood, starring in films like Kill Your Darlings, Horns, Swiss Army Man, Guns Akimbo, and will be starring as ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in the film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. In 2024, he won the Tony Award for his role in the Broadway show, Merrily We Roll Along.

Christian Bale

At only 13 years old, Christian Bale already found himself in big roles in films like Mio in the Land of Faraway and Empire of the Sun. Since then, he hasn’t stopped. He’s acting in over 50 projects and won an Oscar for the 2011 movie The Fighter. 

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart started working in Hollywood at only nine years old, after an uncredited appearance in the film The Thirteenth Year. Her first big break came in 2002 when she starred alongside Jodie Foster and Forest Whitacker in Panic Room. She also starred in films like Speak and Zathura: A Space Adventure before snagging the lead role in the Twilight films. After Twliight, she transitioned to more indie films in her adulthood, like Camp X-Ray, Still Alice, Seberg, and most notably, her Oscar-nominated role in Spencer.

Selena Gomez

We all remember Selena Gomez‘s iconic character of Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place, but Gomez started acting much earlier: at only the age of seven years old for Barney & Friends. She’s worked in both music and film, voicing Mavis in the Hotel Transylvania series and starring in the hit Hulu series Only Murders in the Building.

Taylor Lautner

As a kid, Taylor Lautner starred in The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl. As a teenager, she landed the role of Jacob Black in the Twilight series. And as an adult, he’s transitioned to television roles in projects like Scream Queens and Cuckoo.

Emma Roberts

Emma Roberts started working in acting as early as nine years old, starring in some of our favorite 2000s films like Wild Child and Aquamarine. Since adulthood, she’s worked in a bunch of different genres. For horror, she was in Scream 4 and the show Scream Queens. She’s also been in films like The Hunt and We’re the Millers. 

Keke Palmer

Primetime Emmy-winning actress Keke Palmer got her start at only 11 years old when she played Gina’s niece in Barbershop 2: Back in Business. She spent her teen years in projects like Jump In, True Jackson VP, and voicing Aisha in Winx Club. As an adult, she’s starred in shows like Turnt Up with the Taylors, Scream, Star, and Berlin Station. 

As for films, she’s starred in films like Hustlers and Nope.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Okay but who didn’t have a crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt when he was in 3rd Rock from the Sun and Dark Shadows? All of our adolescent hearts belonged to him. Since then, he starred in films like Inception, (500) Days of Summer, and 50/50. Then all of our adult hearts belonged to him.

Mayim Bialik

Primetime Emmy nominated actress Mayim Bialik has been a TV staple since her starring role in Blossom from 1991 to 1995, when she was only 16. She’s continued her impressive TV work, most recently with her co-starring roles in shows like The Big Bang Theory and Call Me Kat.

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster wowed everyone with her role in Taxi Driver, when she was only 13. Since then, she’s starred in a bunch of projects, with her most recent being The Mauritanian and Hotel Artemis, and she won Oscars for her roles in The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs.

Macaulay Culkin

We all loved Macaulay Culkin in the Home Alone movies, and chances are he’s the first person that comes to mind when you think about child stars. Despite his lengthy drug addiction journey, Culkin has guest-starred in a lot of projects in recent years, including American Horror Story and The Righteous Gemstones.

Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis was only 14 years old when she landed her breakout role in That 70s Show, and since then, she’s garnered an impressive acting career spanning decades. Her most notable work has been in roles for Bad Moms, Black Swan, Breaking News in Yuba County, and voicing Meg Griffin in Family Guy.

Brenda Song

Tisdale’s Suite Life of Zack and Cody co-star Brenda Song also transitioned amazingly from child star to adult actor. When she was a teenager, she starred in other projects like Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior and  Suite Life on Deck. In adulthood, she starred in TV shows like Dollface and Station 19, and made her return to Disney with the show Amphibia. 

Rupert Grint

After his work on Harry Potter, Rupert Grint transitioned to television to continue his acting, starring in projects like Sick Note, Snatch, the mini-series The ABC Murders, and Servant.

Ashley Tisdale

Growing up, we all wanted to be Ashley Tisdale, between starring in High School Musical and Suite Life of Zack and Cody. She’s continued to be our beloved TV darling, starring in projects like Merry Happy Whatever, Carol’s Second Act, and lended her voice for the loved game The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes. (And she’s was amazing as the voice of Candance in Phineas & Ferb!)

Neil Patrick Harris

Everyone knew who Neil Patrick Harris was back in the early 1990s, thanks to Doogie Howser MD. But Harris became a household name again when he starred in the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother and in the Netflix show UnCoupled.

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan stole our hearts when she starred in the classic remake The Parent Trap, and continued to star in cult classics like Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. While she had a bit of a rough go at adulthood, she’s guest-starred on a few shows throughout the years. She returned to acting in the 2020s with films like Falling for Christmas, and the upcoming Freaky Friday 2 film.

Ron Howard

Ron Howard got his start in the entertainment business when he was still elementary school-age in The Andy Griffith Show. He continued to work in television through his teens and 20s before transitioning to the director’s chair for films like Apollo 13. the Oscar winner has mostly focused on directing and producing, but did co-star in shows like Arrested Development and This is Us.

Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci starred opposite Cher and Winona Ryder in her first major film, Mermaids, in 1990 and worked on films like The Addams Family, Casper, and Sleepy Hollow. She’s been steadily working ever since, notably starring in the hit show Yellowjackets.

Joey King

Joey King may have started acting at only seven years old in projects like Horton Hears a Who!, Ramona and Beezus, and Jericho, but she’s not stopping anytime soon. In the 2020s alone, she’s appeared in an array of shows and films like The Princess, The Kissing Booth, and The Act.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson may have become super well-known for late ’90s/early ’00s films like Ghost World, Lost in Translation, and Girl With a Pearl Earring, but she’s been acting since the early ’90s, with her first major role coming in 1994 in North. Her big movie role in recent years was as Black Widow in a series of beloved Marvel movies.

Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood has been on our radar for the better part of 20 years, starring in films like The Good Son and North as a kid before graduating to darker, more intense films like The Faculty and I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore in his 20s and 30s.

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges got his start in television in 1958 at age nine play various bit parts on the TV show his father, Lloyd Bridges, starred on call Sea Hunt (although he does have an uncredited role from when he was an infant in the 1960 film, The Company She Keeps). Later, he popped up on The Lloyd Bridges Show and Lassie before getting roles in big movies as he entered adulthood, including The Last Picture Show, Tron, The Big Lebowski, and True Grit.

Candace Cameron Bure

Candace Cameron Bure is still making bank on the show that helped catapult her to fame as a child, Full House. Sure, it may be called Fuller House now and her character may be all grown up, but it’s still good to see that she can play the character many of us know and love all these years later! She also has worked on projects like Aurora Teagarden Mysteries and a plethora of Hallmark Christmas films.

Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst was one of the most famous child stars of the ’90s, appearing in films like Interview With the Vampire, Jumanji, and Bring It On. She is still working hard, appearing on the TV show Fargo and getting an Oscar nomination for her role in The Power of the Dog.

Elle Fanning

Elle Fanning kinda got her start thanks to her big sister, appearing as a younger version of her sister’s character in I Am Sam before getting roles of her in own in films like The Nines, Reservation Road, and Somewhere. Now, she’s a starring lady on all her own, starring in TV shows like The Girl from Plainville and The Great that have since ended.

Dakota Fanning

The Fanning sisters have cultivated impressive careers and are only in their 20s! Dakota Fanning rose to prominence on TV shows like Ally McBeal, ER, and CSI before breaking out in films like I Am Sam and Uptown Girls. As an adult, she’s starred in TV shows like The Alienist, The First Lady, and Ripley.

Vanessa Hudgens

Disney it-girl Vanessa Hudgens has been working her butt off since she was 10 years old. She was most well-known back then, as a teen actor as Gabriella in High School Musical and Corrie in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. After her Disney days, she continued her acting career, starring in projects like Spring Breakers, Tick, Tick… Boom!, and Downtown Owl.

Cole Sprouse & Dylan Sprouse

Ah, the Sprouse twins. We basically grew up with Cole Sprouse and Dylan Sprouse as they played Zack and Cody on the Disney Suite Life shows. Now, they’re adults and both still act to this day. Cole took a break from acting in 2012 to 2017, and since then, he’s starred as Forsythe “Jughead” Jones III in Riverdale and The Creature in Lisa Frankenstein.

As for Dylan, he took the same amount of break time before diving into roles in films like After We Collided, My Fake Boyfriend, and Beautiful Disaster.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Oh, Leonardo DiCaprio. This Oscar-winning actor has been famous darn near his entire life, getting his start in commercials as a young boy before moving into TV shows like Growing Pains and Parenthood in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Do I even need to tell you the films he’s been in since then? I think not.

Raven-Symoné

Raven-Symoné started out in TV at the adorable age of four, when she appeared in a guest role on A Different World. From there, she racked up credits on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air before breaking big as Olivia Kendall on The Cosby Show. These days, she came back on TV in a reboot of her mid-’00s Disney show, That’s So Raven.

Abigail Breslin

Abigail Breslin got her start in film and TV with a major role: playing little Bo Hess in M. Night Shyamalan’s 2002 thriller Signs. From there, she popped up in films like Little Miss Sunshine and Raising Helen as well as TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy and NCIS. As an adult, she’s been in projects like Scream Queens and Zombieland.

Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder began her career in the late ’80s with films like Heathers, Square Dance (starring opposite Rob Lowe), and Beetlejuice. The rest is history, as they say, and today you can see her on Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman was just 13 when she became an international star thanks to her performance in Léon: The Professional. She’s racked up a number of credits since then, starring in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Black Swan, V for Vendetta, and the Thor movies.

Alyson Hannigan

Once Alyson Hannigan started acting at only 12 years old, she was destined for greatness. She began her career in comedies like Impure Thoughts and My Stepmother Is an Alien. Since then, she’s conquered both film and TV as an adult.

In films, she’s most well-known for her role in the American Pie movies. For TV, she’s been in starring roles in shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and How I Met Your Mother.

Emma Watson

Despite thinking she would be quitting acting by the end of the Harry Potter films, Emma Watson has continued to be in high-profile films like Beauty and the Beast, Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Little Women.

Allison Scagliotti

As a teenager, Allison Scagliotti was most well-known as Mindy Crenshaw in the series Drake and Josh, along with many other Nick classics. Fast forward to today, she’s still working in Hollywood as a director and actor. However, she’s also focusing on her singing career: where she sings jazzy French songs under the name La Femme Pendu.

Miranda Cosgrove

Miranda Cosgrove has been working in Hollywood since she was three years old. Her most notable work as a child star was in shows like in Drake and Josh and iCarly. As an adult, she appeared on Forbes’ ’30 Under 30′ list in 2022 for her acting. She’s the iCarly revival, along with movies like Despicable Me, Drugstore June, and Mother of the Bride; as well as her own CBS show Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove.

Danielle Panabaker

Remember the Panabaker sisters Danielle and Kay? Well, while Kay has turned in her acting chops for an impressive career in zoology, Danielle Panabaker has continued to be an acting superstar. She rose to fame in the early 2000s with Disney movies like Stuck in the Suburbs, Sky High, and Read It and Weep. As an adult, she’s starred in shows like The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Arrow.

Zendaya

Zendaya had a very lengthy career as a former child star in Disney shows like Shake It Up and KC Undercover. However, her stardom reached new heights when she landed her Emmy-winning role in Euphoria, and has starred in box office hits like Dune and Challengers.

Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown became an instant star at the age of 11 as the character Eleven in the show Stranger Things. Then, she became an adult and has starred in films like Enola Holmes 2 and Damsel.

Brittany Curran

Brittany Curran started as a child actress, appearing in Disney and Nick projects like The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Drake & Josh, and The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It. She hasn’t stopped acting since then, appearing in Dear White People, Chicago Fire, The Magicians, and History of Trains.

Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff may be one of the most iconic child actors of our generation, capturing hearts as Wendy in Casper Meets Wendy and Lizzie McGuire in Lizzie McGuire. And as an adult, she literally hasn’t stopped making movies and shows like How I Met Your Father, The Haunting of Sharon Tate, and Material Girls.

Emily Osment

Another Disney kid who hasn’t stopped acting as an adult is Hannah Montana alum Emily Osment, who has starred in shows like Young & Hungry, Mom, Family Guy, and Young Sheldon.

Danica McKellar

Danica McKellar was a child and teen star known for her role in The Wonder Years. While she’s done many other careers, she’s come back to acting over the years, starring in the show Young Justice and in a slew of Hallmark films.