20 child actors who became more successful now

The entertainment world is a glittering labyrinth where dreams are born and nurtured under the spotlight. When it comes to child actors, their journey begins with a leap into a world far removed from playgrounds and bedtime stories. These young performers have talent that surpasses their tender years, and they go on a path that demands adaptability and maturity far beyond their age. Finding the right roles, raw talent, and sheer willpower are all crucial components of a successful child actor's journey to the door of opportunity. Here are a few child actors who have achieved greater success since their first venture into acting.

1) Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Radcliffe was 10 when he played young David Copperfield in a BBC TV movie. A year later, he became Harry Potter. The first film, The Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), made him one of the most recognizable kids in the world. After Harry Potter, he didn’t stick to safe choices. He played a haunted widower in The Woman in Black and a farting corpse in Swiss Army Man. He clearly wanted to prove he wasn’t stuck as the boy wizard.

2) Emma Watson

Emma Watson was nine when she got cast as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter. It was her first acting gig, but she carried herself like someone who’d been doing it for years. She made Hermione impossible to ignore, and fans latched onto her right away. For the next decade, she stayed locked into one of the biggest film franchises ever without losing her edge. After Harry Potter, she didn’t fade into the background or cling to the spotlight. She picked roles that felt different but smart—like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Beauty and the Beast. Outside of acting, she built an entirely separate identity. She became a UN Goodwill Ambassador, launched the HeForShe campaign, and made it clear she wasn’t just here to entertain people.

3) Christian Bale

Christian Bale got his first big role at 13 in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (1987). It was a tough part for a kid, but he pulled it off. For years, he stayed under the radar until American Psycho (2000) changed that. He became a star playing Patrick Bateman, a slick Wall Street killer. Then he put on the Batman suit for The Dark Knight trilogy. He’s known for pushing himself physically for roles. He dropped weight for The Machinist and bulked up for Batman Begins. He won an Oscar for The Fighter (2010) and has kept up the momentum ever since.

4) Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson made her debut at nine. At 13, she caught attention in The Horse Whisperer (1998). She avoided getting typecast and shifted into more serious roles in her 20s. Films like Lost in Translation and Match Point showed she could handle drama. Then she became Black Widow in the Marvel movies, turning into one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Even with the Marvel fame, she kept taking smaller roles like Marriage Story. She has built a career that balances blockbusters and independent films.

5) Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio started with commercials and sitcoms like Growing Pains. He earned his first Oscar nomination at 19 for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Then Titanic (1997) made him a global sensation. After that, he focused on serious films. He worked with Martin Scorsese on The Aviator and The Departed. He finally won an Oscar for The Revenant (2016). He’s one of the few actors who managed to move from teen idol to serious actor without losing credibility.

6) Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore grew up in the spotlight. She was in a commercial before turning one. At seven, she stole the show as Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Fame hit fast, and so did trouble. She struggled with addiction as a teenager, but she turned things around. In the late ’90s, she bounced back with hits like The Wedding Singer and Never Been Kissed. She followed up with Charlie’s Angels and 50 First Dates. Over the years, she’s added producer, director, and talk show host to her resume. She’s always been open about her struggles, which made people root for her even more.

7) Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster started acting at three and got her start in commercials before landing a role in Disney’s Napoleon and Samantha in 1972. By 14 she was playing a teenage prostitute in Taxi Driver and picking up her first Oscar nomination in a performance that could have easily derailed someone so young. Instead she kept her head down and made the leap to adult roles look effortless. She won her first Oscar for The Accused in 1988 and picked up a second for The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. Foster has always been calculated about her choices and built a career that’s been as smart as it has been steady.

8) Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt grew up in front of the camera. He started with commercials and sitcoms, but people really noticed him as the quirky alien teenager on 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001). He could’ve stuck with comedy and probably been fine, but he ditched TV and went straight into indie films. He took on heavier stuff like Mysterious Skin (2004) and Brick (2005), which made it clear he wasn’t chasing easy roles. He eventually jumped back into mainstream movies with 500 Days of Summer (2009) and Inception (2010), proving he could go big without losing the edge he picked up in smaller films.

9) Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman was 12 when she made her debut in Léon: The Professional (1994). She played a kid caught up in danger and loss, but she made it feel real instead of staged. That role could’ve locked her into playing damaged kids, but Portman didn’t let that happen. She finished school, went to Harvard, and managed to keep acting without losing momentum. By the time Black Swan (2010) came around, she had already proven herself, but that role sealed it. She pushed herself to the limit, took home an Oscar, and reminded everyone why she’d been turning heads since she was a kid.

10) Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell spent his early years as Disney’s clean-cut golden boy, starring in movies like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Barefoot Executive. The sweet Disney kid image could’ve followed him forever, but he flipped the script in the ’80s. He played a hardened antihero in Escape from New York (1981) and then battled aliens in The Thing (1982). That was the end of the Disney version of Kurt Russell. He leaned into action movies, played tough guys, and built a career that had grit instead of gloss.

11) Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling started out as a kid on The Mickey Mouse Club with Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake. After that, he popped up in shows like Goosebumps and Breaker High, but nothing huge. That changed with The Notebook (2004), where he basically became every rom-com fan’s dream guy. Instead of sticking to that lane, he went darker with Drive and Blue Valentine. La La Land (2016) earned him a Golden Globe, and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) proved he could do sci-fi too. Then came Barbie (2023), where he turned playing Ken into a show-stealing performance nobody expected.

12) Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood started acting young and landed a tiny role in Back to the Future Part II (1989). By 12, he was already starring opposite Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son (1993). He kept busy with movies like Forever Young and The Adventures of Huck Finn, but everything changed when he played Frodo in The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003). That role turned him into an icon overnight. After that, he stuck mostly to indie films, voice acting, and producing, staying away from the usual Hollywood path.

13) Macaulay Culkin

Macaulay Culkin became the biggest child star in the world after Home Alone (1990). He was 10 and somehow managed to make being left behind by your family look hilarious. The sequel, Home Alone 2, made him even bigger. Before that, he’d already worked with John Candy in Uncle Buck (1989). By his teens, he stepped away from acting, but he came back later in indie films like Party Monster (2003). He’s also made random appearances in TV shows like American Horror Story. These days, he’s more of a cult figure than a Hollywood regular, but people still know his name.

14) Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris became famous at 16 for playing a genius doctor in Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989–1993). The show made him a household name, but it also made it hard for people to see him as anything else. He spent years bouncing between Broadway and guest TV roles before How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014) flipped everything. Playing Barney Stinson made him cool, funny, and a little ridiculous, and people loved it. Since then, he’s stayed busy acting, hosting award shows, and proving he can do just about anything.

15) Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst, by 12, had already grabbed a Golden Globe nomination for Interview with the Vampire in 1994, where she played Claudia, a child vampire with a disturbing mix of innocence and menace. She followed that up with Jumanji in 1995 and The Virgin Suicides in 1999, proving she could handle everything from lighthearted adventure to heavy drama. She broke into blockbuster territory as Mary Jane in Spider-Man from 2002 to 2007 and locked herself in as a leading actress who could carry big films. Instead of playing it safe, she leaned into indie and dramatic roles later in her career and earned serious praise for Melancholia in 2011 and The Power of the Dog in 2021, making it clear she wasn’t interested in fading into the background.

16) Ron Howard

Ron Howard appeared on screen as a mere baby. He stepped in front of a camera at five years old, carving out a spot for himself in The Journey in 1959. He locked down his place in pop culture as Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show, where he played the sheriff’s sharp and steady son and quickly became America’s golden boy. He kept his momentum rolling with Happy Days as Richie Cunningham but eventually decided he wanted to pull the strings instead of being one of them. By the late 1970s he shifted gears and moved into directing, and it didn’t take long before he was turning out heavy hitters like Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind.

17) Zendaya

Zendaya started out on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up, where she played Rocky Blue and looked like she was born to be in front of a camera. She could have stayed in her Disney lane and ridden that wave for years, but she took a risk and went after heavier roles. Her Emmy-winning performance as Rue in Euphoria shocked people and proved she wasn’t afraid to take on difficult characters. She didn’t slow down after that, and with hits like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Dune, she kept pushing her career forward. By the time Dune: Part Two came out, she had already shown she could handle major films and had completely left her Disney days behind.

18) Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff got her start in commercials and small roles before hitting it big as Lizzie McGuire on Disney Channel, where she became every early 2000s kid’s best friend on TV. She played the quirky and relatable teen so well that she shot to fame practically overnight, and instead of letting that be her one-hit wonder, she doubled down and jumped into music. Her second album, Metamorphosis, was everywhere. Duff wasn’t just a TV star—she was topping charts too. After Lizzie McGuire wrapped, she didn’t pack up and call it a day. She kept things moving with movies like A Cinderella Story and later proved she wasn’t stuck in the past when she joined the cast of Younger and showed she could hold her own in more grown-up roles.

19) Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake got his start singing and dancing on The Mickey Mouse Club with Britney Spears and Ryan Gosling. He didn’t waste any time before taking things to the next level. He became the frontman of NSYNC, and for a while their songs were everywhere. When NSYNC split up, Timberlake jumped straight into a solo career and delivered hit albums like Justified and FutureSex/LoveSounds. After dominating music, he moved into acting and surprised everyone with how good he was in movies like The Social Network. By that point Timberlake had proven he could succeed in both music and movies without missing a step.

20) Anna Paquin

Anna Paquin made her acting debut at 11 and didn’t just dip her toe into Hollywood—she dove straight in and walked away with an Oscar for The Piano, making her one of the youngest winners ever. While most kids her age were stressing over book reports, she was busy turning heads and proving she was no fluke. She didn’t fizzle out either and kept the momentum going with roles like Rogue in the X-Men series, where she held her own in a cast packed with big names. She later took the lead in True Blood as Sookie Stackhouse and didn’t just carry the show—she ran with it and earned critical praise for her performance.