Who among us didn't dream of skipping middle
school for a chance at fame and fortune? Many of today's richest stars actually started
acting as kids — and they kept that cash flow going with long-lasting careers. From hit sitcoms to major movie franchises,
these child stars have amassed millions upon millions of dollars. So which celebs are going to make you rethink
your life choices — or possibly sign your kids up for acting classes? See for yourself. Dakota Fanning With roughly $16 million dollars to her name,
Dakota Fanning easily has the lowest lifetime earnings of her Hollywood peers on this list. Yes, that's still a ton of dough. But over a 20-year career, 16 million actually
seems surprisingly low, especially considering her films have grossed more than $1.4 billion
dollars at the box office. Even so, for Fanning, acting has never been
about the money. Talking to Vogue Australia about how she approaches
roles, the starlet explained, "There was just something about the project
or about the character that I was like, [...] 'Oh, I want to do that. I want to be the one who gets to say that!" Brooke Shields Already a successful model by the age of 12,
Brooke Shields' acting career took off with her controversial starring role in 1978's
Pretty Baby. According to People, Shields later earned
$300,000 dollars for The Blue Lagoon, which was so successful that she was then able to
raise her asking price to $500,000 dollars — and this was the early '80s. Shields continued modeling and eventually
found success on TV with the hit sitcom Suddenly Susan. These days, Shields has seemingly turned her
focus towards motherhood and other pursuits, but she's managed to retain an estimated $25
million of her career earnings. Elijah Wood At just 8 years old, Elijah Wood's career
started with his brief cameo in Paula Abdul's video for "Forever Your Girl." Nearly 30 years later, the actor has amassed
lifetime earnings of around $30 million dollars. Of course, Wood's most notable gig was when
he snagged the lead of the epic fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings. It's not clear exactly how much Wood made
from his adventures in Middle Earth — although he did tell The Guardian that director Peter
Jackson gave him "the Ring" as a keepsake. Frankie Muniz In 2010, Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie
Muniz replied to a random Twitter user's dig at his, quote, "awful acting" with this sick
burn: "Yeah, but being retired with $40,000,000.00 at 19 has not been awful. Good luck moving out of your moms house before
you're 35." Perhaps that's where Celebrity Net Worth derived
their figure for the former child star turned race car driver. That's right, Muniz took the leap into professional
race car driving in 2006, according to People. In addition to the nice sum of cash he's racked
up, Muniz has also accumulated a staggering list of bodily injuries since his career change
— so he may have shared a healthy chunk of that $40 million dollars with the ER. Natalie Portman Oscar-winner Natalie Portman earned her stripes
at 11 years old with her critically-acclaimed role in 1994's The Professional. From there, it was basically nothing but prestige
projects for the actress, who also made big bank on blockbusters like all three Star Wars
prequels, and two Thor flicks. In 2015, Portman landed the Number 18 spot
on Forbes' World's Highest Paid Actresses list with the claim that she made $6 million
dollars that year. According to Celebrity Net Worth, years of
continuous earnings like that have apparently resulted in Portman having an estimated $60
million dollars on her balance sheet. Kaley Cuoco Back in the 90s, you may remember when a young
Kaley Cuoco made an appearance on the teen drama My So-Called Life. Years later, if you're wondering why she's
been with The Big Bang Theory since 2007, well, here's our best guess. According to Forbes, Cuoco was the fourth-highest
paid actress in Hollywood from June 2016 to June 2017, earning a staggering $26 million
dollars that year alone. Daniel Radcliffe Talented British actor Daniel Radcliffe will
likely never fully step out of Harry Potter's shadow. But he probably doesn't mind, since the role
is essentially responsible for his estimated net worth of $110 million dollars, according
to Celebrity Net Worth. This comfortable sum has allowed Radcliffe
to spread his creative wings, though perhaps less lucratively. For example, one of the first non-Potter projects
Radcliffe took on was the celebrated play Equus. Later on, there was Swiss Army Man, the film
where Radcliffe portrays a farting corpse on a deserted island. Any chance they're building a multi-million
dollar toy line around that? Probably not. But it doesn't matter, because even if Radcliffe
flushes away 90 percent of his $110 million, he's still set for life. Thanks for watching! Click the Nicki Swift icon to subscribe to
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