While some former child actors are still working
in front of the camera, others have found their calling in a variety of careers. From sets
of famous twins to Disney Channel superstars, here's where a number of famous former child
actors ended up and what they're doing today. In the early nineties, angelic Mara Wilson stole hearts across the world. After earning fame
and acclaim for playing the youngest daughter of Sally Field and Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire,
Wilson appeared in the 1994 remake of the classic film Miracle on 34th Street. But you probably
know her best for her leading role in Matilda, Roald Dahl's classic story of a sweet,
well-read girl with amazing powers. Sadly, a personal tragedy caused Wilson to stop
acting when she was still young. While the child star was filming Matilda, her mother passed
away due to complications from breast cancer, leaving her grieving. In the years that
followed, she stepped away from acting. Wilson ultimately attended New York University,
where she performed a one-woman show about her past, and in 2016, she released a book about
her experiences as a child star. According to Wilson herself, her acting days are over, and
these days, she focuses exclusively on writing. With his huge eyes, endearing attitude,
and clear comedic chops, Macaulay Culkin was catapulted to stardom in the 1990 film Home
Alone. Culkin portrayed young Kevin McCallister, left behind when his parents go on
a holiday trip. Though Culkin had already appeared in Uncle Buck in 1989,
Home Alone was an even bigger success, spawning sequels and making Culkin one of
the most famous young actors of his era. After appearing in the nineties films Home Alone
2: Lost in New York, Richie Rich, and My Girl, among other films, Culkin took a break from acting
to attend school. Before long, he returned to the limelight, ready to change his image all together
with daring, edgy films like Party Monster and Saved! Despite the fact that Culkin's roles
have been relatively small throughout the years, he's stayed in the public eye, from high-profile
advertisements mocking his Home Alone success to his odd Velvet Underground cover band. In
2020, Culkin teamed up with Ryan Murphy to appear in future installments of the creator's
anthology series, American Horror Story. After his big brother Macaulay won over audiences,
it was time for Kieran Culkin - who appeared in small roles in both Home Alone movies -
to take center stage. Like his brother, the younger Culkin also began his career as
a child actor, working with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton as the adorable Matty in Father
of the Bride and Father of the Bride: Part 2. More recently, Culkin reprised his role
as Matty in a COVID-19-inspired third film in the Father of the Bride franchise, where
he appeared with the original cast. By 2020, Culkin was plenty famous in his own right and
scored an Emmy nom for his role as the outlandish, boorish Roman Roy on HBO's hit
drama Succession. Kieran may be the younger Culkin, but he's certainly
achieved plenty of success on his own. Amandla Stenberg may have made her film debut
in 2011 at just 13 years old in the action flick Colombiana, but most audiences will
recognize Stenberg from her breakout role in The Hunger Games in 2012. Adapted
from Suzanne Collins's book trilogy, The Hunger Games imagined a dystopian world where
impoverished families must send their children into a horrifying fight to the death each year.
Stenberg plays the tiny yet incredibly smart Rue, who ends up teaming up with Jennifer
Lawrence's protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. In the years since The Hunger Games, Stenberg
has continued acting. Perhaps most notably, Stenberg led a high-profile and acclaimed
adaptation of the young adult novel The Hate U Give in 2018 as Starr Carter, who
witnesses a police officer kill an unarmed, young Black man. Stenberg has also appeared
in television projects like Sleepy Hollow, Everything, Everything, and 2020's Mr. Eddy. One of the most famous child stars
of all time, Neil Patrick Harris, earned fame and acclaim as the title character in
Doogie Howser, M.D., which began its run in 1989 with Harris as a genius boy doctor. Harris could
have easily retired after the success of the show, but instead, he kept working and became one of the
most popular television actors of his generation. After lampooning himself in Harold
and Kumar Go to White Castle, Harris took on his next big television role. In
2005, Harris joined the cast of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother as the womanizer with a
heart of gold, Barney Stinson. He's also appeared in shows like Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate
Events. From dramatic turns in Gone Girl to his Tony Award-winning run on Broadway in Hedwig
and the Angry Inch, Harris has remained one of Hollywood's most beloved and recognizable faces
for years. Doogie may have been an iconic role, but clearly, Harris raised the bar to create even
more memorable performances throughout the years. Nickelodeon spawned plenty of young stars during
its heyday, thanks to ensemble comedies like All That and The Amanda Show. Though a fair amount
of familiar faces popped up on The Amanda Show, it also helped launch some careers within the
network-and when it came to a young Josh Peck, the series served as a launching
pad for his next big project. After The Amanda Show, Josh Peck went on to
headline Drake & Josh, a Nickelodeon sitcom, alongside Drake Bell. Since then, Peck
has continued acting. In recent years, he's appeared with John Stamos in shows like
Grandfathered and in Fox's short-lived Pitch. Currently, Peck runs his own podcast, "Curious
with Josh Peck." In an LTV interview, Josh said, "Going straight to my audience is really
powerful because I don't have to wait for anyone to give me permission or hope
that something is received correctly." He's also slated to appear in Disney+'s
upcoming Turner & Hooch reboot. For a certain generation of young girls, their
childhoods were defined by the famous twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who rose to prominence
as Michelle Tanner on Full House. After the overwhelming success of the show, which cast both
twins as Michelle at just six months old, the Olsens continued their winning streak, appearing
in their own movies by the time they were six years old. Between theatrical releases like It
Takes Two and New York Minute to direct-to-video films like Passport to Paris, the Olsen twins
were everywhere for most of the 1990s and 2000s. However, when the twins turned eighteen
and officially left acting behind, they've remained relevant throughout the years,
thanks to their work in the fashion industry. Together, the Olsen twins have created
high-end fashion lines that include Elizabeth & James and The Row, both of
which have proven enormously successful. If you watch the 1994 Best Picture Forrest Gump
closely, you might notice a young Haley Joel Osment as Forrest's son. Just a few years later,
Osment scored a huge role in M. Night Shyamalan's film The Sixth Sense. As Cole Sear, Osment
perfectly portrayed a young boy who can see ghosts that don't know they've died. He even earned an
Oscar nomination for his performance. In the years that followed, Osment continued his acting streak
with films like Pay It Forward and A.I. Artificial Intelligence, as well as voice appearances
in movies like The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Osment's career has never returned to
the heights he did with The Sixth Sense, but in recent years, the talented actor has
shown up in small appearances on popular shows like HBO's Silicon Valley, Amazon's The
Boys, and FX's What We Do in the Shadows. In 2001, Disney Channel viewers
found their new favorite series, Lizzie McGuire, which told the story of an
average, lovable middle schooler named Lizzie, who was trying to get through the seventh
grade. Duff won over audiences everywhere with her hilarious yet heartfelt performance as
Lizzie. Ultimately, the show proved so successful that it even spawned its own feature film,
The Lizzie McGuire Movie, released in 2003. Through the years, she's worked
as both a musician and an actress. After the success of Lizzie McGuire, Duff
appeared in teen fare like Agent Cody Banks, A Cinderella Story, and both
Cheaper by the Dozen remakes. She also recorded huge albums like Metamorphosis
in 2003. Duff returned to television as an adult, starring in Darren Star's delightful comedy
Younger as publishing executive Kelsey Peters. If you're an Adam Sandler fan, you probably
remember his silly yet emotional comedy Big Daddy-and if you do, you definitely
remember his adorable adopted on-screen son, Julian. This role was the big screen debut
for young twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse, who would go on to work with Sandler
again in movies like Eight Crazy Nights and occasionally take on their own roles. In
2005, the dynamic duo got their own series, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on the
Disney Channel, in which they played twins. After a spin-off and a television movie, the Sprouse twins left their acting careers
behind temporarily to attend college. The Sprouses attended New York University from 2011
to 2015. After that, Cole ultimately returned to television as Jughead Jones on the CW's
Riverdale in 2018, while Dylan runs All-Wise Meadery in Brooklyn and in 2020 snagged a
major role in the movie After We Collided. When it comes to childhood tearjerkers, few
films loom quite as large as 1991's My Girl, the story of the close friendship between young
Vada -played by Anna Chlumsky - and Thomas portrayed by Macaulay Culkin. My Girl has one
of the most tragic endings in cinematic history, thanks in large part to the emotional
performances by Chlumsky and Culkin. After appearing in My Girl 2, Chlumsky took
a significant break from acting and attended the University of Chicago, earning a degree
in international studies in 2002. However, Chlumsky still wanted to act, and after training
at New York City's Atlantic Acting School, she booked the role of a lifetime as Amy
Brookheimer on HBO's biting political satire Veep. Alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus and
a host of other talented comedians, Chlumsky shined as the uptight, eternally
stressed Amy, and earned six Emmy nods for her supporting role. If you were a fan
of My Girl and haven't caught Veep yet, it might be shocking to see little
Vada display such a foul mouth, but there's no denying that Chlumsky's
performance on Veep is a comedic tour de force. When it comes to instantly recognizable child
stars, few faces are as familiar as Jonathan Lipnicki, who cornered the market on portrayals
of precocious children in the 1990s and 2000s. In 1996, Lipnicki earned instant fame and
acclaim alongside Tom Cruise and Renée Zellweger in the smash hit Jerry Maguire. From
there, he went on to movies like Dr. Dolittle, Stuart Little and its 2002 sequel, as well
as The Little Vampire, and 2002's Like Mike. In the years since his childhood success,
Lipnicki has appeared in a string of independent films like For the Love of
Money, Limelight, and 2018's Andover. "There's nothing I'd rather do with my life.
You know, whether I'm doing big movies like I did in my childhood, or you know, I've
actually done more work as an adult." He's also appeared on a few television
programs, including competition and reality shows like Drop the Mic, a celebrity edition of
Worst Cooks in America, and Celebs Go Dating. Before her breakout role, Dakota Fanning appeared
in small roles in commercials and on shows like E.R., but it was her starring role in the 2001
drama I Am Sam alongside Sean Penn that really put Fanning on the map. From there, Fanning became
one of the most in-demand young actresses around, appearing in everything from romantic
comedies like Uptown Girls to sci-fi blockbusters like War of the Worlds to
fantasy fare like the Twilight Saga. Fanning hasn't stopped working for a second.
Her recent high-profile roles include a cameo in 2018's Ocean's 8, a scene-stealing turn in Once
Upon a Time in… Hollywood, and a leading role on the television series The Alienist. Clearly,
Fanning navigated her years as a child star well, and moviegoers should expect many more
great performances from her to come. Check out one of our newest
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