Movie Content // Famous Child Actors and What They’re Doing Now

We all know what Macaulay Culkin and Lindsay Lohan are up to now, but what about those child actors who went off the radar? There are some who have changed so much that you wouldn’t recognise them these days and others who have given up acting altogether.

We look at those who’ve given it all up, as well as the leading roles child actors are playing now, so you can see who’s going to be the next big thing as an adult.

From Goonies to Stranger Things
Hot off the press, it’s recently been announced that Sean Astin who played the young Mikey Walsh in The Goonies and Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings is to star in the much-awaited second series of Stranger Things. We can’t wait!

Not the only one from The Goonies to make it big, Mikey Walsh’s screen big brother, played by Josh Brolin, went on to be the lead in No Country for Old Men among roles in other hit films.

In other news, Jonathan Ke Huy Quan, who was Data in The Goonies and previously played the loveable Short Round in Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom has now stepped out of acting. He moved to Australia to pursue a solo singing career and now works as a behind-the-scenes stunt co-coordinator for Hollywood blockbusters like X-Men.

Potter rising stars
Robert Pattinson famously transformed himself from gawky Quidditch captain Cedric Diggory into Twilight’s lead vampire Edward Cullen. Meanwhile, Hermione Granger actress Emma Watson went on to achieve critical acclaim in the blockbuster smash The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Recently announcing she’s taking a break from acting to focus on the feminist movement, Emma has also modelled in campaigns for Burberry alongside her brother Alex.

If you’re a die-hard Potter fan you can step on to the famous set with a Harry Potter Tour as part of the Warner Bros Studio Tour. You might not see your favourite actors there but you can certainly walk in their footsteps.

“I see dead people”
Famous for his line “I see dead people” in Sixth Sense, child-star Haley Joel Osment actually played Forrest Gump’s son before this in the 1994 film. He deservedly won the Saturn Award for best young actor as the key role in Sixth Sense and has since done a lot of voiceovers including The Jungle Book 2 in 2003.

It’s said that Osment also auditioned for Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, but didn’t get a callback. It certainly makes you wonder just how different could that film have been!

The unlikely Home Alone star
There are many rumours surrounding Macaulay Culkin’s off screen behaviour, some of which could perhaps be attributed to his career failing to accelerate after Home Alone. However, his younger brother Kieran Culkin – who played his little bro Fuller McAllister beside Macaulay in the films – has gone on to great success.

He’s played roles in Hollywood hit movies Father of the Bride and She’s All That, as well as quirkier and more gritty roles in cult film Scott Pilgrim vs the World and the critically-acclaimed Fargo TV series.