31 Former Child Actors Who Survived The Toxic World Of Hollywood And Are Doing Really Well For Themselves Now
“I have never actually been proud of a celebrity. But I am legit proud of and happy for Lindsay Lohan. I am rooting for her.”
Recently, Reddit user phantom_avenger asked the folks over at r/moviecritic, “Who is a former mainstream child actor or actress that survived the toxic world of Hollywood and is currently doing really well for themselves?” Here are the top-voted results:
1. Hilary Duff — “Hilary isn’t as big as she used to be back when she was a teenager and was considered one of the biggest stars in film, shows, and music in the 2000s! But she is living a pretty healthy lifestyle, raising her family of four children, and balancing her acting career in projects that are less mainstream along with getting involved in entrepreneurship!”
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2. Ron Howard — “I feel like he was extremely lucky. He worked in two of the rarest situations possible in the entertainment industry with genuinely lovely people. Andy Griffith and Don Knotts were supposed to be really nice people (sometimes not to the other actors but always to Ron, by his account). The same with the entire cast of Happy Days, with Henry Winkler being known as one of Hollywood’s ‘good guys.'”
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3. Dakota Fanning — “I remember there were pictures of Dakota and her sister, Elle, in school activities like homecoming games. I think their parents tried to give them a normal life between their careers, which is so awesome.”
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4. Elle Fanning — “I think both the Fanning sisters have done great for themselves.”
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5. Shirley Temple — “Until she died (at age 85), Shirley Temple Black was the paradigm of the child actor doing well as an adult.”
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“She was the US Ambassador to Ghana. She married a man who had never seen her movies, to which she credited their happy relationship. (She married at 18 to get away from her very controlling parents, and that husband was wild. But she divorced him, left acting, and was very happy from then on.)”
“Her second husband, the love of her life, said what he most admired about her was she was always herself. She never tried to be anything less.”
6. Kenan Thompson — “I’m more amazed he hasn’t broken down as an adult doing SNL as long as he has. All you ever hear is how much of a pressure cooker that show is. To last as long as he has, you gotta have your head on straight.”
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7. Jodie Foster — “She really survived Hollywood’s perverted grossness.”
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8. Joseph Gordon-Levitt — “I haven’t seen him in too much the past few years for some reason, but he was a child actor then went on to do Brick, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, etc.”
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“Going back to watch 3rd Rock from the Sun is a time capsule for that guy in my eyes. Seeing him go from standing toe to toe with adult actors and getting to where he is now is a heck of a career.”
9. Elijah Wood — “No matter how bad the politics get in America he still posts about rad shit he likes on social media.”
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“He tweeted about my friend’s band a few years back, which was strange. They’re not particularly famous. Just a noisy, northern English alt/punk band. But it seems Elijah is a fan.”
10. Macaulay Culkin — “He went through a rough patch, but he’s doing really well now. And he’s still able to live off of that Home Alone money for life.”
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“Yeah, I think he was still affected by Hollywood in a big way, but I think he did quite well for himself where he pulled through and is living a stable life with his family he’s made with Brenda Song!”
11. Brenda Song — “Macaulay and Brenda both did good for themselves. So add her in, too.”
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12. Kieran Culkin — “He’s in good shape as well!”
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“He just won a Golden Globe! I loved him in Succession, and he really stood out in A Real Pain.”
13. Lindsay Lohan — “I mean, yes, she had a huge fallout and got herself in trouble with the law, but she turned her life around and is doing a lot better. She got married, has a child, and will be in Freaky Friday 2.“
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“I have never actually been proud of a celebrity. I don’t know them and have no personal relationship, etc. But I am actually legit proud and happy for Lindsay Lohan. I think it is a combination of watching her grow up and getting a glimpse of her vulnerable human side on the David Letterman show years ago (not cool on his part). I am rooting for her.”
14. Jason Bateman — “He is great in everything.”
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“It’s ironic, he was the yang to Michael J Fox’s yin, and I hated his character as a kid; I despised having to sit through The Hogan Family because of him; now that I’m an adult, he is hands down one of my favorite actors.”
15. Kurt Russell — “It’s hard to believe just how long he’s been around for. Active in seven decades!”
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“I was just telling my kid how he and Goldie Hawn filmed their first movie together when he was 17. She was 23. He was one of the mains, and she was a background dancer/actor.”
—bored-panda55
16. Daniel Radcliffe — “He had a period of really struggling with alcoholism, but otherwise, he’s doing much better now.”
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“Honestly? A few years of alcoholism without any scandals, coming out the other side okay, and doing interesting projects fits the bill.”
17. Ryan Gosling — “I live not too far from where his parents are, and one day, in an aimless Facebook scroll, I ended up on his dad’s page, which was weirdly fascinating. And yes, I know it makes me a bit of a creep, but I couldn’t help but click through a bit. The most boring-dad stuff you could ever hope to see. Like, here’s an awkward photo of my adult children home for Christmas, except one is a movie star. I have to wonder if the shocking normalcy of his family life kept him on a good path.”
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18. Melissa Joan Hart — “She was the first person that came to mind.”
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19. Jerry O’Connell — “He was so adorable in Stand By Me. Seems like he has a good head on his shoulders.”
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“He hosts a daytime game show now called Pictionary. I was pleasantly surprised that he seems like a host who really cheers for the contestants.”
20. Ke Huy Quan — “He seems like he is doing well. He played Short-Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and he recently won an Oscar.”
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“I love his comeback! He struggled with his acting career for years, and it started to launch following his Oscar win! I hope he’s able to maintain the success rate it’s currently at.”
21. Scarlett Johansson — “A couple of pieces of trivia I’d tell my cousins is she was a supporting cast in Home Alone 3, and she starred with Robert Redford in The Horse Whisperer, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Endgame.”
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22. Christina Applegate — “She has had such a rough life and has been such an inspiration. Every time I see her have a new diagnosis, I’m like, ‘Come on! Give this woman a break.'”
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23. Miranda Cosgrove — “She seems incredibly down to earth and normal, especially considering she had a stalker who set himself on fire in her driveway.”
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24. Wil Wheaton — “I love that guy, and he’s the reason l asked Andy Serkis if we should just start using motion capture to phase out child actors, specifically using Wil as an example. He’d never thought of it before and said he’d give it some thought, which l thought was pretty cool.”
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25. Mayim Bialik — “She has a PhD in neuroscience, and as an adult, she was in one of the most successful sitcoms ever. She is now an acclaimed author.”
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26. Kirsten Dunst — “She has a fantastic acting resume, two kids, and a seemingly nice life with her husband. Good for her.”
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27. Dylan Sprouse — “Started a mead company and is seemingly very happy with his lovely partner.”
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28. Natalie Portman — “It’s a miracle, too, considering how much of a weirdo Luc Besson is.”
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29. Melanie Lynskey — “She’s still in plenty of high-profile stuff like Yellowjackets and The Last of Us. I’ve also heard that she’s pretty down to earth in person.”
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“I once heard Melanie Lynskey talk about her experience making Heavenly Creatures in an interview. She was picked out of tons of girls who auditioned. Cast with Kate Winslet. Everyone thought she was great in the role. She would talk about what she hoped to do next, and people were like, ‘Oh, honey, that might not be in the cards for you. Don’t get your hopes up.’ She proved them wrong!”
30. Bridgit Mendler — “Went to Harvard and MIT, co-founded a satellite data startup, adopted a kid she was fostering in addition to being an actress and singer. If you created a character with her achievements in a book or movie, people would call it unrealistic.”
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31. Finally, Leonardo DiCaprio — “The best example of all.”
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