It’s amazing sometimes how young actors manage to stand the pressures of Hollywood and come out on top. The stress is often times more than enough to drive an adult crazy, but to think it wouldn’t be any harder on a kid is kind of ridiculous. The one saving grace that might be possible to believe is that kids would be insulated from a great deal of the Hollywood shenanigans that adults seem inclined to deal with on a constant basis. Of course rumors abound that this isn’t so, but it kind of has to be simply because there are several child stars that grew up to be quite successful.
Here are just a few of those individuals that made the transition from child star to Hollywood superstar.
5. Nicholas Hoult – About a Boy
Hoult is one of those kids you can recognize once you really see him full on, but can almost disappear into the crowd when he turns away. As a kid actor he made a splash with About a Boy as the willful character of Marcus, but in his current roles he’s launched himself skyward as he’s taken on the famed role of Hank McCoy, or Beast, in the X-Men franchise.
4. Tyler Hoechlin – Road to Perdition
You have to wonder how many kids get auditioned for these roles and how many are actually considered before a decision is made. Tyler was no doubt the best fit for the role since he had the attitude and the grit to stand side by side with Tom Hanks. Since this breakout role he’s actually been very successful and managed to land a role on the TV show Supergirl as none other than the man of steel, Superman.
3. Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
In this less than well received remake she was the no-nonsense girl that wanted to see justice done after her father was killed. She delivered a very wooden but solid performance but the film eventually went nowhere. She’s had a successful run in Hollywood as of late and even landed a role in the scifi film Ender’s Game, as well as Pitch Perfect 2.
2. Elijah Wood – The Good Son or Avalon
There’s so much that can be said about Elijah Wood that it would probably warrant an article all it’s own. He’s been in numerous productions since his childhood years in both TV and film. His face is one of the most recognizable in the world in fact and his roles as Frodo in Lord of the Rings, Kevin in Sin City, and even Ryan in Wilfred have insured that he’ll be remembered for a long time to come.
1. Sean Astin – The Goonies
Here’s another kid actor turned megastar that has been tearing it up throughout the recent years. Astin kind of faded into the background for a while after Goonies, but later on came roaring back to take up the role of Samwise in Lord of the Rings. He also did some work with Adam Sandler in Click and The Do-Over. He’s had an extensive career thus far and doesn’t show a lot of signs of slowing down.
Child actors can be successful later in life, so long as they don’t burn out too quickly.
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