11 Child Stars Who Successfully Made the Transition to Adult Roles

When you’re a former child star who inevitably grows up, it’s not necessarily guaranteed that the audiences who loved you as a child will accept you as an adult. Typecasting is a significant hurdle to overcome, and not every actor who turns 21 can clear it.

Growing up in public can also make it hard to establish an on-screen adult identity, as can the fact that there simply aren’t lots of great roles out there for young adults who want to show what they can do. Still, some actors we met as kids have managed to reinvent themselves in adulthood successfully, and this list highlights the ones we think knocked it out of the park.

1. Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore already had a famous showbiz name when she appeared in her first movie at age five in 1980’s “Altered States.” When she appeared in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” two years later, she became a superstar in her own right. In adulthood, Barrymore became a frequent star of such romantic comedies as “The Wedding Singer” and “Never Been Kissed,” and today, she hosts her own talk show, “The Drew Barrymore Show.” She has, in fact, made such a successful transition to adult roles that she now hawks a wrinkle cream.

please save.

2. Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris initially became famous as a kid in the titular role of “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” in which he played a boy genius 14-year-old doctor. It had a successful run for four years, but many people wondered if he had become so heavily identified with the role that he could never cross over into parts for adults. As it happened, he acquitted himself tremendously of this task. He is better known today for his scoundrel character from “How I Met Your Mother” than his portrayal of a kid with a stethoscope. He was also the funniest thing in the entire “Harold & Kumar” franchise.

3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s first movie role was at the age of 10 when he starred in 1991’s “Beethoven” (the dog, not the composer). Up to that point, he had already been building a solid resume of television roles, but he hit pay dirt when he joined the “3rd Rock from the Sun” cast in 1997 as an extraterrestrial in human form named Tommy. Gordon-Levitt transitioned seamlessly into adult roles in such grown-up fare as “Inception” and the grimly serious “The Dark Knight Rises,” and can currently be seen on Netflix in “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.”

4. Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman’s film debut was in “Léon: The Professional,” in which she played a teenage girl being protected by a hitman. It was clear even then that she was an actor to watch, and she converted to adult roles without anyone thinking twice. She starred in the quite divisive “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, which would be a feather in any actor’s cap, and then won an Oscar for her performance in “Black Swan.” Portman’s now been an adult actor for decades longer than she was a child actor, so we can officially say she made the transition smoothly.

5. Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio’s career as a child actor started in 1989 on the small screen with the television show “The New Lassie.” He starred in his first movie in 1991’s “Critters 3,” which went directly to home video, so technically, that was the small screen too. However ignominiously his early career might have started, no one will dispute that his status as an adult actor was established permanently with 1997’s “Titanic,” a movie in which he could have totally fit on that piece of wood with Rose (Kate Winslet). He also avoided being typecast as a drowned artist from the early 20th century, with performances in “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “The Revenant.”

6. Christian Bale

Christian Bale’s first significant role was in Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun” at age 13. He played a prisoner of war, and despite his youth, he was convincing. His refusal to take happy roles continued into adulthood, when he played no less than two iconic characters — Patrick Bateman in 2000’s “American Psycho” and Batman in “The Dark Knight” trilogy. Bale is one of the better actors working today, so we’ll forgive him for his occasional on-set meltdowns so we can enjoy his work.

7. Ryan Gosling

In 1993, 12-year-old Ryan Gosling joined the cast of the Disney Channel’s “Mickey Mouse Club,” where he rubbed elbows with fellow luminaries Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Despite experiencing some initial hesitation from casting directors to put this friend of Mickey in adult roles, he proved himself with a stunning performance in 2001’s “The Believer,” which was based on the true story of a white supremacist who was secretly Jewish. Gosling further cemented his status as an adult actor by starring in some creepy roles, such as in “Lars and the Real Girl” and “Drive.” He was most recently nominated for an Oscar for playing Ken in 2023’s “Barbie.”

8. Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci’s first role was in 1990’s “Mermaids,” but the part that provided her breakthrough was the role of Wednesday Addams in 1991’s “The Addams Family.” She was so perfect for the role, it was hard to imagine her doing anything else. However, her 2001 turn in “Prozac Nation” pretty much ended any possibility of her being typecast as a child actor. In 2022, Ricci starred as a teacher on the Netflix series “Wednesday,” which starred Jenna Ortega as Wednesday. The torch has been passed.

9. Josh Brolin

When Josh Brolin starred in his first film role in the 1985 movie “The Goonies,” many people may have believed he had only gotten the role because his father was actor James Brolin. He proved he was much more than that in adulthood when he starred in the comedy “Flirting with Disaster” in 1996. Brolin gave a stellar performance in 2007’s “No Country for Old Men,” and then, in 2018, he became Thanos and imperiled the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Avengers: Infinity War.” Most recently, he starred in “Dune: Part Two,” making him a part of two very successful franchises.

10. Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst became known to horror fans everywhere in 1994 when she played an undead little girl who loved to slurp O positive in “Interview with the Vampire.” She joined the “Spider-Man” franchise in 2002, but the movie that probably cemented her current leading lady status was “Marie Antoinette,” in which she played the titular royal of whom the French citizenry was not overly fond. Dunst also starred in “Melancholia,” a very adult Lars von Trier movie about the effect of a global catastrophe on a wedding.

11. Anna Paquin

Anna Paquin’s very first film appearance was in the 1993 movie “The Piano,” and she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for it, all while just aged 11. Because Hollywood is cruel and loves to put the thumbscrews to talented people until they cry, she could well have been chewed up and spit out by Tinseltown before she even had the chance to turn 12. Still, the accolades she earned were no joke, even at that early age, and she kept earning roles. Paquin starred in the “X-Men” franchise but truly carved out a niche for herself on the HBO series “True Blood” as telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse.