How come so few child actors/actresses make the transition to adult actor/actress?

[raccoon]

A few do. Roddy McDowall immediately comes to my mind. But that seems to be the exception.

[LynneSin]

1. Sarah Jessica Parker was a very talented child actress

she was the 3rd girl to play Annie on Broadway and had several sitcoms to her name as a kid.

[JCMach1]

41. Square Pegs

[ghostsofgiants]

2. This is just a guess but their parents are probably the reason they were acting as children...

And they decided that they didn't want to be actors as adults.

[Richardo]

3. I still remember seeing Christina Ricci in 'Mermaids' - she was like 5 years old

I just knew she was going to be a successful actress.

[LynneSin]

4. Also these kids are exposed to alot of vices at an early age

Many of them are in drug rehab before the even finish up junior high school including Drew Barrymore, the Coreys, and a slew of other kids who ended up on that same path.

[flvegan]

5. Scott Baio rules.

[NewJeffCT]

44. I saw him in a werewolf movie on sci-fi the other week

he played himself in a cameo.

[PermanentRevolution]

6. In general...

I'd say that being a good actor requires you to tap into your own real-world experiences, to bring you closer to your character and make your performance believable. These kids live their childhoods or adolescence inside a very superficial bubble of celebrity stardom, getting taught on-set by private tutors, so what experiences do they end up with to draw upon?

On top of that, a whole lot of child acting is based on cuteness and precociousness rather than talent, so you get a lot of cute kids who give good line deliveries, but no real talent to fall back on when the cuteness fades. They spend their time working on formulaic, cookie-cutter kids movies and shows until that's all they really know how to play. Then they get too old, and they've got nothing to fall back on, either.

It's no wonder so many end up in rehab as has-beens by the time they hit 18.

[Westegg]

8. Well said!

[Rhythm]

35. Oh... you mean like the Olsen twins?

:hide:

[arcadian]

7. Christian Bale did. He's my favorite actor right now.

n/t

[MonkeyFunk]

9. It seems to me a lot of them do

Jodie Foster, Christian Bale, Jason Bateman, Ron Howard, Jackie Cooper, Jennifer Connelly, Micky Rooney, Judy Garland, Rose Marie, Leonardo diCaprio, Christina Applegate, Michael J. Fox, Sara Gilbert, Melissa Gilbert, Alyssa Milano.... off the top of my head. There are hundreds more, I'm sure.

[edbermac]

10. Cute kids don't always turn into cute adults.

David Spade had a nice bit about that on SNL, I think. Showed a picture of Haley Joel Osment or Macauley Culkin when they were well know cute kid stars. He then showed a cute pic of himself when he was their age, pointed to his current face and said, "Kid, this is you in 20 years."

[BOSSHOG]

11. I think that certainly applies

to Jake on Two and a Half Men. Any cuteness he may have had is slipping away with each episode. I think he's a great actor but we probably won't ever hear of him again after the show runs its course.

The one I miss the most is Tatum Oneal who was absolutely awesome on Paper Moon.

[treestar]

21. Exactly, cute kids may not grow up into beautiful adults

And what it takes to be cute as a kid in acting is not the same thing as it takes to be talented as an adult.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. Dean Stockwell may be the oldest one still working. I have loved him since "Quantum Leap" &

went back and discovered all of his other work once I figured out who he was. He was such a babe!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001777/

He had a slow period in the 70s(?) where he was doing dinner theater. Some guy actually walked up to him and said, "Didn't you used to be Dean Stockwell?" OUCH!

[grace0418]

20. Sometimes people have no idea how rude and/or inappropriate they sound.

My brother is an actor, has pretty steady work on tv but not A-list or anything. I've been with him several times when people have walked up to him and demanded "Should I know you?!"

What do you answer to that? Yes? No? With a list of your imdb credits? With a monologue from your best work?

He usually has a clever response and they end up laughing. But it really makes me wonder when you hear someone telling a story about "Oh I met *some famous actor* on the street and he was such a jerk!" I can't help but wonder if the person didn't interrupt them while they were having a heavy conversation, or say something rude or whatever.

[kwassa]

13. The acting profession, regardless of age, is pretty brutal.

Often actors in highly successuful series have trouble finding another job once the series is over. It is very hard for any actor to maintain a long-time career, because there are so many actors chasing relatively few jobs, and the profession is really oriented towards a certain age bracket and a certain look at any given time. And that changes.

I had a manager that was a former child actress that did well in the early 60s. She did mostly television, but also appeared as one of the screaming children in "The Birds". Her coloring as a child was very similar to Elizabeth Taylor, who was all the rage at that time. She did not grow up to look like Elizabeth Taylor, though she was a nice-looking woman, the jobs dried up.

[Darth_Kitten]

15. I think there are opportunities for all ages and looks.........

but you are right, lots of actors chasing relatively few jobs.

[CBHagman]

22. And in the U.S., many people act as though...

...you're only an actor if you have your face on the cover of a magazine. If you're not in the top box office draw of the weekend, some idiot entertainment magazine will run a cover with a headline such as "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO _____?!" :eyes:

What annoys me the most is that there's emphasis on fame and/or notoriety, not the acting profession itself.

[Darth_Kitten]

14. Acting is a business like any other........

you have to market yourself, improve yourself, and yes, audition. What's cute at 5 or 10 may not be so at 25 or 45. :)


P.S. Big expert here after I've taking some acting seminars. ;)

[BrotherBuzz]

16. Timmy couldn't wait to get out of the business

I just heard Jon Provost (Timmy) talking about his new book, Timmy's In The Well. He said seven years playing sidekick to a dog was long enough, plus he entered puberty and discovered girls are a lot more interesting than a dog. Oh, Timmy never did fall down a well.

[DarkTirade]

17. Two words: Awkward stage.

That, and many of them crash and burn from too much fame when they're too young to know how to handle it.

[Beaverhausen]

18. Jodie Foster made it. Natalie Wood and Judy Garland too

Elizabeth Taylor started off pretty young, too.

Leonardo DeCaprio did some amazing roles in his teens.

[noonwitch]

32. I wouldn't call Judy Garland a successful transition.

Considering the way she died, and the fact that Hollywood had her using drugs to control her weight since she was a teen.

[Elidor]

19. Roddy McDowell did porn?

I think most of them do better as fluffers at that point.

[XemaSab]

24. He's certainly got a porn name

Rod Dowel? :shrug:

[XemaSab]

23. I'm guessing there's a supply/demand quotient there too

There are probably only a few hundred child actors with steady work in Hollywood. Suddenly, you turn 14, and all the precocious little drama-snots in high schools all over LA are fighting for the same roles. You turn 18 and you're competing with Betty from Deep River who moved to Hollywood as soon as she was legal to become an actress. You turn 22 and you're competing with graduates of every college with a drama program in the entire country. Suddenly, you're fighting with 10,000 (or 100,000) other people for the same roles.

You've gone from being in a position where being cute and smart will get you a long ways, to having to really fight to be the guy in the dog food commercial. :shrug:

[Fox Mulder]

25. Drew Barrymore made it.

She's one of my favorites.

[hellbound-liberal]

26. Here's one who not only made the transition, but also got away with murder!

[mitchum]

43. I thought that was gonna be a picture of Matthew Broderick

Ooops!

[NashVegas]

27. Children Get Hired By Having Unique Faces. Adults Get Hired By Looking Homogenous (Usually)

The young adults who get hired to be in the big-budget films all tend to have the normally prized, symmetrical features. As adult actors age, talent and perseverance win out.

[raccoon]

30. Good point. nt

[Mutley]

28. Natalie Portman made it.

She was, what, like 12 in The Professional?

[Left Is Write]

33. Brooke Shields is a successful former child actor.

[noonwitch]

37. I think she'd be a good mentor for Britney

Brooke Sheilds knows what it's like to have her parents and Hollywood market her as sex object at the age of 13. She survived.

[Deja Q]

29. Because nobody wanted to see Shirley's Temple?

People go in, but they don't come out...

:hide:

[Orrex]

31. How many adults do you know who are still working in their first job?

That would make me an amusement park pavillion-caterer, for $2.30 per hour.

[Doityourself]

34. Ron Howard is the ultimate child actor survivor..he's a mega director now!

[raccoon]

36. True he is a mega director, but as an adult actor he didn't do much. nt

[Common Sense Party]

39. How old was he during "Happy Days"?

And that was a top-rated show for several years.

[raccoon]

40. He was pretty old to be playing a teenager. I was thinking movies. nt

[SoCalDem]

38. MOST kids are cute, but not every cute kid grows up to have talent or great looks.

It's just that simple:)

[mitchum]

42. The soft, round features which look "cute" on kid actors often become...

heavy and lumpy as they get older. Think Mason Reese, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Robbie Rist, Danny Bonaduce, and many many others.

[XemaSab]

45. Or that really clear, angelic skin just looks pasty