My Cart - Is there a cooler job than being a famous child actor? Whilst most of us spent our childhood doing boring lessons at school, or begging our parents to let us stay out a little longer with friends – these children are hobnobbing with some of the rich and famous on a daily basis.
They probably have more money in their banks by the time they reach the age of 12, than we will ever have in a lifetime. Despite the fame and the money, it’s all too common for child actors to completely disappear once they reach adulthood.
So why is it that some child stars seem to disappear off the face of the earth after they reach a certain age? Is it by choice? Is it through a personal issue? Or are they no longer needed or wanted once they grow out the baby face looks needed for the roles they were cast in?
Whatever the reason is, it has happened far too many times. We have put together a list of some of the most popular child actors of the past who have barely been heard of since.
Haley Joel Osment
You probably remember Haley Joel Osment from a number of films, including Pay It Forward and Forrest Gump. We think he’s probably most famous for uttering the line “I see dead people” to Bruce Willis character in the scary film The Sixth Sense (yeah that kid!) Apart from being in some pretty good films, he was also nominated for a few important awards – including an Academy Award.
But what happened to him as he grew older? He’s appeared in a few films and TV shows since then, disappearing for a noticeable long period between 2003-2010. He was arrested in 2006 for drunk driving, which is something he probably doesn’t want to be remembered for. Apart from that, he’s appeared in nothing of note and seems to have suffered the child actor curse.
Liesel Matthews
Liesel Matthews in best known for her brilliant portrayal of orphaned Sara Crewe in the 1995 film A Little Princess, which was an adaptation of a book of the same name. Unfortunately, this is the only thing that she’s known for. After appearing in the film, which she was nominated for awards for, she completely disappeared from the world of film and TV (well she appeared in Air force One).
She was quoted as a child as saying that she never wanted acting to be a career but more of a hobby – and it seems like she grew out of that hobby! She attended university, and is now married. Her family are extremely wealthy – so we assume she just doesn’t need the money!
Jason James Richter
You probably remember Jason from The Free Willy film series (not the fourth one that we don’t talk about). He played the character Jesse – the young boy who befriends Willy. It’s rumoured that at just the age of 15, he had been paid around 3 million dollars for his role in the three films.
Apart from Free Willy, and a guest stint on Sabrina the Teenage Witch (jealous!), he basically never acted again.
Last thing we heard, he was the bassist for a band called Fermata – we assume that never took off too!
Do you remember these child stars? Or have they faded so quickly that you didn’t give them another thought until reading this post? Keep checking back as we will be looking at even more forgotten child actors!
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