The life of a child star can be pretty rough, and it can be even harder to deal with after their retirement. You have probably heard horror story after horror story of how various children have lost their way as a result of the pressures of being the center of public attention in their youngest years; on the other hand, some child stars have maintained their celebrity status, and have been working regularly as A-listers ever since their youth.
Not every child actor either blows up or bombs, after the peak of their career some child stars simply fade into obscurity, and are no longer being followed by the hungry eyes of the paparazzi; some of these stars are never seen again, while others emerge several years later looking completely unrecognizable. You would be shocked by how drastically some child stars have changed: they could pass themselves off as a completely different person entirely and re-enter Hollywood under a different name.
But which child stars look the most different from their childhood years in and movies? Here are the top 10 former child stars that look like they snatched someone else’s body, and for the most part they look pretty good.
#10 – Jonathan Lipnicki
It’s hard to imagine what entertainment in the late 90s would have been like if it weren’t for Jonathan Lipnicki. For a few short years, Lipnicki was the most famous child actor in the industry after making his film alongside Tom Cruise debut in the 1996 hit, “Jerry Maguire.” Lipnicki would go on to appear in “Doctor Dolittle,” “Stuart Little,” and “The Little Vampire,” which was still a better vampire movie than Twilight. After 2001, Lipnicki wasn’t appearing in many films, until 2011 when he had resurgence in his career.
Although his film and TV credits haven’t been as notable as they were back in the 90s, Jonathan is still staying busy with the roles he is still landing. Lipnicki definitely looks more grown up at 26 years old, and he is currently training in mixed martial arts. Lipnicki was asked if he was thinking about going into professional fighting, but he said that acting keeps him too busy to prepare for any fights other the ones at the box office.
#9 – Kate Maberly
Hailing from England, Kate Maberly has been working in the film industry since 1991, when she was just nine years old: appearing on the television show, “Screen One.” Maberly got her big break in 1993 when she was cast as the lead role in “The Secret Garden;” Maberly would get another starring role in 1995 with “Friendship’s Field,” but in her teenage years her career would begin slowing down dramatically.
Roles would be increasingly sparse for Maberly until 2012, when she was the star of “Rites of Passage.”
Maberly is quite multitalented, and not only has she performed live on stage in theater performances, but she has also contributed to two singles for her movies; Maberly is incredibly smart as well, and was able to skip a full year of classes in school, and graduated in 2004 with honors from the Trinity College of Music in London.
#8 – Mackenzie Rosman
While most of us are familiar with the eldest sister from “7th Heaven” (Jessica Biel), many have forgotten the youngest one of the family, Ruthie, who was played by Mackenzie Rosman; born in Charleston, South Carolina, Rosman’s her first role was in the family series, appearing in a total of 238 episodes, as the show ran from 1996 to 2007.
After “7th Heaven” ended, Rosman had smaller roles in productions such as “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” and “Ghost Shark,” which sounds like it would be a hit on the sci-fi channel.
Rosman is currently 25 years old, and graduated high school in 2007 while she was still acting; she is certainly all grown up now, since in 2013 Rosman appeared in Maxim Magazine.
Thankfully, Rosman has been able to stay away from many of the problems that most child stars go through, and has even started a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis awareness.
#7 – Danica McKellar
Most pre-teen boys of the late 80s and early 90s had a pretty big crush on Danica McKellar, who played Winnie Cooper for 98 episodes on the hit show, “The Wonder Years.” McKellar stayed incredibly busy with smaller roles throughout the rest of the 90s, appearing almost exclusively on television; while her acting career hasn’t exactly been A-list, she has been doing just fine for herself in terms of getting work.
McKellar surprised a lot of people when she graduated from UCLA in 1998 with a bachelor’s in mathematics, and then wrote multiple books about the subject.
Surprisingly, McKellar is 40 years old now, but she still looks incredibly young, and is continuing to do acting on the side. McKellar has one child, and was married to Mike Verta from 2009 to 2012 before marrying again to Scott Sveslosky in 2014.
Though her wonder years are behind her now, Danica Mckellar continues to look gorgeous on and off the screen.
#6 – Jenna Von Oy
Jenna Von Oy started her acting career in 1986, when she appeared on multiple TV shows with minor roles, before finally gaining much more popularity on 1990 on the show “Blossom,” where she played the character named “Six Lemeure;” the series wrapped up in 1995, and Von Oy continued on to film school at the University of Southern California, before dropping out and heading back into the acting circuit.
Von Oy would go on to spend the next two decades working in minor roles, and still makes sporadic appearances on screen from time to time.
Von Oy is now 38 years old, and has been working as a country music singer and blogger in addition to maintaining her acting career.
Von Oy is also a mother of two, and has been married to Brad Batcher since 2010; their family is now living in Nashville, Tennessee, where they are serving as huge advocates for national recycling campaigns. The most recent film Von Oy has starred in is “Lukewarm,” which also seems to perfectly describe her current career.
#5 – Miko Hughes
Before he had even turned two years old, Miko Hughes started his acting career when he was cast in a public service announcement, but would eventually land his biggest role in his first movie, 1989’s “Pet Sematary.” Hughes would later appear in some notable movies such as “Kindergarten Cop,” “Apollo 13,” and “Mercury Rising,” but since 2008, Hughes has only appeared in one film.
These days Miko has put acting on the back burner and has been working behind the scenes in Hollywood.
Hughes is surprisingly only 29 years, and so he still has a huge amount of time ahead of him to revitalize his career.
Hughes looks a lot different than his “Pet Sematary” days, and doesn’t look nearly as creepy as he did back then: the fact that he isn’t portraying a dead knife wielding child anymore might help. Hughes seems to have plenty of money left over from his childhood stardom, but whether he keeps it “Remains” to be seen.
#4 – Anna Chlumsky
Very few of the child actors on our list have still been able to keep a full-time acting career going, but Anna Chlumsky is one of the biggest exceptions.
Chlumsky got her first movie role appearing in 1989’s “Uncle Buck,” before landing her first lead role in 1991’s “My Girl.” Chlumsky took quite a few years off of acting to attend the University of Chicago, and she eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
Chlumsky reemerged in the film industry in 2007, and has been a regular actor ever since.
Chlumsky is 34 years old now, and her current cash cow role is as Amy Brookheimer on the show “Veep,” which has been running since 2012; the role has gotten her nominated for an Emmy in each of the past three years, in the category of “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series,” which seems like an overly specific nomination. Next thing you know they’ll be handing out Emmys for “best catering on the set of a summer horror series.
#3 – Lark Voorhies
Lark Voorhies, like many of the other actors from the “Saved By The Bell” TV series, has had a rather tough time getting notable roles ever since the show wrapped up.
Voorhies played Lisa Turtle on “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” before the character was transferred over to “Saved By The Bell,” and would wind up appearing on 85 episodes before doing a couple of spinoff TV movies and then searching for consistent work.
Voorhies had acting credits during every year of the 1990s, but when the new millennium started roles became scarcer and harder to land.
Voorhies has been appearing in small film roles over the past few years, and is now 41 years old; she has also written three books in the past five years, and wound up marrying Jimmy Green in April of 2015. Surprisingly, Voorhies has actually had a warrant out for her arrest in Arizona since 2012 due to disorderly conduct, but looks nearly unrecognizable these days as a result of multiple plastic surgeries (talk about being saved by the bell)!
#2 – Ross Hull
Ross Hull was a Canadian born child actor that has made quite the transition in his career. Hull had a few minor roles in the early 90s before earning his first notable role in the Nickelodeon horror series, “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” where he played “Gary” in a total of 65 episodes, which made him one of the most commonly occurring characters in the entire show.
“Are You Afraid of the Dark?” wrapped up in 1996, and Hull only had one more major role afterwards, which was in the show “Student Bodies;” since then his only appearance was in 2004 in an episode of “Stargate Atlantis.”
Hull actually ended his acting career by starting as a meteorologist for The Weather Network in 2005 after he got his degree from Mississippi State University; he has been working as a TV personality ever since, and the 39 year old is currently working with the Global Toronto Network.
During his career Hull revealed that he was gay, and has since taken an interest in fitness training and travelling across the world, which is easy to do considering he knows where the weather will be lovely this time of year.
#1 – Brian Bonsall
While most of the child actors on this list have been able to steer clear of the dangers present in growing up in front of the camera, the same cannot be said for Brian Bonsall.
Bonsall became famous in the late 80s when he played Andy Keaton on “Family Ties,” (the youngest child of the family). Bonsall’s largest role after “Family Ties” was that of Preston Waters, the lead in the 1994 film, “Blank Check.”
Bonsall retired from acting in 1995 when he moved to Boulder, Colorado, and would later graduate from high school in 2000.
Now that he is 35 years old, Bonsall has been pursuing a career in punk music, but has had quite a few problems with the law; Bonsall was arrested multiple times throughout the past decade for a multitude of charges ranging from marijuana possession, to having a failure to report for probation and assault: bet he wishes he had a “Blank Check” now.
No comments:
Post a Comment