Child actors of note
POSTED BY: JEWELSTAITEFAN
UPDATED: Thursday, September 3, 2026 09:35
VIEWED: 13982
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I had thought there was a similar thread to this, but have not found it. Found one for "young actors" but that had Tom Hanks, Anthony Edwards, Downey.
I was thinking of exceptional portrayals by minors - sometimes people say the child is gifted, some say it is merely the work of the director.
Some may have heard of a Zac Efron playing Simon Tam in Safe, but I thought Skylar Roberge as River had greater screen presence, at the age of 8 when episode aired. And Serenity had young River voiced over or audio-dubbed by Summer, but acted by Hunter Ainsley Wryn (sister of Rhiannon Leigh Wryn of Last Mimzy) at age 13 in the year of release, but 12 when filmed.
I'm inclined to include both those with amazing screen presence, and also scene stealers.
Mackenzie Foy in Interstellar, age 13 on date of release.
Liesel Matthews in A Little Princess, age 11 in the year of release.
Jonathon Lipnicki in Jerry MacGuire, age 6 in the year of release.
Rhiannon Leigh Wryn in The Last Mimzy, Age 7 in the year of release. At age 3 she was the young version of Jennifer Connelly in Hulk.
Abigail Breslin in Signs. Age 6 in the year of release.
Abigail Breslin in No Reservations, age 11 in the year of release.
Abigail Breslin in Nim's Island, age 12 in the year of release, with Gerard Butler and Jodie Foster.
Abigail Breslin in Zombieland, age 13 in the year of release.
Kristen Stewart in Panic Room, age 12 in the year of release - with jodie Foster.
Kristen Stewart in Zathura, age 15 in the year of release.
Josh Hutcherson in Zathura, age 13 in the year of release.
Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, age 12 in the year of release.
Natalie Portman in The Professional, age 13 in the year of release, age 11 when cast.
Valerie Bertinelli in One Day at a Time, age 15 when it first aired.
Elle Fanning in Super 8 - particularly the scene next to the passing train, age 13 in the year of release, with 3 other films that year including We Bought A Zoo.
Chloe Grace-Morentz in Kick-Ass, age 13 in the year of release.
Angus Jones in The Rookie. Age 9 in the year of release, too bad he derailed.
Carrie Henn as Newt in Aliens, age 10 in the year of release.
Hanna Hall as Jenny in Forrest Gump, age 9 on the date of release.
Haley Joel Osment as son Forrest in Forrest Gump. Age 6 in the year of release.
Haley Joel Osment in Sixth Sense, age 11 in the year of release.
Haley Joel Osment, excellent on Pay It Forward. Aged 12 in the year of release, he stole scenes from Oscar Winners like Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey. One of my fave films.
Anna-Sophia Robb in Because of Winn-Dixie, age 11 in the year of release.
Anna-Sophia Robb in Bridge to Terabithia (with Josh Hutcherson), age 13 in the year of release.
Anna-Sophia Robb in Jumper, age 14 in the year of release.
Christina Ricci in Mermaids, age 10 in the year of release.
Christina Ricci as Wednesday in The Addams Family, age 11 in the year of release.
Reese Whitherspoon in Man on the Moon, age 15 in the year of release.
Reese Whitherspoon in SFW, age 18 in the year of release.
Lisa Jakub in The Phone Call, age 11 in the year of release.
Jessica Biel in Ulee's Gold, age 15 in the year of release.
Vanessa Zima in Ulee's Gold, age 11 in the year of release.
Madeline Zima in The Nanny, age 8 in the year of release.
Yvonne Zima in The Long Kiss Goodnight, age 7 in the year of release.
Freddie Highmore in August Rush, age 15 in the year of release.
Gabby Hoffman in Uncle Buck, age 7 in the year of release.
Macauley Culkin in Uncle Buck, age 8 on opening weekend.
Others mentioned in this thread.
Keke Palmer
Dakota Fanning
Maggie Elizabeth Jones
Jessica Alba
Jewel Staite
Kodi Smit-McPhee
Jena Malone
Alicia Witt
Evan Rachel Woods
Pierce Gagnon
Hailee Steinfeld
Tye Sheridan
Ron Howard
Christian Bale
Jodie Foster
Hayley Mills
Natalie Woods
Tina Majorino
Tatum O'Neil
Annie Costner
Angela Cartwright
Lucy Deakins
Lucas Black
Lucas Haas
Scarlett Johansson
Thora Birch
Adair Tishler
Freddie Highmore
Angel
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Good list.
But, when I think of Haley Joel Osment, the movie that pops into my head is The Sixth Sense.
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I agree, in Forrest Gump it was a few minutes of screen time, but in Sixth Sense he carried the movie (along with Bruce Willis).
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by Moose:
Good list.
But, when I think of Haley Joel Osment, the movie that pops into my head is The Sixth Sense.
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Damn good list JSF, and a good thread.............
My favs on the list:
MacKenzie Foy (she reminds me of Jennifer Garner for some reason)
Liesel Matthews in A Little Princess - she was magical
Abigail Breslin in Signs - and in Little Miss Sunshine
Josh Hutcherson in Bridge to Terabithia (By the way, he's extremely convincing in Mockingjay 1)
Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet - One of my fav old films.
Natalie Portman in The Professional - One of my fav new classics.
Elle Fanning in Super 8 - particularly the scene next to the passing train..
Chloe Grace-Morentz in Kick-Ass - pretty much every scene she's in, but my fav scene was when Big Daddy is tied up and set on fire, you could see her emotion through her mask - brilliant.
Carrie Henn as Newt in Aliens - Affirmative.
Hanna Hall as Jenny in Forrest Gump.
Haley Joel Osment in Sixth Sense.
I'm going to add.............
AnnaSophia Robb in Bridge to Terabithia - her performance was key
Christina Ricci in Addams Family, she was better than the TV Wednesday
Keke Palmer in Akeelah and the Bee
Dakota Fanning - Sam I Am, Man on Fire
Note: I didn't include Valerie Bertinelli, although I love her, because she's on TV and I wanted to stick with film.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
I had thought there was a similar thread to this, but have not found it. Found one for "young actors" but that had Tom Hanks, Anthony Edwards, Downey.
I was thinking of exceptional portrayals by minors - sometimes people say the child is gifted, some say it is merely the work of the director.
I'm inclined to include both those with amazing screen presence, and also scene stealers.
Mackenzie Foy in Interstellar.
Liesel Matthews in A Little Princess.
Jonathon Lipnicki in Jerry MacGuire.
The Last Mimzy.
Abigail Breslin in Signs.
Kristen Stewart in Zathura.
Josh Hutcherson in Zathura.
Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet.
Natalie Portman in The Professional.
Valerie Bertinelli in that TV show she was in.
Elle Fanning in Super 8 - particularly the scene next to the passing train..
Chloe Grace-Morentz in Kick-Ass.
Angus Jones in The Rookie.
Carrie Henn as Newt in Aliens.
Hanna Hall as Jenny in Forrest Gump.
Haley Joel Osment as son Forrest in Forrest Gump.
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Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
I had thought there was a similar thread to this, but have not found it. Found one for "young actors" but that had Tom Hanks, Anthony Edwards, Downey.
I was thinking of exceptional portrayals by minors - sometimes people say the child is gifted, some say it is merely the work of the director.
Some may have heard of a Zac Efron playing Simon Tam in Safe, but I thought Skylar Roberge as River had greater screen presence, at the age of 8 when episode aired. And Serenity had young River voiced over or audio-dubbed by Summer, but acted by Hunter Ainsley Wryn (sister of Rhiannon Leigh Wryn of Last Mimzy) at age 13 in the year of release, but 12 when filmed.
I'm inclined to include both those with amazing screen presence, and also scene stealers.
Mackenzie Foy in Interstellar.
Liesel Matthews in A Little Princess, age 11 in the year of release.
Jonathon Lipnicki in Jerry MacGuire.
Rhiannon Leigh Wryn in The Last Mimzy, Age 7 in the year of release. At age 3 she was the young version of Jennifer Connelly in Hulk.
Abigail Breslin in Signs. Age 6 in the year of release.
Abigail Breslin in No Reservations, age 11 in the year of release.
Abigail Breslin in Nim's Island, age 12 in the year of release, with Gerard Butler and Jodie Foster.
Abigail Breslin in Zombieland, age 13 in the year of release.
Kristen Stewart in Panic Room, age 12 in the year of release - with jodie Foster.
Kristen Stewart in Zathura, age 15 in the year of release.
Josh Hutcherson in Zathura, age 13 in the year of release.
Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet.
Natalie Portman in The Professional.
Valerie Bertinelli in One Day at a Time, age 15 when it first aired.
Elle Fanning in Super 8 - particularly the scene next to the passing train..
Chloe Grace-Morentz in Kick-Ass.
Angus Jones in The Rookie. Age 9 in the year of release, too bad he derailed.
Carrie Henn as Newt in Aliens.
Hanna Hall as Jenny in Forrest Gump.
Haley Joel Osment as son Forrest in Forrest Gump. Age 6 in the year of release.
Haley Joel Osment in Sixth Sense, age 11 in the year of release.
Haley Joel Osment, excellent on Pay It Forward. Aged 12 in the year of release, he stole scenes from Oscar Winners like Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey. One of my fave films.
Anna-Sophia Robb in Because of Winn-Dixie, age 11 in the year of release.
Anna-Sophia Robb in Bridge to Terabithia (with Josh Hutcherson), age 13 in the year of release.
Anna-Sophia Robb in Jumper, age 14 in the year of release.
Christina Ricci as Wednesday in The Addams Family.
Reese Whitherspoon in Man on the Moon, age 15 in the year of release.
Reese Whitherspoon in SFW, age 18 in the year of release.
Lisa Jakub in The Phone Call, age 11 in the year of release.
Jessica Biel in Ulee's Gold, age 15 in the year of release.
Vanessa Zima in Ulee's Gold, age 11 in the year of release.
Madeline Zima in The Nanny, age 8 in the year of release.
Yvonne Zima in The Long Kiss Goodnight, age 7 in the year of release.
Freddie Highmore in August Rush, age 15 in the year of release.
Gabby Hoffman in Uncle Buck.
Macauley Culkin in Uncle Buck.
I didn't get to finish the OP yesterday. Now I've filled it out a bit more.
My top 5 of the above list would be Liesel Matthews, Elle Fanning, Carrie Henn, Chloe Grace Morentz, Natalie Portman. But difficult to exclude HJO in Pay It Forward.
I wasn't as enamored of Dakota Fanning, and have not seen the Akeela and the Bee film.
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And I still forgot to mention:
Maggie Elizabeth Jones as Rosie in We Bought a Zoo, likely age 8 in the year of release.
Jessica Alba in TV's Flipper, age 14 when first aired.
And I thought Jewel Staite stole the show on her X-Files episode. Age 13 on date of broadcast.
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Kodi Smit-McPhee - 13 in The Road, 14 in Let Me In, 17 in Romeo & Juliet (2013) and 18 in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Jena Malone - 12 in Bastard Out of Carolina, 13 in Contact (as the young Jodie Foster character), 14 in Stepmom, 15 in For Love of the Game, 17 in Donnie Darko.
Alicia Witt - 9 in David Lynch's Dune, 15 in "Twin Peaks," 18 in Bodies, Rest & Motion.
Evan Rachel Wood - 8/9 in the "American Gothic" TV series, 11 in Practical Magic, 15 in S1m0ne, 16 in Thirteen and The Missing.
Pierce Gagnon - 5 in The Crazies, 7 in Looper, 9 in Wish I Was Here, "Extant," Rio 2 and A Merry Friggin' Christmas.
Hailee Steinfeld - 14 in True Grit, 17 in Romeo & Juliet and Ender's Game, 18 in 3 Days to Kill and The Homesman.
Tye Sheridan - 15 in The Tree of Life, 16 in Mud, 17 in Joe, 18 in The Forger and "Last Man Standing." (with seven other projects in various stages of production)
Since you included Elizabeth Taylor, then we should also recognize other now established stars who began as children or teens, among them Ron Howard, Christian Bale and Jodie Foster.
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Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
Maggie Elizabeth Jones as Rosie in We Bought a Zoo
That kid was terrific!
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Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
Alicia Witt - 9 in David Lynch's Dune, 15 in "Twin Peaks," 18 in Bodies, Rest & Motion.
Quite memorable on The Sopranos.
Quote:
Evan Rachel Wood - 16 in Thirteen
That movie should be mandatory viewing for all parents of teens.
And I'll add to the list the greatest teen actress of the baby boomer generation, the girl that still owns the heart of every guy who grew up with her movies ... Miss Hayley Mills
Trouble with Angels 1966 .... (holiday favorite, ending gets me every time}
That Darn Cat! 1965
Gypsy Girl 1965
The Truth About Spring 1965 .... (greatest coming of age movie ever made}
The Moon-Spinners 1964
The Chalk Garden 1964 .... (a masterpiece, my favorite Hayley Mills movie)
Summer Magic 1963
In Search of the Castaways 1962
Whistle Down the Wind 1961
The Parent Trap 1961 .... (timeless classic)
Pollyanna 1960
Tiger Bay 1959
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Can't forget Natalie Wood ...
8 years old in Miracle On 34th Street
16 years old in Rebel Without A Cause
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