Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Actors: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Laura Monaghan
Ages: 8-14
Why So Memorable? Shooting the film, which follows three young mixed-race girls on an epic 1,500-mile escape walk from the racial turbulence of 1930s Australia, was a feat of endurance in itself.
The fact that the girls - and especially Sampi, the oldest - equip themselves so affectingly on their track-covering flight from Kenneth Brannagh’s pursuing goons makes it one of the most impressive slabs of childhood acting work we’ve seen this decade.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Actor: Henry Thomas
Age: 10
Why So Memorable? He manages to make his adoring devotion to a hilarious rubbery puppet feel so utterly convincing. It comes across as a massive gut punch when their relationship looks to have hit the skids, followed by an equally massive rush of euphoria when a light appears at the end of the tunnel.
Drew Barrymore was insanely cute; Thomas was just insanely accomplished in a role that demanded a huge emotional range. And embarrassing pyjamas.
The City Of Lost Children (1995)
Actor: Judith Vittet
Age: 10
Why So Memorable? Visually, raven-haired Portman-alike Vittet was a slam dunk for aesthetically-obsessed king of kook Jean-Pierre Jeunet, but there's no room in her character for a cutesy wallflower.
As fiesty orphan gang-leader Miette, she not only slotted in admirably alongside such larger-than-life carnival character actors as Ron Perlman and Dominique Pinon, but somehow managed to shine brigher than the impossibly lush scenery that threatened to drown out several of her towering co-stars.
Lon (1994)
Actor: Natalie Portman
Age: 13
Why So Memorable? Because she was all sorts of things that child actors aren’t supposed to be: a mother figure, a smoker, a hitman’s assistant...and yes, oddly sexual in a way that really got a lot of people’s shackles up (presumably because they felt that was the ‘right’ reaction, more than out of any genuine outrage).
Most of all, she was completely believable in a role that, on paper, really wasn’t. One of the finest child turns of the 90s, no question.
The Piano (1993)
Actor: Anna Paquin
Age: 11
Why So Memorable? Ok, we know this one isn't just us; Paquin scooped a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as the daughter of a mute Scottish woman mailed to New Zealand as a reluctant bride.
In her character's wholly understandable confusion, a pivotal moment of selfish deception nearly does for her poor old mum - and the complex processes of tackling a huge moral dilemma at such a tender age are writ large on Paquin's amazingly expressive features throughout. A proper, no messing actor by the time she could tie her own laces.
Tideland (2005)
Actor: Jodelle Ferland
Age: 10
Why So Memorable? Mitch Cullin's controversial novel of the same name dealt in some particularly adult themes, mostly stemming from the abandonment of Ferland's character Jeliza-Rose. There's no way Ferland could have fully understood them all, but she sure appears to.
Perhaps the most disquieting aspect of Tideland is the way Jeliza-Rose instigates the inappropriately close relationship between herself and the older, mentally impaired Dickens: in Ferland's astoundingly capable hands, it comes across as a result of naive wilfulness and saves a genuinely key scene from the censor's (doubtless frantically twitching) secateurs.
Stand By Me (1986)
Actors: River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell
Ages: 12-15
Why So Memorable? Arguably the first movie that springs to mind when thinking of one utterly led by its underage cast members, Stand By Me works because of the way the four young leads each pull in different directions.
Highest accolades do have to go to River Phoenix as the immensely conflicted Chris, but the outstanding success of this coming-of-age standard should always be chalked up as very much a team effort.
A movie that deals in as many subtle shades as it does bigger set pieces, and is at its most profound and affecting while doing so.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio
Age: 19
Why So Memorable? Ok, so rather a push age-wise for 'child performance', but Leo's towering achievement in Lasse Hallström's quirky small-town drama deserves mention as surely one of the trickiest assignments an actor under 20 has been trusted with in recent memory.
Not only did DiCaprio rise to the challenge of playing a mentally handicapped teenager with quite unbelievable dedication and empathy, he did so impressively enough to bag deserved nominations at both the Oscars and Golden Globes.
It'll be a long time before his herculean Gilbert Grape effort is topped by anyone of equal or younger age - especially so early in their career.
Ponette (1996)
Actor: Victoire Thivisol
Age: 4
Why So Memorable? Go back and read that age again. Four? Seriously, FOUR?! How the hell can anybody emote that ferociously when their only experience of hardship to date is struggling with the plastic bit of a Kinder egg?
Director Jacques Doillon clearly wasn’t just relying on 'give ice cream/withhold ice cream' tactics in order to coax this breathtaking performance from his pre-school star, either - try trading a Mini Milk for "now look increasingly withdrawn as the memory of your dead mother fades", and see how far you get. Genuinely astonishing.
Where The Wild Things Are (2009)
Actor: Max Records
Age: 12
Why So Memorable? Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Records' achievement is that the whole film - like the Maurice Sendak book that it's built on - is a meditation on childhood from the point of view of an adult loking back. Sure, it's a story for kids...it's just that it's as much for 50-year-old ones as 10-year-old ones.
Possessing the broader sensibilities to evoke that on screen isn't something you could entrust most 12-year-olds with, but somehow Records is equal to the task. The result is an achingly beautiful meditation on the nature of youth, innocence and their inevitable passing, but - and this is crucial - one that could never afford to have its core simplicity clouded with overly philosophical guff.
Records delivers the ideal balance, and Spike Jonze pulled off a minor miracle in finding him: it's really hard to imagine WTWTA working as well with any other child actor on the circuit today.
We spoke exclusively to Spike Jonze about Max making it to the number one-spot on our list...
Max has delivered our favourite child star performance. What is it that makes him so special?
Watching him on camera was really captivating. We needed an actor that could play the range of the role. The character we’d written had moments of quiet introspection and sensitivity but also wildness and recklessness, it was actually really challenging to find someone who could do all that. He’s very special.
Aside from Max, what other performances on our list are you a fan of?
The kid in The Black Stallion is amazing – the first 40 minutes is like no dialogue, it’s just all on his face. And the boy in 400 Blows, that performance is really incredible.
What’s the difference between working with Max and a grown-up actor like, say, Nicolas Cage?
Nicolas Cage didn’t beat me up!
