When Child Stars Grow Up

Lindsay Lohan

The Child: Became a fashion model aged three before landing a role on Another World aged 10. Her movie debut came a year later when, aged 11, Lohan played twins in the remake of The Parent Trap.

The Adult: A constant fixture of gossip mags, Lohan’s had some very public legal issues, including stints in rehab and appearing in court charged with DUI offences. Her movie career has suffered, though TV movie Liz & Dick looks decent, and Lohan’s currently filming The Canyons with Paul Schrader.

Sam Huntington

The Child: First appeared on screens aged 14 in TV movie Harvest Of Fire before nabbing roles in Not Another Teen Movie , Superman Returns and Fanboys .

The Adult: Hiccups like Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night have done him no favours, but Huntington is doing well on TV, with a starring role in the US version of Being Human as well as a role on Warehouse 13.

Mila Kunis

The Child: Made her first appearance in movie Make A Wish, Molly, then played Susie Grogan in TV’s Piranha . Played a young Angelina Jolie in Gia .

The Adult : 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall reminded the world that Kunis was still around (helped that she was great in it), but it wasn’t until 2010 that her movie career gathered some momentum with Black Swan . Frien ds With Benefits and Ted followed, next is Oz The Great And Powerful.

Nicholas Hoult

The Child: Hoult made an inauspicious debut in an episode of Casualty in 1996, going on to appear in other TV stalwarts Silent Witness, The Bill and Holby City . He was best known as a kid for his turn in About A Boy.

The Adult: Getting his bum out in Skins forced us to realise Hoult was growing up, and Hoult has, er, cracked America with roles in A Single Man, Clash Of The Titans and X-Men: First Class . He’s not going anywhere soon: next up are Warm Bodies, Jack The Giant Killer, Mad Max: Fury Road and X-Men: Days Of Future Past.

Brad Renfro

The Child: Debuted aged 11 in The Client , Joel Schumacher’s adaptation of John Grisham’s courtroom page-turner. Later pitched up in Sleepers and Apt Pupil , and put in a decent turn in indie adap Ghost World.

The Adult: Renfro’s addictions led to his ultimate downfall – he died of a heroin overdose in 2008, aged 25.

Kieran Culkin

The Child: Macaulay’s brother, who also appeared in the first and second Home Alone films as the disconcertingly-named Fuller. Also made a cheek-pinching appearance in the Father Of The Bride remake.

The Adult: Kieran appears to have dodged the pitfalls that his brother fell into, and most recently put in a scene-stealing performance as Wallace Wells in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

Daryl Sabara

The Child: Followed up a voice role in 1999’s My Neighbours The Yamadas with a leading role in the Spy Kids films. Later starred in the Halloween remake.

The Adult: Only just out of his teenhood, 20-year-old Sabara showed he had a sick sense of humour in World’s Greatest Dad , then played Edgar Rice Burroughs in John Carter . He’s still got a soft spot for Spy Kids , though – last year he starred in the belated fourth episode.

Sarah Jessica Parker

The Child: Made her debut in 1974 with The Little Match Girl when she was just nine years old. An ‘80s boom period saw her appearing in everything from Footloose to Flight Of The Navigator and Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

The Adult: Parker proved she’d well and truly grown up when she took the lead in TV series Sex And The Cit y , which led to a string of rom-com movie roles. She’s heading back to drama next year with biopic Lovelace .

Tobey Maguire

The Child: Starred alongside Fred Savage in The Wizard when he was 14, then made appearances in TV shows Roseanne and Eerie, Indiana.

The Adult: Maguire hit the big time with his Spider-Man films. Since then he’s kept his feet mostly on the ground with, er, grounded dramas The Great Gatsby, Life Of Pi and Brothers .

Haley Joel Osment

The Child: Before he saw dead people in The Sixth Sense , Osment took his bow as Tom Hanks’ son in Forrest Gump when he was six years old. He then appeared in A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Pay It Forward.

The Adult:
Was sentenced to three years probation after turning his car over while driving under the influence in 2006. Career-wise, Osment’s struggled to land a hit after duds Montana Amazon and Home Of The Giants.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.