While we were playing in the sand, these children were on set. While our parents were putting us in bed or a nap, these kids were receiving make-up to shoot a new scene. Here are ten actors who have been on screen since they were kids.
1. Leonardo DiCaprio
Leo began with small roles in commercials and TV shows including “The New Lassie” and “Roseanne” and after one year he received his first role in a feature film “Critters 3”, in which he played the stepson of an evil rich guy. This happens while the actor was 17, but if we look at the memorable role in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, for which was nominated for an Oscar for “Best Actor”, no one would have given DiCaprio more than 13. From the moment he played Arnie Grape, the dysfunctional child, Leo got public attention, being cast in films like “This Boy’s Life” with DeNiro, “Romeo + Juliet”, “Titanic”, “The Beach”, ” Catch me If You Can” and other roles that we all know.
2. Natalie Portman
The first serious role Natalie Portman had is, ironically, one of the best she has done throughout her career in addition to the ones in “Black Swan,” “Closer” and “V for Vendetta”. At 13 she learns about killing from the assassin Leon, played by Jean Reno in the movie “The Professional”. At 15 she is a sort of Lolita in the movie “Beautiful Girls” and from here to Star Wars there was only a small step which lasted three years. Natalie Portman won an Oscar for “Best Actress” for her role in Black Swan, a very beautiful evolution for the actress who started on the right foot and does not seem to slow things down.
3. Jodie Foster
Before being an agent on the trail of the sadistic Hannibal Lecter, Jodie Foster started at the age of seven to appear in TV series. At 10, she already played in feature films and at 1, Martin Scorsese cast her in “Alice Does not Live Here Anymore”, Them at 14, she was part of “Taxi Driver”, for which received an Oscar nomination for “best actress”. With her role in Taxi Driver, Jodie Foster managed to impress a man so much that he followed her and then tried to kill President Ronald Reagan just to get her attention. Another big fan wanted to kill Foster out of too much love.
4. Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is another face that we know ever since she was little. At 10, she was playing with Winona Ryder and Cher in Mermaids” and at 11 she became the famous Wednesday Addams in “The Addams Family”. She is perfect for playing innocent, but also for darker roles. The young actress continued to appear in various films like “Casper”, “The Opposite of Sex” which was nominated for a Golden Globe, and in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, “Monster”, “Sleepy Hollow”.
5. Drew Barrymore
Her first role was at three years old, but the public hardly noticed her role when she was 7 years old, that of Gertie in ET. Her first appearance on television was when he was 11 months and she was cast in a commercial, but it is not surprising that the actress arrived early in the filming industry, considering that she comes from the Barrymore family, cinema people.
6. Dakota Fanning
At six, she makes her appearance in the famous series ER, the same year in “Ally McBeal” and after a year, she has a tremendous and exciting role in the movie “I am Sam” with Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer. At nine, she has a great role in “Uptown Girls” alongside the late Brittany Murphy. Although she is still young, Dakota Fanning has already had many appearance and with each role she has managed to capture the audience with maturity.
7. Elijah Wood
Frodo in the series “Lord of the Rings” was not always the star of a fictional realm. At the age of eight, he had a minor role in Back to the Future II, appeared opposite Richard Gere in “Internal Affairs” and then, at 10, he played Cupid in “Paradise” in which he reconciled Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. At the age of 12 he was already Huck Finn in the adventure film based on the book Tom Sawyer and three years later became a friend of Flipper’s.
8. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Without much patience, Joseph Gordon Levitt appeared on television at age of seven in various television shows and in several TV movies until he got to play with Christopher Lambert, Josh Brolin and David Arquette in “The Road Killers” and at 15 he was one of the main characters from the comedy series “3rd Rock from the Sun”.
9. Kristen Stewart
Long before Twilight, when she was only 12, Kristen Stewart played the daughter of Jodie Foster in Panic Room and after that she had a small role in Into the Wild. The came Twilight and the rest is history.
10. Anna Paquin
At the age of 11, Anna Paquin won an Academy Award for her role in The Piano. As a teenager, she had many small roles in various movies, like Almost Famous and X-Men. Now, you see her on the hit HBO series True Blood.
