Some Hollywood actors burn out after a long string of flops, while others vanish right after a breakout hit. It isn’t always rejection or scandal—sometimes it’s actually a choice. A young star might crave a normal life, away from all the lights and all the tabloids. But sometimes lightning just doesn’t strike twice, and they don’t get more roles. Other times they outgrow their childhood cuteness and look totally different as adults.
Hanna Hall
Even though she began her career shouting out one of the most iconic lines in Hollywood history, not many people know her name today. Hanna Hall was just 10 years old in 1994, when she yelled: “Run, Forrest! Run”.
So what happened to career after that? Well, Hall went on to hone her skills at Vancouver Film School. Today, she is actively involved in theater. Her bio reads, “She is now committed to committing professional suicide by directing underground theater. It is her way of sweetly strangling the lame commercial world that robbed her of a childhood.”
Tami Stronach
It’s been more than four decades since she played the Childlike Empress in The NeverEnding Story, but fans still stop Tami Stronach (now 53) when they recognize her today. “It’s really special,” she shared with PEOPLE. “It doesn’t get old. I feel so lucky.”
In 2024, she returned to film with Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps, starring alongside Christopher Lloyd and Sean Astin.
Carrie Henn
Carrie Henn was just 10 when she had to face off against a Xenomorph alongside Sigourney Weaver in Aliens. She was cast as Newt after a casting agent discovered her (and her brother) at a school.
“We didn’t realize that it was as big of a part as it was. I mean we were kind of clueless…” she told avpgalaxy.net.
She hasn’t done much acting since. Now 49, Henn is a school teacher.
Tina Majorino
At one point, Tina Majorino was the world’s biggest child star. She appeared in hits like Corrina, Corrina and When a Man Loves a Woman in 1994 and Kevin Costner’s $175 million Waterworld flop in 1995. Then at 14, she was the lead in NBC’s Alice in Wonderland miniseries.
Then Majorino took a long break to do other things.
She returned five years later for Napoleon Dynamite and roles in Veronica Mars, Grey’s Anatomy, and True Blood followed.
At 41, Majorino is still very active in the industry. She also hosts a podcast called No Pressure.
Danica McKellar
Who can forget sweet Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years?
Danica McKellar turned 51 on January 3, 2026, celebrating on Instagram with a selfie and a post that read: “This is 51! No makeup, no filters, just front-facing lighting and a healthy lifestyle to look—and feel—the best I can.”
Although McKellar is still acting today, she did take some time off from Hollywood to get a cum laude math degree from UCLA and write a few kids’ math books.
Daveigh Chase
Remember Samara Morgan, the girl who crept out of a well and out of TV sets to kill everyone who watched the weird videotape in 2002’s The Ring? Well, she was played by 12-year-old Daveigh Chase. The same Daveigh Chase who also starred in Donnie Darko, voiced Spirited Away‘s Chihiro, and Lilo in Lilo & Stitch.
Her last appearance was in 2016’s American Romance. Since then, she’s been MIA from Hollywood and social media.
Marla Sokoloff
Everyone remembers Gia, the troublemaker who constantly pushed Stephanie into doing rebellious things on Full House. Well, that character was played by Marla Sokoloff.
Since then, Sokoloff has built a steady career appearing in plenty of TV series and TV movies, including Lucy Hatcher on The Practice and Sweet on You. She even wrote the script for The Merry Gentlemen for Netflix.
David Dorfman
Samara Morgan wasn’t the only creepy kid in The Ring franchise. 9-year-old David Dorfman‘s Aidan Keller was pretty strange, too.
As a child actor, Dorfman appeared in plenty of projects, including Panic, Bounce, 100 Mile Rule and even The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Today, he’s pretty much left Hollywood behind. With a Harvard Law degree, Dorfman serves Capitol Hill as Legislative Director and General Counsel.
Amy O’Neill
If you were anywhere near a TV in 1989, you remember Amy Szalinski sprinting through oversized blades of grass in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The blonde teen caught in her dad’s science experiment became part of pop culture overnight. Nearly 40 years later, Amy O’Neill is 54 and still celebrating the film that made her a star.
She’s still acting here and there. IMDB even credits her as The Ducks in Peppa Pig. Go figure.
J.L. Reate
Who knew that the little boy in Golden Child was actually played by a little girl named Jasmine Reate (aka J.L. Reate)?
Today, Reate orchestrates TIFF events. She recently reunited with Eddie Murphy, saying, “He was just as kind as I remembered at 6.”
Alexa PenaVega
In 2001, a 12-year-old Alexa PenaVega strapped on a jetpack, outsmarted villains, and became Carmen Cortez in Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids. Now, 23 years later, she’s 37, a mom of three, a producer, an author-in-progress, and still very much a star.
In 2024, she produced Get Him Back for Christmas for Great American Family.
Taylor Dooley
At the heart of 2005’s Sharkboy and Lavagirl were Taylor Lautner (Sharkboy) and Taylor Dooley (Lavagirl). We know what happened to Lautner—but what became of Dooley? From 2006 to 2009, Dooley starred in a variety of indie projects, including Monster Night, Whitepaddy, and The Alyson Stoner Project.
In 2020, just as the world was trapped in a seemingly never-ending stream of horrible news, Rodriguez unleashed his new film, We Can Be Heroes, onto Netflix on Christmas Day. The movie was a spiritual successor to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Though Taylor Lautner did not reprise his role, Dooley most certainly did, much to the surprise of her fans.
Camren Bicondova
At just 15, Camren Bicondova became one of the best live-action Catwomen we’ve ever seen. With her snarky attitude and ballet background, which helped her deliver those signature Catwoman stunts, Bicondova might be the definitive live-action Selina Kyle.
In 2021, she joined the cast of Chaos Walking, alongside industry-leading actors like Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Cynthia Erivo, and Mads Mikkelsen.
Besides a few podcast interviews and convention appearances, Bicondova remains a very private celebrity who enjoys time working on herself and prioritizing her education.
Maddie Ziegler
At 11, Maddie Ziegler boarded a plane to Los Angeles, slipped on a blonde wig, twisted her face sideways and told friends, “Just this little video that’s gonna come out. No one will see it.” That video was Sia’s “Chandelier.” And, yes, everyone saw it and it changed her life overnight.
Today, she is very involved in Hollywood as an actress. In December, it was announced that Maddie would join the cast of Netflix’s Holidaz. Deadline reports she’ll star opposite Lowe, Graham Phillips, and Elias Kacavas in the romantic comedy directed by Tiffany Paulsen, based on Christina Lauren’s novel.
Alyssa Milano
Who’s the Boss? made its cast, including 12-year-old Alyssa Milano, stars. But that probably wasn’t the highligh of Milano’s career. She went on to star in movies and TV shows, like Melrose Place to Charmed and Grey’s Anatomy.
At 53, she’s still very much a star.
Tatyana Ali
Tatyana Ali has been on your screen longer than most of your favourite apps have existed. She showed up on Sesame Street as a kid, then grew up as Ashley Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996.
After The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air wrapped, she finished high school, earned a degree from Harvard, and kept working.
Tatyana Ali just turned 47 in 2026. She’s still very active in Hollywood today, even playing a school teacher in Bel-Air, the reimagined Fresh Prince of Bel-Air TV series.
Linda Blair
It’s hard to believe that the scary demon child in 1973’s The Exorcist was actually played by a child. But it was. 14-year-old Linda Blair‘s eerie Regan MacNeil is still scarying anyone who dares to watch the film today.
Over the years, she was typecast in horror films and appeared in Hell Night (1981) and Chained Heat (1983).
In 2004, the actress founded the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a non-profit organization specializing in rescuing and rehabilitating abused animals. Blair also went fully vegan, and described the experience as finally finding purpose and peace after the pressure of the Hollywood lifestyle.
At her 66 years, Blair looks stunning. She stays young at heart and looks genuinely happy working with animals. After a brief return to acting in 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer, Blair has expressed interest in a possible return to Hollywood—but she’s made it clear that her beloved animals and her upcoming memoir (which promises some shocking revelations surrounding The Exorcist) come first.
Anna Chlumsky
When she was younger, Anna Chlumsky’s life was all about Vada Sultenfuss, the 11-year-old hypochondriac living above a funeral home with her dad, played by Dan Aykroyd.
After My Girl 2, Anna hit pause on Hollywood and went to the University of Chicago in 2002, earned a degree in International Studies, and tried a completely different path.
But she couldn’t shake the acting bug. Then Veep happened. Six Emmy nominations later, everyone remembered exactly how talented she is. From Amy Brookheimer’s breakdowns to the icy determination of Vivian Kent in Inventing Anna and now crime drama Smoke on Apple TV+, Anna’s doing the best work of her life.
Jonathan Lipnicki
For a while, at the turn of the millennium, Jonathan Lipnicki was the child actor, starring in some of the most memorable family films of the time. However, becoming an international star when you’re not even 10 years old comes with some challenges. Fortunately, Lipnicki has navigated Hollywood’s pitfalls graciously and now looks incredible, nearly three decades after Jerry Maguire.
Danny Lloyd
Most horror fans would agree that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is one of the most beloved (and feared) films ever made. Kubrick took Stephen King’s novel and turned it into a masterpiece of horror cinema. At the center of it all was Danny Lloyd, providing a performance that will live forever as one of the greatest in the genre.
But what became of this horror icon who managed to avoid the spotlights for so long?
Away from the prying eyes of the media and his legacy as a horror icon, Lloyd pursued academic endeavors. He’s been an associate biology professor at the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in Kentucky since 2004—and no, he never talks about The Shining with his students.
