History Main / FormerChildStar

It doesn't help that puberty is a fickle beast and there is no guarantee that a cute and adorable kid will have Hollywood looks as an adult. Creator/EmmaWatson and Creator/DanielRadcliffe may have matured nicely since their ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' days, but there are countless others whose adolescent years weren't nearly as kind, making it that much harder to find acting work as adults. [[note]]In fact, it's ''more likely'' that such "cute kids" will be ''less'' than appealing as an adult, since they are typically hired for the ''very reason'' of being small for their age. Being a little older makes them easier to work with as actors, while also seeming naturally precocious when playing the roles of a younger child. But then such people typically grow up into small ''adults'' who still resemble children, which can be rather unnerving for audiences (see: Arya's sex scene in ''Series/GameOfThrones'', which made many viewers uncomfortable even though Creator/Maisie Williams was at least 20 during filming). This hits the male actors particularly hard in the long run, as beauty standards are far kinder to a petite, babyfaced woman than a grown man with similar features.[[/note]]

It doesn't help that puberty is a fickle beast and there is no guarantee that a cute and adorable kid will have Hollywood looks as an adult. Creator/EmmaWatson and Creator/DanielRadcliffe may have matured nicely since their ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' days, but there are countless others whose adolescent years weren't nearly as kind, making it that much harder to find acting work as adults. [[note]]In fact, it's ''more likely'' that such "cute kids" will be ''less'' than appealing as an adult, since they are typically hired for the ''very reason'' of being small for their age. Being a little older makes them easier to work with as actors, while also seeming naturally precocious when playing the roles of a younger child. But then such people typically grow up into small ''adults'' who still resemble children, which can be rather unnerving for audiences. This hits the men particularly hard, as the physical features of a cherubic little boy rarely translate into a conventionally handsome man.[[/note]]

This trope applies not only to theatre and motion picture, but also to several sports, such as gymnastics, and arts, such as ballet, where the athletes rise to the top very young and the career is likely to be short.

It doesn't help that puberty is a fickle beast and there is no guarantee that a cute and adorable kid will have Hollywood looks as an adult. Creator/EmmaWatson and Creator/DanielRadcliffe may have matured nicely since their ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' days, but there are countless others whose adolescent years weren't nearly as kind, making it that much harder to find acting work as adults.

(In fact, it's ''more likely'' that such "cute kids" will be ''less'' than appealing as an adult; since they are typically hired for the ''very reason'' of being small for their age; since their age makes them better actors, who also seem naturally precocious when playing the roles of ''younger'' children. But then such people typically grow up into small ''adults'' who still resemble children, which can be rather disturbing for audiences).

* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': Downplayed with Himeka "Kiki" Saiki, a ChildProdigy singer who is now in high school. She isn't especially depressed or cynical, but the thrill of being a genius talent has well and truly worn off and doesn't satisfy her anymore. Instead, she wants to do something ''different'' and become an [[BunnyEarsLawyer eccentric genius]] who can shock the world!

** Goober, the annoying house guest in ''Horsin' Around'' didn't turn out too well in adulthood either. The actor who played him (as [=BoJack=] so helpfully pointed out to Todd in one episode) ended up molesting some Laker Girls, and in the third season, it's revealed that he's become a sleazy nightclub owner and a drug dealer. Ironically, he's voiced by Creator/FredSavage, a former child star who's had a well-adjusted adulthood despite not being as popular as he was in ''Series/TheWonderYears''.

* ''Manga/OshiNoKo'' depicts Kana Arima grappling with this stigma even less than two years out from legal adulthood. Lauded as a ChildProdigy in her prepubescent years, she struggles to get into more mature castings due to the larger talent pool making it hard to stand out, her past value to child actor casting agencies not translating to positive resume-building with non-child agencies, and the perception itself of her as a "former" star. The resulting career slump has seen her grow cynical and [[OldShame dismissive of her past accomplishments]] despite her genuine talent.

Probably one of Hollywood's biggest AcceptableTargets, the Former Child Star is a celebrity whose career was at its peak in their forative years. Alas, such an unorthodox childhood can leave its mark on anyone (especially if they were NotAllowedToGrowUp), and it always does in fictional depictions of the Former Child Star. In adulthood, they may be a struggling actor who finds it hard to be taken seriously when everyone remembers them as "[[IAmNotSpock that one kid from that one show]]," if they're remembered at all.

A subtrope to NoCelebritiesWereHarmed. Compare WhiteDwarfStarlet, an older version of this trope, as well as HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight. See also HorribleHollywood. For other grown-up kids, see SchoolYardBullyAllGrownUp and KidHeroAllGrownUp.

[[quoteright:336:[[WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sl_0.png]]]]

--> '''Krusty''': I don't know her name! But she held up a liquor store last year!

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'':
** This happened to Sarah Lynn, the actress who played the youngest daughter on the title character's old show ''Horsin' Around'' (a ''Full House'' clone in its own right). More specifically, a mixture of a [[StageMom pushy stage mother]], bad advice from Bojack (basically, "attention equals love"), and her attempts to establish her own career (by creating a HotterAndSexier image) made her a LoveHungry AttentionWhore. It's not too long after she devolves into the [[DescentIntoAddiction drug addicted]] trainwreck tabloid fodder type. And the worst part is that, in her mind, [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity any attention (even the negative type) is better than none at all]]. [[spoiler: She would end up dying at 31 of a heroin overdose, not at all helped by Bojack [[MurderByInaction delaying calling 911]] until he thought of a good alibi for how he found her so they didn't know he was on the bender with her.]]
** Goober, the annoying house guest in ''Horsin' Around'' didn't turn out too well in adulthood either. The actor who played him (as [=BoJack=] so helpfully pointed out to Todd in one episode) ended up molesting some Laker Girls, and in the third season, it's revealed that he's become a sleazy nightclub owner and a drug dealer. Ironically, he's voiced by Fred Savage, a former child star who's had a well-adjusted adulthood despite not being as popular as he was in ''Series/TheWonderYears''.

(In fact, it's ''more likely'' that such "cute kids" will be ''less'' appealing as an adult; since they are typically hired for the very reason being ''small'' for their age, since their age makes them better actors, who also seem naturally precocious when playing the roles of ''younger'' children; but then they grow up into small ''adults'' who still resemble children, which can be rather disturbing for audiences).

Probably one of Hollywood's biggest AcceptableTargets, the Former Child Star is a celebrity whose career was at its peak in their formative years. Alas, such an unorthodox childhood can leave its mark on anyone (especially if they were NotAllowedToGrowUp), and it always does in fictional depictions of the Former Child Star. In adulthood, they may be a struggling actor who finds it hard to be taken seriously when everyone remembers them as "[[IAmNotSpock that one kid from that one show]]," if they're remembered at all.

It doesn't help that puberty is a fickle beast and there is no guarantee that a cute and adorable kid will have Hollywood looks as an adult. Creator/EmmaWatson and Creator/DanielRadcliffe may have matured nicely since their ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' days, but there are countless others whose adolescent years weren't nearly as kind, making it that much harder to find acting work as adults.

* One of the recurring themes in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' is that this ends up happening to ''all'' "Boy Adventurers" when they grow up. WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest himself, for example, is now a paranoid junkie. Rusty also attends a therapy session that features a ComicBook/{{Robin}} like former sidekick with an eating disorder, an Manga/AstroBoy-looking robot with anger management problems, and two ''Literature/TheHardyBoys''-like former boy detectives who almost certainly killed their father. The whole experience actually leads Rusty to realize that by the standards of his peers he made out pretty good.