Summary

• Some of the biggest names in Hollywood, like Leonardo DiCaprio and Natalie Portman, started their careers as child actors before becoming A-list movie stars and winning Oscars.
• Jodie Foster, Helen Hunt, Jennifer Connelly, Reese Witherspoon, Jeff Bridges, and Brie Larson also began their careers as child actors and went on to have successful Hollywood careers as adults.
• Former child stars DiCaprio, Portman, Foster, and Ryan Gosling are among the predicted nominees for the 2024 Oscars, highlighting their continued success in the industry.

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood began their careers as child actors before growing up and becoming A-list movie stars, some of them even Oscar winners. It's not uncommon for child stars to leave the acting business once they get older, but many continue to work into adulthood. Some of these child stars go on to have huge Hollywood careers, whether they're box office draws or acclaimed, award-caliber performers, or both. A few of these famous actors were already well-known child stars in their day, but for others, it's not common knowledge that they started acting in their youth.

Some of the youngest actors to win an Oscar were still child stars when they won, like Anna Paquin, but most young performers in Hollywood only go on to win an Oscar once they become an adult.

10 Jodie Foster

Won the Oscar for Best Actress for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs

Becoming one of the youngest Oscar nominees ever, Jodie Foster was just 14 when she was first recognized by the Academy. She was nominated in the Best ing Actress category in 1976 for her breakout role in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver. Before that, Foster had been working since age two. She appeared in commercials before venturing into TV at age seven in such shows as Mayberry R.F.D., The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and Paper Moon. In 1972, she made her film debut in Disney's Napoleon and Samantha before starring in such movies as Freaky Friday and Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

Foster's second Oscar nomination came in 1989. She was nominated for Best Actress for her lead role as a sexual assault survivor in The Accused, earning the former child star her first Oscar win. She won her second Oscar for Best Actress three years later for her portrayal of Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs. Three more years later, she was nominated for her fourth Oscar, again for Best Actress, for her performance as the title character in Nell, but this time she lost. Her fifth nomination could potentially come in 2024 for her ing performance in the sports biopic Nyad​​​​​​.

9 Helen Hunt

Won the Oscar for Best Actress for As Good As It Gets

Helen Hunt got her start as a child actor in the '70s, starring in TV movies like Pioneer Woman, All Together Now, and Death Scream and landing a regular role on the series Swiss Family Robinson. She also appeared on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bionic Woman and in the film Rollercoaster. She continued acting as an adult and eventually received her first Oscar nomination and won in 1998, taking home the Best Actress award for her performance as waitress Carol Connelly in As Good as It Gets. In 2013, she was nominated for Best ing Actress for her portrayal of sex surrogate Cheryl Cohen-Greene in The Sessions.

8 Jennifer Connelly

Won the Oscar for Best ing Actress for A Beautiful Mind

Jennifer Connelly was a child model before she began her acting career at 11 years old in the TV series Tales of the Unexpected in 1982. She made her film debut in Once Upon a Time in America in 1984, before starring in the movies Phenomena, Seven Minutes in Heaven, and Jim Henson's Labyrinth. In 2002, Connelly received her first and only Oscar nomination. She won the award for Best ing Actress for her portrayal of Alicia Nash in the mathematician biopic A Beautiful Mind.

7 Reese Witherspoon

Won the Oscar for Best Actress for Walk the Line

Reese Witherspoon made her acting debut around age 15 in the 1991 film The Man in the Moon. That same year, she starred in the TV movie Wildflower, followed by Desperate Choices: To Save My Child in 1992. The next year, she starred in the films A Far Off Place and Jack the Bear and the miniseries Return to Lonesome Dove. Witherspoon continued acting into adulthood and became a first-time Oscar nominee and winner in 2006 for her lead performance as country singer June Carter Cash in the music biopic Walk the Line. She was nominated again for Best Actress in 2015 for Wild but lost.

6 Jeff Bridges

Won the Oscar for Best Actor for Crazy Heart

Before his seven Oscar nominations, Jeff Bridges was a child actor in the '50s and '60s. He came from a prominent acting family and appeared alongside his father, Lloyd Bridges, in the TV series Sea Hunt, The Lloyd Bridges Show, and The Loner. By the time he won his first Oscar in 2010, he had already been nominated four times. Three were in the Best ing Actor category, with The Last Picture Show in 1972, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot in 1975, and The Contender in 2001. His only prior Best Actor nomination was for his performance in Starman in 1985.

Jeff Bridges finally won an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as washed-up country singer Otis "Bad" Blake in Crazy Heart. He then received his sixth Oscar nomination the following year for Best Actor for the Coen brothers' True Grit remake, while his seventh nomination was for Best ing Actor for Hell or High Water in 2017, which tied him for the most appearances in that category ever.

5 Natalie Portman

Won the Oscar for Best Actress for Black Swan

Natalie Portman was a well-known and successful child actor long before she became an Oscar winner. She made her acting debut at age 12 in her breakout role as Mathilda in Léon the Professional in 1994. As a teen, she co-starred in the films Heat, Everyone Says I Love You, Mars Attacks!, and Beautiful Girls. Her next big role was playing Pé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which premiered right before her 18th birthday in 1999.

Portman continued to star in the rest of the Star Wars prequel trilogy before receiving her first Oscar nomination in 2005. She was nominated for Best ing Actress for her role in Closer. Portman was nominated again six years later, this time for Best Actress for her lead role as a troubled ballet dancer in Black Swan, which earned the former child star her first and only Oscar win. Portman's third Oscar nomination was in 2017, for Best ing Actress for playing the titular First Lady in Jackie. She is expected to receive her fourth nomination in 2024 for her lead performance in May December.

4 Christian Bale

Won the Oscar for Best ing Actor for The Fighter

Christian Bale started as a child actor in the '80s, starring in the miniseries Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna in 1986 and Heart of the Country in 1987. He also starred in the film Mio in the Land of Faraway in 1987 before landing his breakout role at age 13 that same year, when he beat out 4,000 other boys to star in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. From there, Bale starred in the films Henry V, Treasure Island, A Murder of Quality, and Newsies. He continued to act rigorously as a young adult throughout the '90s.

Bale was a first-time nominee when he won his first and only Oscar in 2011 for Best ing Actor for his role as boxer Dicky Eklund in The Fighter. He was nominated three more times after that: once more for Best ing Actor in 2016 for The Big Short, and twice for Best Actor, in 2014 for American Hustle and 2019 for his portrayal of Dick Cheney in Vice.

3 Brie Larson

Won the Oscar for Best Actress for Room

Brie Larson started acting at the age of nine in the late '90s, playing guest roles in TV series like To Have & to Hold, Touched by an Angel, and Popular. In 2001, she landed her first major role as a series regular on Bob Saget's short-lived sitcom Raising Dad. As a teenager, Larson appeared in the movies 13 Going On 30, Sleepover, and Hoot while also briefly pursuing a music career. In 2016, Larson became a first-time Oscar nominee and winner for her performance as a kidnapping survivor in Room.

2 Leonardo DiCaprio

Won the Oscar for Best Actor for The Revenant

Other than a stint on Romper Room at five years old, DiCaprio started working as a child actor in 1989 on the TV series The New Lassie. He played bit parts on TV in 1990 before landing recurring roles on the series Parenthood and Growing Pains. In 1991, he made his film debut in Critters 3 and continued to star in movies, including 1992's Poison Ivy and This Boy's Life, the latter opposite Robert De Niro.

In 1994, DiCaprio received his first Oscar nomination at 19 for his ing role in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. He went on to receive nominations for Best Actor for The Aviator in 2005, Blood Diamond in 2007, and The Wolf of Wall Street in 2014, before finally winning for portraying frontiersman Hugh Glass in The Revenant in 2016. Four years later, he earned another Best Actor nomination, for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He lost that one to fellow former child star Joaquin Phoenix. In 2024, DiCaprio is likely to receive yet another Best Actor nomination, for his performance opposite Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon.

1 Joaquin Phoenix

Won the Oscar for Best Actor for Joker

In 1982, Joaquin Phoenix made his acting debut at eight years old, as Leaf Phoenix, in an episode of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, alongside his brother River. The two co-starred together again in an ABC Afterschool Special in 1984. Joaquin guest-starred in several other TV series, including Murder, She Wrote and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, before making his feature film debut at age 12 in SpaceCamp in 1986. As a teenager, he continued working in TV and starred in the movies Russkies and Parenthood. He took a break from acting before returning as an adult in 1995's To Die For.

By the time Phoenix won his first Oscar, he had already been nominated three times. He received his first nomination in 2001 for Best ing Actor for his role in Ridley Scott's Gladiator. He was then nominated for Best Actor in 2006 for Walk the Line, opposite fellow child star turned Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, and in 2013 for The Master, before winning for playing the titular DC Comics villain in Joker in 2020. Phoenix could potentially receive his fifth Oscar nomination in 2024 for his performance as the titular emperor in Ridley Scott's Napoleon​​​​​​.