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Film, TV and Streaming

No guarantees for child stars

The destiny of a child actor’s career is one that can never fully be predicted.

In film history, there are the successes: Elizabeth Taylor, Roddy McDowall, Natalie Wood, Drew Barrymore, Christian Bale, Kirsten Dunst and Jason Bateman, to name a few. But then there are the cautionary tales of Dana Plato, Lindsay Lohan, Shia LaBeouf and Edward Furlong. What factors into such different fates? Parenting? Unreasonable expiration dates in Hollywood relevancy? Entitled attitudes from fame? These are the questions movie fanatics ponder.

Currently in cinema, there are a few young actors who are on the cusp of crossing over to grown-up roles, like Saoirse Ronan from Joe Wright’s “Atonement” (2007), Elle Fanning from Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” (2010), Chloë Moretz from Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass” (2010); and a few who have already made it: Anton Yelchin of “Star Trek”, Josh Hutcherson of “The Hunger Games” and Tyler Hoechlin of “Teen Wolf.” The males and Moretz would show that franchises with strong followings can keep actors popular, as is also the case with former child actress Scarlett Johansson with her three Marvel appearances as Black Widow. But it can also flop unexpectedly, as was the case last year with Ronan’s “The Host.”

Fanning has Disney’s live-action “Maleficent” coming out this summer, but could also follow the same career path as fellow Coppola muse Dunst with a combination of blockbusters and indie hits. Then there are the child actors who leave behind movie making for normal, personal lives, such as Danny Lloyd from “The Shining” (1980) and Cary Guffey from “Close Encounters” (1977) as famous examples. This seems to be the plan Jack Gleeson of “Game of Thrones” is aiming for once the series ends, and has already happened with Hunter McCracken from Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” (2011). But McCracken’s onscreen younger brother, Tye Sheridan, is arguably the most talented and potential-laden 17-year-old in the business with just “Tree of Life,” “Mud” (2013) and “Joe” (2014) on his growing resume.

Another young actress who shouldn’t be forgotten is Quvenzhané Wallis, who became the youngest nominee in Oscar history to be nominated for Best Actress for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” in 2013. The 10-year-old also will star as the title character in the latest film adaptation of “Annie” next winter, and might be with us for a while.

Kids who grow up in the movie industry also have a tendency to try their hand at directing behind the scenes (i.e. Ron Howard, Jodie Foster and Sarah Polley), as they know the set of a movie like the back of their hands by adulthood. It’ll be interesting and fun to see who will be behind the camera, who will stay in front, who will choose obscurity and who will hopefully not get attached to anything illegal.

mbianco@durangoherald.com. Megan Bianco is a movie reviewer and also contributes other entertainment related features and articles. She is a graduate of Cal State University, Northridge where she studied film criticism and screenwriting.



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