Child actor
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The term child actor is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion the latter is also called a former child actor.
Due to child labor laws, children acting in films are restricted to doing limited hours of work per day. The things they can do on-screen are also limited, and often body doubles are used as children can not film certain scenes (for example, overtly sexual scenes). Despite this, many children play disturbed characters and have to repeat terrible lines; Dakota Fanning, at the age of 9, had lines about how her character's mother had committed suicide by slitting her wrists in the bath. In his autobiography, Please Don't Shoot My Dog, published in 1981, Jackie Cooper told of director Norman Taurog's threat to shoot young Jackie's dog if he couldn't cry in the 1931 film Skippy.
Child actors must also attend school; they usually have a private tutor who teaches them on the film set. Often they are home-schooled when they are not filming, leading to criticism that they do not have 'normal' childhoods.
Using children in motion pictures has been widely criticised as exploitation, particularly as many children never get to see the money they earn. Jackie Coogan became a millionaire while still a child, but as all his money was used by his parents, Acts have been passed since that make sure trust funds are set up for the children and they get at least 15% of what they earned. However, many child actors still pay for their own travel, presents, clothes and education.
The parents of child actors are also often criticised for allowing their children to work. Stage mothers (or stage fathers) is a term that applies to those who force their children to act. Such parents are particularly keen for their child to receive fame and success and will do almost anything to make sure this happens. Yet not all parents are stage parents; often the children themselves are keen on acting from a very early age and the parents are merely allowing the children to do their favourite hobby.
Closely associated is teen actor, an actor who reached popularity as a teenager.
Examples
(movies they appeared in are mentioned only if they were still a child):
- Liam Aiken (born 1990)
- Stepmom (1998)
- I Dreamed of Africa (2000)
- Road to Perdition (2002)
- Good Boy! (2003)
- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
- Kristen Alderson (born 1991)
- One Life to Live (1998-)
- Drew Barrymore (born 1975)
- Altered States (1980)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Firestarter (1984)
- Jimmy Bennett (born 1996)
- Hostage (2005)
- The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
- Daddy Day Care (2003)
- Thora Birch (born 1982)
- Patriot Games (1992)
- Hocus Pocus (1993)
- Clear and Present Danger (1994)
- American Beauty (1999)
- Mindy Cohn (born 1966)
- The Facts of Life (1979-1988)
- Gary Coleman (born 1968)
- Diff'rent Strokes (1978–86)
- Jackie Coogan (born 1914)
- The Kid (Charlie Chaplin film) (1921)
- Addams Family (Fester) (1964–66)
- Macaulay Culkin (born 1980)
- Home Alone (1990)
- Home Alone 2 (1992)
- The Good Son (1993)
- Richie Rich (1994)
- Rory Culkin (born 1989)
- You Can Count on Me (2000)
- Igby Goes Down (2002)
- Signs (2002)
- Mean Creek (2004)
- Leonardo DiCaprio (born 1974)
- Growing Pains (1991)
- This Boy's Life (1993)
- What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
- Dakota Fanning (born 1994)
- I Am Sam (2001)
- Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
- Stephen Spielberg's Taken (2002)
- The Cat in The Hat (2003)
- Man on Fire (2004)
- Hide and Seek (2005)
- War of the Worlds (2005)
- Elle Fanning (born 1998)
- I am Sam (2001)
- Daddy Day Care (2003)
- The Door in the Floor (2004)
- Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)
- Kim Fields (born 1969)
- The Facts of Life (1979-1988)
- Michael Fishman (born 1981)
- Roseanne (1988-1997)
- Jodie Foster (born 1962)
- Freaky Friday (1975)
- The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
- Taxi Driver (1976)
- Soleil Moon Frye (born 1976)
- Punky Brewster (1984-1986, 1987-1988)
- Tyler Hoechlin (born 1987)
- Road to Perdition (2002)
- Darla Hood (1931–1979)
- Our Gang (1935–1941)
- Ron Howard (born 1954)
- The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968)
- The Music Man (1962)
- The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)
- Ivan Jandl (1937-1987)
- The Search (1948)
- Anissa Jones (1958-1976)
- Family Affair (1966–71)
- Mark Lester (born 1958)
- Oliver! (1968)
- Emmanuel Lewis (born 1971)
- Roddy McDowall (1928-1998)
- How Green Was My Valley (1940)
- White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
- Nancy McKeon (born 1966)
- The Facts of Life (1979-1988)
- Kristy McNichol (born 1962)
- Family (1976-1980)
- Little Darlings (1980)
- Pat Mastroianni (born 1971)
- Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High (1986–91)
- Sal Mineo (born 1939)
- Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
- Giant (1956)
- Danny de Munk (born 1970)
- Ciske de Rat (1984)
- The Olsen Twins (born 1986)
- Full House (1987-1995)
- The Little Rascals (1994)
- It Takes Two (1995)
- Heather O'Rourke (1975–88)
- Poltergeist series (1982–88)
- Emily Osment (born 1992)
- Haley Joel Osment (born 1988)
- The Sixth Sense (1999)
- Pay It Forward (2000)
- AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
- Secondhand Lions (2003)
- Peter Ostrum (born 1957)
- Dana Plato (1964-1999)
- Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1985)
- Ke Huy Quan (born 1971)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- The Goonies (1985)
- Daniel Radcliffe (born 1989)
- Harry Potter series (2001–)
- Brad Renfro (born 1982)
- The Client (1994)
- The Cure (1995)
- Sleepers (1996)
- Christina Ricci (born 1980)
- Addams Family series (1991, 1993)
- Ricky Schroder (born 1970)
- The Champ (1979)
- Silver Spoons (1982-1987)
- Brooke Shields (born 1965)
- Pretty Baby (1978)
- The Blue Lagoon (1980)
- Jeremy Sumpter (born 1989)
- Peter Pan (2003)
- Erik Per Sullivan (born 1991)
- Carl Switzer (1927–1959)
- Our Gang (1935–1940)
- Jake Thomas (born 1990)
- The Cell (2000)
- AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
- Lizzie McGuire show (2001-03) and movie (2003)
- Emma Watson (born 1990)
- Harry Potter series (2001–)
- Lisa Whelchel (born 1963)
- The Facts of Life (1979-1988)
- Jack Wild (born 1952)
- Oliver! (1968)
- H. R. Pufnstuf (1969)
- Pufnstuf (1970)
- Loretta Young (1913–2000)
- The Primrose Ring (1917)
- Sirens of the Sea (1917)
- Danny Bonaduce
For estimating the age at the time of shooting, note that above the years of release are given.
The term "child actor" carries some stigma as child actors sometimes have troubled adult lives, due in part to their unusual upbringings. A well-known example of this is the child cast of the 1980s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. Child members of that cast grew into adults who had several run-ins with the law, and one member died of a drug overdose.
On the other hand, there are child actors who had successful careers (both acting and non-acting) in adulthood like Roddy McDowall, Tommy Rettig, Bill Mumy and Jodie Foster.