Transitioning into Adulthood Proves Difficult for Child Stars

Almost every child craves attention. But imagine being the center of everyone’s attention, not just parents or teachers, but the whole world. One simple mistake, one break from all the stress, and you are depicted as entitled and lashing out. 

This constant attention doesn’t feel like an infinite gift, but instead a curse. “[Britney Spears] was a child star; she probably didn’t have many resources. Everybody was pushing her into something she didn’t want to do.” Said junior Audrey Kim.

Attention might not even be what these children receive. A study by the Department of Psychology at Wayne State University reports parents of child performers, who were heavily involved in their children’s careers, tended to be “less caring and more over controlling.”

“I have complicated feelings about kids and fame and being in the public eye, or being a child actor. We’ve seen a lot of cases of it being detrimental,” said Zendaya when talking with Vogue for the May 2024 issue. “I think only now, as an adult, am I starting to go, Oh, okay, wait a minute: I’ve only ever done what I’ve known, and this is all I’ve known.” 

Being a child star limits the important experiences and maturity that come alongside childhood. “As a kid, I was really interested in pleasing other people,” Natalie Portman said when talking with Jenna Ortega for Interview Magazine for their spring 2025 issue. “And now, I’m very much into setting new challenges for myself, having new experiences for myself, and finding my own pleasure.”

For decades, children have been cast into Hollywood’s spotlight, only to disappear as they age. A few have grown in front of the audience's eyes and been accepted even as adults, such as Drew Barrymore or Dakota Fanning, but it’s immensely difficult to make the transition. Child stars tend to have child audiences and are solidified in most of their audiences’ brains as children due to their similarities in age. Younger audiences are going through a developmental time in their lives, and when they are older, they prefer to stick to the naive and romanticized view of life they held as a child. Because of this, stars tend to get stuck in the shadow of their previous roles.

“In some ways, a lot of their fans continue to pay attention to them, but I think a lot of it comes from a sense of nostalgia and not necessarily respecting them as an actor, whether they’re good or bad,” said freshman Flo Bianchi. 

Even if audiences can grow up with the stars, it’s not uncommon for stars to be dehumanized due to their lives being cast as “perfect” through the screens of social media and various media they star in, a barrier put in place between their lives and their audiences’ lives. “I think the audience wants to keep up with them, but (they also) wanna keep up with the drama and get carried away and forget that they’re people,” said freshman Alanija Correa.

Typecasting is a thing that’s been in Hollywood since its creation. It’s when an actor is repeatedly cast in the same type of role due to their personality or looks. Marilyn Monroe was always typecast as “the dumb blonde,” and Tom Cruise is often cast as an action star. Typecasting can depend on age as well.

Once audiences watch a child in a famous movie or show, it’s difficult for them to see the star as anything other than that little kid, similar to how unnatural it may appear for Macaulay Kulkin to play anything other than Kevin from “Home Alone” or Thomas from “My Girl” despite continuing to act now. His adult roles aren’t as popular, their prominence being limited by the roles he played as a child.

For his brother Kieran, not being a famous child allowed him to become a lot more successful as an adult. Audiences don’t remember Kieran as a child, since even though he acted, he wasn’t cast in any notable roles. Because of this, he wasn’t held back by the limitations of the roles he played when he was younger. Instead, he was able to be engraved into the audience's minds as an adult. Child stars who want to remain successful in the industry as they age typically have to reinvent themselves.

For women, this can mean expressing their sexuality in a more mature light, similar to how Miley Cyrus’s identity completely changed from the southern-belle-esque Disney Channel star to the provocative woman in the controversial “Wrecking Ball” video. This is the same case for Ariana Grande, who went from being a Nickelodeon star in “Victorious" and “Sam and Cat” to releasing her first album, “Yours Truly,” near the end of her Nickelodeon career.

The cover of “Yours Truly” directly juxtaposes her childish personality on TV, and even “Put Your Hearts Up”–her first single from 2011–since it presents her as more risqué and mature. “Put Your Hearts Up” had a much different concept than "Yours Truly,” with a light pink, cutesy cover. This concept, while fitting with her younger Nickelodeon audience, didn’t sell very well. Currently, it has 28 million streams on Spotify–5 million less than her least-streamed song on “Yours Truly.” As she continued to release music, Grande’s personality appeared quite mature. Not even a year after “Sam and Cat” finished, she released music such as “Side to Side" and “Dangerous Woman.” These songs, as well as many others, have rather explicit lyrics depicting sexual acts alongside suggestively shot music videos.

But some stars can make the transition without drastic changes. “One of the reasons she [Zendaya] was successful is that she has a strong sense of self. She doesn’t see herself as a Disney star. She had a sense of culture. I heard her speak here and there, and you don’t get the sense that she’s pretending to be a lot of things. It feels like she’s really down to Earth, and she’s not afraid to take risks,” said filmmaking teacher Peter Tamaribuchi.

Stars commonly face lots of hardships as child actors, such as poor working conditions and exploitation. Even though they already face a lot, the stress can get worse with the added pressure of the audience’s perception. "From the age of 16 months, I knew that my job was to entertain other people. That’s a mind thing in itself," said Raven-Symone in the “Child Star” documentary on Hulu. "Sometimes the parents’ dreams might bleed into the child’s, and you get so enmeshed. Parents forget that children, young kids, are performing for their parent. They're performing for their parents’ love and affection and their ‘good job.’ And yes, it’s a lot of money, it’s a lot of money. And money does crazy shit.”