10 Actors Who Broke The "Child Actor" Curse
Not all child actors wind up hanging themselves.
Since the age of four, Jonathan Brandis was in show business, modeling shoes for Buster Brown. By six, he was in soap operas and numerous television shows including L.A. Law, Blossom, Who's The Boss? and The Wonder Years. For the young, handsome actor, the sky was the limit.
Fourteen was arguably his biggest year, scoring the lead role in the fondly remembered Stephen King miniseries adaptation of It and co-starring with Chuck Norris in Sidekicks. Seventeen was equally big, landing a regular role on Seaquest DSV. He was rubbing elbows with Steven Spielberg, Chuck Norris at his most popular and even old Hollywood like Rodney Dangerfield.
Then things took a turn. Seaquest was canceled and he took to playing bit parts. It wasn't until 2002's Hart's War - a film he saw as an opportunity for a comeback - and his part was drastically cut that he was found hanging in the hallway of his apartment complex. He was all of 27.
There are countless stories about childhood fame gone awry, from Macauley Culkin's drug use, River Phoenix's overdose and the murder of Poltergeist's Dominique Dunne. There are, however, a few that sanely and safely made it to the other side. Here they are.
10. Anna Chlumsky
Upon release, My Girl was praised as a childhood romantic comedy that dealt with more mature themes than such works commonly deal with. Dan Aykroyd, as a loving but conflicted father trying to raise a girl alone, gives a truly lovely performance, but most of the attention went to the young Anna Chlumsky - the titular girl. Chlumsky was only 11 when she took the role, and played it all the way into a sequel before a mediocre child actor career throughout the late 90s followed by a hiatus.
It may well have been that hiatus that kept her going. She attended the University of Chicago and, after a chance meeting with Roberta Flack, was inspired to return to her first career. Since, she's been a supporting player in Armando Iannucci's In The Loop and Veep. Her B.A. in International Relations probably came in handy during improvising Iannucci's thickly layered work.
Today, she has six Emmy nominations for Veep.