Child Stars - Then and Now

Oh the Monday Blues *dramatic sigh*

Right, let's get down to work, ladies and gentlemen; first entry of the week is always a tricky one. I was up almost all night jotting down ideas for this week's entries and ended up classifying them as either 'too age-inappropriate', 'too radical', 'too boring' or just plain 'weird' (don't get me wrong; blogging is fun, but not if you're plagued with writer's block).

OK, so starlets of the 80s/90s.

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1) Haley Joel Osment - Mr. Haley Joel "I-See-Dead-People" Osment is on the top of my list because truth be told, he made quite an impression as Cole Sear in The Sixth Sense. Fans would probably remember him in Forrest Gump (1994). Since then, his more known movies include Pay It Forward (2000) and Secondhand Lions (2003).

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2) Drew Barrymore - She was only 7 when she played the adorable Gertie in the movie E.T., and in 1984, she played Charlie McGee in Firestarter, which was based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. One of the most recognizable child stars of Hollywood, Barrymore went on to star in Poison Ivy (1992), Ever After (1998) and Charlie's Angels (2000).

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3) Edward Furlong - He played the young John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Daniel Vinyard in American History X (1998). Like most of the child stars of his time, he had a long battle with alcoholism and drug abuse; a string of lesser-known movies followed, and he was almost unrecognizable when he played baddie Shane Casey in multiple episodes of CSI: NY in 2006 and 2010.

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4) Lindsay Lohan - Although I don't really like the direction she's taken her life these days, I've decided that I shouldn't allow my personal feelings cloud my judgment. Honestly, though, her earlier movies are good, especially the remakes of The Parent Trap (1998) and Freaky Friday (2003). Between launching a clothing line, shoplifting, posting/skipping bail for and her rehab stints, she has signed on to play Kim Gotti, wife of NYC mobster John Gotti in Gotti: Three Generations alongside John Travolta, scheduled to start filming this year (2011).

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5) Christian Bale - Before he played the wealthy millionaire-playboy-in-a-batlike-costume Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) or the grown-up John Connor in Terminator Salvation (2009), he was Jim Graham in The Empire of the Sun (1987) and Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island (1990). His other noted movies include The Secret Agent (1996) and American Psycho (2000).

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6) Kirsten Dunst - She was only 12 when she played the vampiress Claudia alongside more well-known names like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire in 1994 (for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress). She also achieved international fame from her portrayal of Mary Jane Watson in the Spiderman trilogy (2002-2007) and Marie Antoinette (2006).

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7) Frankie Muniz - I simply adored him in Malcolm in the Middle (2000-2006). An actor, writer, musician, producer and racecar driver, Muniz also played the title role in the movie Agent Cody Banks (2003) and its sequel, which opened a year later. He was also in Stay Alive and guest-starred in an episode of Criminal Minds in 2007.

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8) Natalie Portman - Before she played a ballerina in Black Swan, Natalie Portman was an orphan taken in by a hitman in Leon (1994), Padme Amidala, mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the new Star Wars trilogy (1999-2005) and the tragic Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008).

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9) Macaulay Culkin - He's one of those child actors that, no matter how much stubble he tries to grow, still remains as baby-faced as always. He was only 10 when he played Kevin McCallister in Home Alone (1990) and its subsequent sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Fans would also remember him in Michael Jackson's Black or White video and in Kings (the 2009 TV series alongside Christopher Egan and Ian McShane, based on the biblical story of King Saul and David).

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10) Neil Patrick Harris - Dr. Doogie Howser himself *lecherous grin* He was only 16 when he won the lead on Doogie Howser, M.D., and since then he's gone on to star in How I Met Your Mother as Barney Stinton and the movie Beastly, playing the blind tutor Will Fratalli. Fans of Glee would also remember him as Bryan Ryan, a former McKinley High Glee Club member.