These Childhood Stars Took on Different Jobs After They Stopped Appearing on the Big Screen

Child stars often find it difficult to take the trajectory of their young careers into a successful direction as adults. For some, they never left the business, like Ke Huy Quan, until they could land a big role that would make them a hot commodity again. For others, grappling with early success guided by their parents, directors, and producers, made landing roles as a grown-up a difficult obstacle to overcome.

And then there are those who simply decided that they wanted to take their lives in a different direction. Here are some child stars who went on to take "normal" jobs.

Lloyd (born Daniel Edward Sidney Lloyd) was selected by Kubrick for The Shining to play Danny Torrance at 6 years old. He was selected for his ability to be focused for extended periods of time. During an interview with The Guardian, he said that he remembers his time on set "fondly." He would go on to act in a TV film, Will: G. Gordon Liddy, in 1982, and then retire from acting.

Lloyd went on to become a professor at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in Elizabethtown, Ky. Although he made a cameo in 2019's Doctor Sleep as a spectator at a baseball game at Mike Flanagan's request.

Charlie was featured in a slew of high-profile films as a young actor: Hook, Dick Tracy, What About Bob?, and Can't Hardly Wait, years later. While he has acted recently in 2024's A Different Man, he went on to study law. Currently, he's an "Assistant Professor of Law and the U.S. director of the Canada-U.S. Law Institute at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law," as per his IMDb page. He's been interviewed by the Chambers Associate for his transition to legal work.

James Cameron cast Henn when she was 10 years old in the sequel to his space horror masterpiece. Her work earned her a Saturn Award for "Best Performance by a Younger Actress." In an interview with the Daily Star, Henn explained that her dream was always to become a teacher, as much as she enjoyed her experience on set filming Aliens.

The outlet writes that she's currently a teacher at Shaffer Elementary in Atwater, Calif.

If you watched TV in the late '80s and early '90s, there's a good chance you were hooked on The Wonder Years. The series had a lot of memorable characters, and Saviano's portrayal of Paul Pfeiffer, Kevin Arnold's best friend, was one of them. He was featured in 114 episodes of the show across its 6 seasons. Between 2014 and 2016, he acted again in three episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but he stepped away from acting as his primary vocation.

He majored in Political Science at Yale and secured a position as a paralegal in NYC. He'd then earn a JD at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University before joining Morrison Cohen LLP as senior counsel in 2011. In 2015, he left the firm to start his own businesses: JDS Legal and Act 3 Advisors, a celebrity brand consulting endeavor.

Disney Channel viewers will probably remember Ashlie's role as cheerleader Kate Sanders in the Lizzie McGuire TV show and 2003 movie. She ultimately opted not to stay in acting, but, like Saviano, she pursued a legal career. After attending the University of Denver and earning her JD, she became a criminal defense attorney in Southern California.

The youngest of the Tanner children in the wildly popular '90s sitcom, Home Improvement, Taran decided to leave acting after the series officially wrapped. Today, he owns and operates a non-dairy cheese business and restaurant, Playfood Inc., after gaining control of his $1.5 million trust from the series.

Oliver had a massive career as an '80s child actor. He played Bastian in The NeverEnding Story, worked with Tim Burton on the Frankenweenie short film, was in The Secret Garden, Cocoon, its sequel, and the '80s TV series reboot of The Twilight Zone.

After Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills was released in 1989, Oliver's acting resume stops. He'd then become a photographer and printer. He published A History of the Woodburytype later in 2007, which you can purchase on Amazon. But it seems that supplies are limited, as the website is selling the book for $135.00.

Jennifer's probably most widely recognized for her role as Harper Finkle in Wizards, but was featured in a slew of other Disney Channel releases, like The Wizards Return TV movie, the Mean Girls 2 TV movie, and the lead in Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars.

She had a role in a 2005 episode of House, and her lost role was in the 2019 film Santa Girl as Cassie Claus. She went on to go to school for nursing, and in addition to having an impressive acting resume, she now works as a registered nurse in Burbank at the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center.

David's largely known for his roles in The Ring and The Ring Two, but his IMDB page reveals a bunch of other high-budget projects he's been a part of. He played Jedidiah in the horrifying 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake starring Jessica Biel, and he shared the screen with Owen Wilson in Drillbit Taylor. He was featured in three episodes of the TV show Joan of Arcadia and was even in an episode of Ally McBeal in 2001.

At 13 years old, Dorfman went to UCLA and would later get accepted into Harvard Law School. He managed to become one of the school's youngest graduates. He'd go on to work for the US House of Representatives, and serves as the Legislative Director/General Counsel to the Energy & Commerce Committee's Vice Chair and Homeland Security Committee's Cybersecurity Subcommittee Emeritus Chair.

Two and a Half Men was immensely popular, helping the series core cast of Charlie Sheen, John Cryer, and Angus T. Jones become some of the highest-paid sitcom stars of all time. After the show ended, Angus attended the University of Colorado at Boulder.

He'd go on to play himself in an episode of Bookie in 2023, but hasn't acted after that. After his time at Boulder, he spent time overseeing operations at TONITE, which was a Los Angeles-based event planning company. He can also be booked for speaking engagement events.

As a '90s child actor Bagley was in one of the decade's most successful movies and TV shows: Independence Day and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. After the release of the Will Smith sci-fi action flick, he'd go on to have a few more roles, but he shifted his career away from acting (his last role was in 2015) and is now a realtor and DJ.

If you were a casting director in the '90s and needed a sweet kid for your flicks, Mara Wilson was on a short list of child actors you'd bring in. And she had a tremendous career nabbing lead roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street, and Matilda. Mara still acts; she was a voice actor in Big Hero 6: The Series and voiced Jane in the VAM PD podcast, along with playing the Quail Mother for four episodes of BoJack Horseman.

In 2016, she played a waitress in Broad City and wrote a book published through Penguin about her experiences as a child actor. In it, she discussed the difficulties in growing up as a child actor and the difficulties in finding work as an adult. Her 2016 title, Where Am I Now: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, received a bunch of rave reviews.

Jeff's best known for his role in The Goonies as Chunk, who ruled every single time he was on screen. After meeting on set for the film, he stayed friends with Ke Huy Quan, who even referenced Cohen in his Oscars acceptance speech for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Cohen's last film role was in the TV movie Perfect Harmony in 1991, and afterwards he'd pursue a successful career in law. He founded the firm Cohen & Gardner, and represented Quan for the movie, helping the actor negotiate his deal for the Academy Award winning flick.

Temple was arguably the biggest child star in Hollywood history. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, she was featured in a slew of films, oftentimes starring in multiple motion pictures in the same year. But as an adult, she didn't have the same type of success.

The actor would go on to publish a memoir as an adult and was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. Her tenure in politics would continue when she was made the U.S. Chief of Protocol, as well.