It feels like just yesterday that Michelle Tanner was stealing hearts on Full House and the Disney Channel was overrun with bright young child stars on shows like Lizzie McGuire and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
While some of these pint-sized performers continued on in their acting careers as adults, others chose to follow new paths after saying goodbye to the iconic roles that made them stars. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have taken a step away from acting to create their own fashion line; former Boy Meets World darling Danielle Fishel has started a family; and Emmy winner Shia LaBeouf has sought out his passion of directing.
Even after they retired from acting, the Olsens continued working side by side. “We do everything together,” Ashley told WSJ Magazine in August 2018, with Mary-Kate adding: “We came out of the womb doing that.”
Growing up in the spotlight has, not surprisingly, taken its toll on a number of former child actors. LaBeouf, for example, admitted that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from his time as a young performer.
“I was trying to earn my father. I was trying to shake off Disney. I was trying to shake off blockbusters,” he said of his post-Even Stevens career during an October 2019 appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast. “And I was trying to work with people who f—ked with me.”
The actor attended court-ordered rehab in Connecticut following his 2017 arrest and discovered his condition. “It was the first time I’d been told I had PTSD,” he recalled. “I just thought I was an alcoholic, like, a true-blue drunk and I needed to deal with that. I knew it was an issue but didn’t know there was this extra whole other thing that was hindering my ability to have any peace in my life and my ability to deal with people.”
Over the years, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes have all experienced challenges as they’ve distanced themselves from their identities as child stars.
From Hilary Duff to the Olsen Twins, scroll through to see where some of Hollywood’s most famous kids are now!