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Leonardo DiCaprio -

Since the Hollywood heartthrob had his big break in the 1993 film 'What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,' his rise has been unstoppable.

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Leonardo DiCaprio -

The remarkably talented actor has had a number of major roles. In 2021 he starred alongside Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Cate Blanchett in 'Don't Look Up'.

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Emma Watson -

Best known for playing Hermione Granger in the 'Harry Potter' films, it would have been easy for the English actress to bask in the royalties made from the franchise. 

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Emma Watson -

Since the final film, however, she has refused to rest on her laurels and has starred in a number of successful films such as 'The Beauty and the Beast'.

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Natalie Portman -

The American-Israeli actress had her film debut at just 12 years old with her role in the action drama film ‘Léon: The Professional.’

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Natalie Portman -

Since then her career has gone from strength to strength, and she has starred in a number of hit films as well as dabbled in directing.

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Scarlett Johansson -

The ‘Lost in Translation’ actress had her first major film role as a 12-year-old in ‘Manny & Lo,’ and since then her rise has been unstoppable.

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Scarlett Johansson -

She has had roles in a number of wildly successful films and is regularly featured in lists of the world’s highest-paid actresses.

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Christian Bale -

The English actor is best known for playing Batman in the Christopher Nolan trilogy, but he actually started out when he was just 13 in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Empire of the Sun.’

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Christian Bale -

Since his debut, he has built up an impressive acting portfolio and has amassed a number of awards, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globes.

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Drew Barrymore -

Despite a high-profile struggle with substance abuse, the child star of 'E.T.' has forged a very successful film career.

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Drew Barrymore -

She kicked her drug habit quickly and went on to star in a number of films before foraying into production.

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Peter Billingsley -

Having started on the screen at the tender age of two, the actor is best known for his pre-teen role as Ralphie Parker in ‘A Christmas Story.’

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Peter Billingsley -

Despite the royalties from his film debut, teenage Billingsley stayed focused on his work and had a successful acting career as an adult before venturing into production.

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Elizabeth Taylor -

Best known for playing the protagonist in ‘Cleopatra,’ the most expensive film ever made at the time, Liz Taylor had her screen debut at just nine years old in the movie ‘There's One Born Every Minute.’

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Elizabeth Taylor - Despite relentless media attention, she went on to become one of the most famous and highly respected actresses the world has ever seen.

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Justin Timberlake -

Now best-known for his career in pop music, JT, like many other child stars, had his start on 'The Mickey Mouse Club' when he was just 12 years old.

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Justin Timberlake -

Clearly his early career set the ball rolling because just two years later NSYNC was formed and that gave Timberlake the springboard he needed to forge a career as a solo artist and actor.

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Fred Savage -

The lovable actor had his screen debut at the age of nine, and just three years later landed his career-defining role as Kevin Arnold in ‘The Wonder Years.’

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Fred Savage -

He successfully continued his acting career into adulthood and even starred as himself in 'Once Upon a Deadpool', a kid-friendly version of 'Deadpool 2' in 2018.

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Jenny Lewis -

Although she is now better known for her career as a singer-songwriter, the star had her big break in film, appearing in films such as ‘Troop Beverly Hills’ (1989) and ‘The Wizard’ (1989).

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Jenny Lewis -

Since semi-retiring from acting in the mid-1990s, Lewis has made a great success of her music career and has released five solo albums.

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Ron Howard -

At just five years old, Ron Howard was cast in the role that would make him famous: Opie Taylor in ‘The Andy Griffin Show.’

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Ron Howard -

He then went on to have a very prolific career and has starred in and directed a huge number of films and TV shows.

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Ariel Winter -

Now best known for playing Alex Dunphy in the hit TV comedy show ‘Modern Family,’ Winter had her on-screen debut in a Cool Whip commercial at just four years old.

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Ariel Winter -

Despite her hefty net worth, the actress keeps her feet on the ground. In the fall of 2017, she began studying law at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but in 2018 she stopped studying to be focused on her career again.

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Elijah Wood -

Young Elijah Wood appeared in a number of films during the '90s before he was cast in the career-defining role of Frodo Baggins in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy.

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Elijah Wood -

He is not riding on the success of the trilogy: he has subsequently appeared in a wide range of films, and in 2010 founded his own production company, Spectrevision.

See also: Hollywood's most iconic child stars, then and now.

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