There are plenty of child stars that help bring our favorite childhood shows to life. A lot of them don’t stop there, either. Many move on to continue their celebrity status in one way or another. Here, we’ll take a look at where some of your favorite child stars from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s are today!
Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet is an incredibly recognizable child star from the ’80s. In fact, she’s still a pretty recognizable face now, even decades later.
Back in the ’80s, you might have seen her on The Cosby Show or A Different World. Her personal life has made a lot of headlines since then, including her marriage to Lenny Kravitz back in the ’80s. More recently, she was in a relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Jason Momoa.
Danica McKellar
Danica McKellar was well-known for a few roles in the ’80s. This included appearances in The Twilight Zone and The Wonder Years. In more recent years, you can hear her work in appearances on Phineas and Ferb or Transformers: Rescue Bots.
More surprisingly, she’s worked hard alongside that to earn a Ph.D. in math! If you want to learn math with her, she’s also written Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape and Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who’s Boss.
Sean Astin
When it comes to some pieces of media, it’s hard to find an ’80s kid who wasn’t aware of them. Who could have missed The Goonies? One actor that made his first silver screen appearance there was Sean Astin, who played Mickey Walsh.
Of course, most people know his later work in Lord of the Rings as Samwise Gamgee. The rest of his career has varied in genre, ranging from voice acting on Sofia the First to appearing as a fan-favorite character in Stranger Things.
Emmanuel Lewis
If you were a fan of Webster anytime during its run from 1983 to 1989, you’ll quickly recognize Emmanuel Lewis as the main character.
The star has continued to act as well, although he hasn’t been seen on screen much since his 2013 appearance on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. A year later, he would appear on the podcast TV Guidance Counselor. In 2019, he briefly appeared in a music video done by Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz.
Joey Lawrence
Joey Lawrence had his first roles in the ’80s when he was still quite young. You might have seen him on Blossom or Gimme a Break! back then.
If you want a more recent sitcom with a grown-up Joey Lawrence, you can try out Melissa & Joey with none other than Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame. You can see some of his reality TV work on Cupcake Wars and Celebrity Big Brother.
Melissa Joan Hart
Speaking of Melissa Joan Hart — she’s another child star that’s still busy in show business. Other than Sabrina the Teenage Witch, she also starred in Clarissa Explains it All.
We’ve already covered how she was in Melissa & Joey, but what else has the star been up to since then? Well, she’s acted in some children’s roles recently, including The Loud House. She also tried her hand at Dancing With the Stars, making it through six weeks of the competition.
Fred Savage
Back when Fred Savage was a child star, there were a number of roles that you may have caught him in. He’s another Wonder Years alum, for one.
He also had roles in both Little Monsters and the famous film The Princess Bride. By the ’90s, you could catch him in Working. If you want something even more recent, he starred in The Grinder with Rob Lowe.
Lukas Haas
Early on in his career, you could catch child star Lukas Haas in the 1980s titles Testament and Witness. His career continued beyond that too. He’s been in a few roles that most people recognize.
He’s appeared with Leonardo DiCaprio twice, in Inception and again, five years later in 2015, for The Revenant. More recently, you can see him in Widows as well as First Man. These are only a few films in an expansive filmography.
