Yahoo Lifestyle 16 Celebrities You Probably Didn't Know Were Child Stars
Before she became a hit pop star, Olivia Rodrigo played Paige in Bizaardvark and was on the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
You may know her from Pitch Perfect 2, but Hailee made her acting debut in True Grit when she was 13 years old.
Before she rose to fame for her performance in High School Musical, the actor guest-starred on two different CBS shows — Still Standing and Robbery Homicide Division — when she was 14 years old. Shortly after, she played the character of Noel in Thirteen, pictured below.
4.Ke Huy Quan
Most people know him as the Oscar-winning actor from Everything Everywhere All at Once, but Ke Huy Quan has been acting professionally since he was 12. He played Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data in The Goonies.
5.Karan Brar
The actor is best known for his role on Disney's Jessie, but some may not have realized he acted as Chirag Gupta in Diary of a Wimpy Kid when he was 11 years old.
6.Anna Cathcart
The actor is best known for her role in To All the Boys I've Loved Before, but Anna made her acting debut when she was 8 years old, after appearing in commercials for Campbell's and Crayola. She also starred in the PBS Kids series, Odd Squad.
7.Shay Mitchell
Most people will know her for her role in Pretty Little Liars or more recently, You, but Shay actually made her TV debut on Degrassi: The Next Generation. The actor also appeared in the Disney XD series Aaron Stone during the early days of her acting career.
8.Janel Parrish
Janel costarred with Shay in Pretty Little Liars, but before that, she made her on-screen debut as Jade in Bratz. However, she began acting way earlier and landed the role of Young Cosette in the US national tour of Les Misérables.
9.Hayley Kiyoko
She's known for her music and her work on Lemonade Mouth, but you may not have realized she also starred as Velma in Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins. Hayley also landed the role of an evil wizard, Stevie Nichols, on a few episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place.
10.Avan Jogia
True Nickelodeon fans will know him as Beck from Victorious, but Avan actually started out on a CW show called Aliens in America.
11.Tenzing Norgay Trainor
Tenzing was on Disney's Liv and Maddie before he became a voice actor on Abominable and played Gavin on Boo, Bitch.
12.Dev Patel
You may have just seen the actor's movie Monkey Man, or you might even know him from his breakout film Slumdog Millionaire. However, Dev starred in Skins when he was 17 years old.
13.Ian Chen
The actor's recent works include Shazam!, Wish Dragon, and A Dog's Journey, although Ian started out on the hit show Fresh Off the Boat.
14.Ryan Potter
The actor made his debut on Nickelodeon's Supah Ninjas and has since gone on to contribute to Big Hero 6, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, and Titans.
15.Booboo Stewart
Before Booboo was a werewolf in Twilight, he modeled and made an appearance in Yard Sale. He also guest-starred on ER and Everybody Hates Chris.
16.And finally, Brenda Song
Most people know her for her role as London Tipton, but Brenda got her start as a child model when she was just 6 years old. She was featured in commercials for Little Caesars Pizza and Barbie before going on to act in TV shows like Fudge and 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd.
Any other celebs you were surprised to find out are former child stars? LMK in the comments below!
What did you think of this article? Create your own emoji and post it in the comments!
