10 Hollywood icons you never knew were child stars

It’s never easy making the leap from preteen cutie to fully fledged, all-growns-up movie star. Just ask ‘Matilda’’s Mara Wilson, who has written fulsomely on her struggles as an adult actor, or ‘War of the Worlds’’ Dakota Fanning, who said this week that success as a child star made it harder for her to get adult roles.

“It’s definitely not as easy of a road when you start out younger because people do develop a lot of preconceived notions about who you are,” the 22-year-old actor, who has two films at the current Toronto film festival, told the Press Association. “That’s just frustrating in life in general when people assume things about you without knowing the truth.”

But for every ten twinkle-eyed tykes that fall by the wayside, there are one or two who graduate to the Hollywood A-list and end up lunching with Steven Spielberg. Here are 10 stars you might not have realised were lighting up our screens long before they hit fame.