16 Former Child Actors Who Made it to Adulthood Without Imploding

Christina Applegate made her screen debut at the age of 10 in a little flick known as Jaws of Satan, and at 13, she played the young Grace Kelly in a biopic simply titled Grace Kelly; but it was Married... With Children, which she began working on when she was 16, that made her a household name. In her adult years, she had a memorable turn in Anchorman, she starred in a revival of the musical Sweet Charity on Broadway, and she helmed the television series Samantha Who? for two years. Not too shabby!

Most of us got to know Anthony Michael Hall when he was a teenager through the John Hughes-directed classics Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. True, he didn't escape his child actor years unscathed-- he ended up taking a few years off in the late '80s and early '90s to battle an alcohol problem-- but by 1992, he'd cleaned up and has continued to work steadily ever since. As an adult, he's best known for The Dead Zone, a television show based off of the Stephen King novel of the same name that ran from 2002 to 2007.

Hey, guess what? Mad Men's Peggy Olson was a child actress once upon a time! Elisabeth Moss started working at the age of 8 in a television movie called Bar Girls, and for several years in the early '90s, she had a recurring role on Picket Fences. Then, as a teenager, she took on the role of First Daughter Zoey Bartlet in The West Wing; and the rest, as they say, is history.

One of the most likeable people in Hollywood, Jeff Bridges onscreen appearance at the tender age of four months. The role--Jane Greer's infant son in The Company She Keeps-- would be the first of a career spanning 60 years and counting. No that's what I call longevity!

It's amazing what a turn as a preteen prostitute will do for your career! Jodie Foster first made waves in 1976's Taxi Driver, for which she received a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars when she was 14. These days, she dabbling in directing as well; she's the brain behind the camera in the Mel Gibson-with-a-puppet film The Beaver.

I don't think I need to tell anyone that Doogie Howser grew up good.

Who else first developed a lifelong crush on JGL in the mid-'90s circa 3rd Rock from the Sun? He was a teenager by then, but at that point, he already had an impressive resume under his belt, including a stint in the 1991 revival of Dark Shadows. I think it was sometime around 2006-- the first time I saw Brick-- that I fell for him all over again. Anyone else with me here?

Tina Majorino has always flown a little under the radar, but she worked quite frequently from the age of 7 until she was 14 (including, unfortunately, the 1995 flop Waterworld). She made a comeback in Napoleon Dynamite five years later, when she was 19, and went on to have regular roles in Veronica Mars and Big Love.

Christina Ricci battled some demons of her own in the form of anorexia in her teen years, but eventually, Wednesday Addams grew up and started taking on a series of challenging adult roles, including a turn in the controversial Black Snake Moan. She's also a spokesperson for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a group which aids victims of those crimes.

Sean Astin is from a showbiz family, so naturally, he got his start early. It was definitely The Goonies, though, which he shot at the age of 14, that put him on the map. P.S. I still think he deserved an Oscar for The Lord of the Rings.

Leo's a familiar tale-- What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Marvin's Room, etc. on up to Titanic-- but I kind of love the fact that he took some time off to get away from the teenage heartthrob image. He's picked some wise projects in recent years, including Catch Me If You Can, The Departed, and of course Inception-- which have established him firmly as a legit actor. Good going.

At 13, Nick Stahl starred in The Man Without a Face alongside Mel Gibson. Like a number of the actors in this gallery, he's also known for choosing off-the-beaten-path projects over mainstream ones; yes, he's got '90s teen thriller Disturbing Behavior and Terminater 3 on his resume, but he's also got things like Carnivale and Sin City on there.

I'll confess that I think Elijah Wood's work was better when he was younger-- he took everyone by complete surprise in The Adventures of Huck Finn-- but I ahve a great deal of respect for the projects he's chosen over the years. He began shooting The Lord of the Rings at a mere 17 years old, and after that, he picked his projects carefully so as not to get typecast: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sin City, and stand out as some particularly daring choices. Next up, he's in a television show in which he sees his neighbor's dog as a man. Interesting.

Though Macaulay was undoubtedly the better-known Culkin brother in the '90s, Kieran worked steadily as well, and as a teenager gave some terrific performances in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys and Igby Goes Down. He's continued to choose quirky, off-beat films over more mainstream ones over the years; he's delightful as Wallace Wells, Scott Pilgrim's (Michael Cera) "cool gay roommate" in last year's Scott Pilgrim Versus the World.

Little Jason Bateman got his start in Little House on the Prairie in his early teens. Though he struggled with drug use throughout the '90s, he got through his problems, going on to become a major star through Arrested Development. He's one of those actors who's always good, no matter what the project, so he's always worth watching!

I will freely admit that during the days of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I wanted to punch Wesley Crusher in the face. However, I don't want to punch Wil Wheaton in the face, because he's just grown up so nicely. He's been making appearances in Eureka, Leverage, and The Guild, and he writes an amusing blog; he's also got a great-sounding family, which he writes about frequently. Awww.