Curated playlist

American child actresses

Britney SpearsBritney Spears sold the rights to her entire music catalogue for a reported $200 million. The buyer was the music publisher Primary Wave, and the BBC reported that the purchase closed on the 30th of December 2025. The price reflects a body…
Kristen StewartKristen Stewart is an American actress and filmmaker who says she was never the child who dreamed of fame. She was not, in her words, the "I want to be famous, I want to be an actor" kid. Still, one small habit of celebrity came to her…
Janet JacksonJanet Jackson was seen at the 1983 American Music Awards wearing a hoop earring with a key attached to it. She has worn variations of that earring in music videos and live shows ever since. The pair she wore between 1987 and 1990 is now on…
Elizabeth TaylorAfter Rock Hudson said he was dying of AIDS, Elizabeth Taylor helped found a research foundation in 1985.
Kirsten DunstKirsten Dunst was ten years old when she shared a screen kiss with Brad Pitt, an actor two decades her senior, and her verdict was blunt. "I thought it was gross, that Brad had cooties. I mean, I was 10," she recalled. Dunst, an American…
Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Paltrow won the lead in Emma with a perfect Texas accent. The director said it sold him.
Judy GarlandMGM fired Judy Garland in 1950, and Bing Crosby invited her onto his radio show. The audience gave her an ovation.
Fergie (singer)Fergie, born Stacy Ann Ferguson, sang on a song that held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 straight weeks in 2009. That song, "I Gotta Feeling," stayed at number one longer than any other song that year. By then her records had…
Natalie PortmanNatalie Portman turned down a $2,000,000 prize in 2018. She skipped the Genesis Prize ceremony, and it was canceled.
Mila KunisMila Kunis was seven years old when she started school in Los Angeles without knowing a word of English. She has described how fast it all happened. "We arrived in New York on a Wednesday and by Friday morning my brother and I were at…
Anna FarisAnna Faris, the American actress and comedian, spent part of her childhood imagining that her orthodontic retainer could talk to her. She pictured herself on talk shows, explaining that talking retainer to the host. Today her films as a…
Brie LarsonBrie Larson's 2005 album Finally Out of P.E. sold only 3,500 copies. She later won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Kristen BellKristen Bell's first audition came in 1992, for a suburban Detroit production of Raggedy Ann and Andy. She won two parts at once: a banana and a tree. Nobody could have guessed from that start where she would end up. Bell became an…
Angelina JolieAngelina Jolie has appeared in films that grossed more than $6.9 billion worldwide, and Hollywood has named her its highest-paid actress several times. As a teenager, though, she took at-home courses on embalming because she hoped to…
Sadie SinkSadie Sink was 14 years old when casting directors for Stranger Things decided she was too old for the part she wanted. She refused to let it end there. She begged and pleaded for more material to perform, and that stubbornness set the…
Claire DanesClaire Catherine Danes, born on the 12th of April 1979, is an American actress who holds three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world twice, in 2012…
Scarlett JohanssonAs a child, Scarlett Johansson practiced Judy Garland's emotions in a mirror until she cried.
Elle FanningElle Fanning was three years old when she first appeared on screen, playing a younger version of a character that belonged to her sister Dakota. It was a small job, and it defined how her career began. For her first few years, Elle was the…
Brandy NorwoodBrandy Rayana Norwood, known simply as Brandy, once held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks in a row. The song was "The Boy Is Mine," a duet with the singer Monica. It is still counted as the most successful song by a…
Hayden PanettiereHayden Panettiere was eleven months old when she first appeared on screen, in a 1990 advertisement for a Playskool toy train. That commercial was the start of a working life that now spans several decades. How does an infant in commercials…
Jennifer ConnellyJennifer Connelly was eleven years old when she walked into an audition for the director Sergio Leone and tried to pass as a ballerina. She had never taken a ballet lesson. She simply imitated what she imagined a dancer would do. Leone was…
ZendayaAt 24, Zendaya became the youngest person ever to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She took the prize at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2020, for her work in the HBO series Euphoria. Zendaya…
Miley CyrusMiley Cyrus was eight years old when she grabbed her father's arm in a Toronto theatre. In 2001 the family lived in Toronto while Billy Ray Cyrus filmed the television series Doc. He took her to see a Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! at…
Hilary DuffHilary Duff was a child actor cast in the pilot of the NBC comedy Daddio, and producers removed her from the cast before it aired. A week later she won the title role in a new Disney Channel series. Years after that, in 2026, Time named…
Olivia RodrigoOlivia Rodrigo was a teenager when one of her songs drew more than 15.7 million streams around the world in a single day, on the 11th of January 2021. The next day, the total passed 17 million. Looking back, she described it this way:…
Lindsay LohanLindsay Lohan posed for the October 2010 cover of Vanity Fair and then made a blunt request. "I want my career back," she told the magazine. She added, "I know that I'm a damn good actress." The plea carried weight because Lohan, an…
Dakota FanningDakota Fanning was seven years old when she became the youngest person ever nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. The nomination came for her work in the 2001 film I Am Sam. It was the first sign of a career that would run from a…
Christina AguileraChristina Aguilera sang "A Sunday Kind of Love" on the television contest Star Search in 1990 and was eliminated in the semi-final round. That loss decided nothing. She would go on to sell more than 100 million records worldwide, and…
Carrie FisherCarrie Fisher once asked to be reported as drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.
Emma StoneEmma Stone, born Emily Jean Stone, once built a PowerPoint presentation for an audience of her parents. Its title was "Project Hollywood," and its purpose was to persuade them to let a teenager from Arizona pursue acting in California. The…
Dakota JohnsonDakota Mayi Johnson was born on the 4th of October 1989 in Austin, Texas, while her father, the actor Don Johnson, was shooting the film The Hot Spot in the state. Few people have a birth that lines up so neatly with the family trade.…
Elizabeth OlsenElizabeth Olsen is an American actress who once considered dropping her surname. Her middle name, Chase, was the alternative she had in mind. The reason was simple. Her older sisters, the twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, were already…
Megan FoxIn 2010, the American actress Megan Fox said something few stars say about their own fame: "My biggest regret is that I've assisted the media in making me into a cartoon character." She added that she did not regret what had happened to…
Sabrina CarpenterSabrina Carpenter was one of 7,000 entrants in an online singing contest that opened in October 2008. The contest was called The Next Miley Cyrus Project, and Miley Cyrus herself ran it. Carpenter did not win. She placed third, in 2010.…
Zoey DeutchZoey Deutch is an American actress and producer, and her surname is pronounced DOYTCH. At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival she played the actress Jean Seberg in Nouvelle Vague. Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood called her terrific in the…
Brittany MurphyBrittany Murphy stood on the stage of the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards with a very simple job. She was to read the names of five nominees, open an envelope and announce the winner. Instead, the American actress and singer turned the…
Vanessa HudgensVanessa Hudgens is an American actress and singer, born on the 14th of December 1988. In August 2007, a Disney Channel sequel starring her drew more than 17.2 million viewers in the United States. That made it the most-watched Disney…
Amanda SeyfriedAmanda Seyfried has headlined films that together took in more than $2.4 billion at the worldwide box office. In 2022, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She holds a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe…
Selena GomezIn 2016, Selena Gomez became the first person to reach 100 million followers on Instagram, a milestone Time later singled out in its Firsts series. Gomez is an American actress, singer, songwriter, businesswoman, and producer, born in…
Jenna OrtegaJenna Ortega was nine years old when her mother bought her a monologue book and posted a video of her performing online. A casting director saw the video and signed her to an agency. That single upload set off a career that would one day…
Mandy MooreMandy Moore, the American singer and actress, once offered to refund everyone who had bought her first two albums. In 2006 she said she would give her fans their money back if she could. Then, during a radio interview in April of that…
Jodie FosterJodie Foster was a teenager when she acted as a French interpreter at a press conference during the Cannes Film Festival. The film was Taxi Driver, which won the Palme d'Or that year, and the journalists in the room came away impressed. By…
Brenda SongBrenda Song was six years old when she and her mother left Carmichael, California, for Los Angeles. The move was meant to support her acting career. The rest of the family followed two years later. Song had been born in that Sacramento…
Mckenna GraceMckenna Grace was four years old when her great-grandmother gave her a collection of Shirley Temple films on DVD. That present was the first time she showed any interest in acting. Within a few years she was standing in front of cameras,…
Taylor MomsenTaylor Momsen was on stage in Seville, Spain, on the 31st of May 2024 when a bat bit her. She was performing with her band, the Pretty Reckless, at the time. The bite meant she had to take vaccinations for rabies. Momsen is an American…
Keke PalmerKeke Palmer's famous nickname has nothing to do with her real name. Lauren Keyana Palmer took it from an imaginary friend called Keke, invented by her older sister, Loreal, before Palmer was even born. In an interview with Glamour in 2022,…
Drew BarrymoreDrew Barrymore was seven years old when she hosted Saturday Night Live on the 20th of November 1982, and nobody has hosted at a younger age since. The American actress went on to build a career that ran from child stardom to her own…
Samantha SmithA ten-year-old from Maine wrote to the Soviet leader and got an answer. She then visited Moscow as his guest.
Hailee SteinfeldHailee Steinfeld once ran a swear jar on a film set. During the making of True Grit, the harshest word cost its speaker five dollars, and other vulgarities cost a dollar each. Steinfeld fined herself fifty cents whenever she said the word…
Sydney SweeneySydney Sweeney is an American actress who once handed her parents a five-year business plan. The plan had one purpose: to win their permission for her to act. That detail says a lot about how she works. She treats a career as something to…