Curated playlist

American male child actors

Christopher WalkenTo look gaunt for The Deer Hunter, Christopher Walken ate only bananas, water and rice for a month.
Josh BrolinJosh Brolin was trading stocks full time in 2006 when he booked the lead role in the Coen brothers' Academy Award-winning film No Country for Old Men. The film became both a critical and a commercial success. Brolin is an American actor…
Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo DiCaprio owes his first name to a kick. His pregnant mother felt the baby move while she stood before a Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Uffizi museum in Florence, Italy. That child grew up to be an American actor and film…
Charlie SheenCharlie Sheen was the highest-paid actor on television in 2010, earning US$1.8 million for every episode of the sitcom Two and a Half Men. He had been born Carlos Irwin Estévez, and he grew up in a household where acting was the family…
Justin TimberlakeJustin Timberlake was 11 years old when he appeared on the television show Star Search and sang country songs under the name Justin Randall. The boy from Memphis, Tennessee would one day be dubbed the Prince of Pop. Billboard would name…
Jake GyllenhaalJake Gyllenhaal, the American actor born on the 19th of December 1980, came close to playing two of the best-known superheroes in film. In 2003 he auditioned for Batman Begins and nearly won the part, which went to Christian Bale. A year…
Ryan ReynoldsRyan Reynolds gave up his usual fee so the Deadpool film would get made.
Buster KeatonBuster Keaton's deadpan face began when he stopped laughing in his father's vaudeville act.
Sean PennIn Kyiv in November 2022, Sean Penn handed an Oscar statuette to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "This is for you. It's just a symbolic silly thing...When you win, bring it back to Malibu." That was the whole speech. Penn is an…
River PhoenixRiver Phoenix was an American actor and musician, and at the 92nd Academy Awards his brother Joaquin spoke one of River's lyrics aloud. Accepting the Best Actor prize, Joaquin told the room that River wrote it at 17: "run to the rescue…
Michael B. JordanMichael B. Jordan won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Sinners, a 2025 period horror film in which he played twin brothers. The win made him the seventh Black performer in history to take an Oscar in a lead acting category. It is a…
Robert Downey Jr.Robert Downey Jr. was too big an insurance risk to hire until Mel Gibson paid his insurance bond.
Sammy Davis Jr.Sammy Davis Jr. once answered a simple golf question with a line that became his signature. Playing a round with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. Davis replied, "Handicap?" and then went on: "Talk about handicap. I'm a…
Macaulay CulkinIn December 2018, Macaulay Culkin asked the internet to help him pick a new legal name. He announced that he would become Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin, and he opened a vote on his own website to choose the new middle name. Five…
Joaquin PhoenixJoaquin Phoenix had just flipped his car on a winding canyon road in Hollywood when a voice at the window told him to relax. It was the 26th of January 2006. Gasoline was leaking into the cabin. A shaken Phoenix answered, "I'm fine. I am…
Ron HowardRon Howard, age five, had to cry while holding a toy turtle. Andy Griffith coached him through it in 1960.
Usher (musician)Usher, the American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor, drew 123 million viewers within the United States to his Super Bowl LVIII halftime show in 2024. Very few performers ever stand in front of a crowd that size. Fewer still get there…
Ben AffleckBen Affleck directed Argo, and for it he collected the Golden Globe, the Directors Guild Award and the BAFTA for Best Director without ever being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. No director had done that before him. The…
Jack BlackJack Black is an American actor, comedian, singer and musician, and in 2025 he attached his name to the shortest song ever to reach the Billboard Hot 100. "Steve's Lava Chicken", from A Minecraft Movie, lasts just 34 seconds. It edged out…
Lenny KravitzLenny Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row, from 1999 to 2002. That run broke the record for wins in the category. It also set a record for consecutive wins in one category by a male…
Jake PaulOn the 15th of November 2024, Jake Paul climbed into a boxing ring in Texas and beat Mike Tyson by unanimous decision. Tyson had once been the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. The judges scored the fight 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73…
Billy PrestonBilly Preston got his name on a Beatles single. The 1969 "Get Back" was credited to "The Beatles with Billy Preston."
Sean LennonSteve Jobs once brought Sean Lennon an early Macintosh for his ninth birthday.
David HayterDavid Hayter gave up half his paycheck so the Metal Gear Solid voice cast could return. It was for a 2004 remake.
Timothée ChalametDirector Paul King cast Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka without an audition. King had watched Chalamet's high school performances on YouTube and decided that they proved his singing and dancing. Chalamet is an American and French actor…
Shia LaBeoufShia LaBeouf, the American actor and filmmaker born in 1986, walked the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival on the 9th of February 2014 in a tuxedo with a brown paper bag over his head. Across the bag were written the words "I am not…