Being a child celebrity is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s kind of enjoyable because you get to enter the Hollywood business early, learn a lot about working as an actor, and have the benefit of being more or less financially secure. On the other hand, you miss out on adequate schooling, peer socializing, and other normal childhood experiences. You basically become a working child, and the pressure to perform at such a young age may be quite damaging to a child’s mind. Not to mention that depending on the sets you work on, you may be exposed to things that children should not be exposed to.
There are numerous examples of young actors who went on to become famous adult working actors or even enormous Hollywood stars. Scarlett Johansson, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ryan Reynolds, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Natalie Portman all began their careers as young performers and have gone on to achieve great success.
Unfortunately, this is not true for every kid actor. Many of them grow out of their cute kid stage and are no longer cast. Others mix with the wrong crowd and end up on really dark paths. Some people’s downward spiral pushes them to commit crimes.
Edward Furlong
You may know him best as the youngster from “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”. Edward was a bright young actor. He received a Saturn Award and an MTV Movie Award for his performance in Terminator 2 opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also earned honors for his parts in “Pet Sematary Two”, “American Hearts”, “A Home of Our Own” and “American History X”. But he soon became addicted to drugs, which led to a string of run-ins with the law. Edward was arrested for illegal drug possession, domestic abuse, and attacking his ex-girlfriend, which landed him in jail for three months. He eventually went to rehab and kicked the habit, but his downward spiral effectively terminated his career, which never really recovered.
