To say that making a career as an actor in Hollywood is difficult is a gigantic understatement, but for those lucky and successful enough to do so, there can be no shortage of rewarding experiences depending on the roles they get to play. While no actor is the same in terms of securing a spot on the A-list, a common number of performers have actually started out their careers by playing younger versions of characters that are already being portrayed by successful actors.
It's usually after playing these younger characters that these actors have been able to find more success in Hollywood, and it's both surprising and interesting to see just how many of them are on the A-list today.
7 Wil Wheaton Captivated Audiences As A Younger Richard Dreyfuss In Stand By Me (1986)
Wil Wheaton had only appeared in a few TV films before making the leap to the big screen in Stand by Me, Rob Reiner's 1986 film adaptation of the Stephen King short story The Body. Wheaton played the film's protagonist, Gordon "Gordie" Lachance, while Academy Award-winner Richard Dreyfuss both narrated the film and appears physically at the film's end as the older version of Gordie.
While he was only 14 years old at the time, Wheaton gave a raw and genuinely emotional performance in the classic film, and its success later allowed him to land the role of Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as an over-the-top version of himself on The Big Bang Theory years later.
6 Dakota Fanning Made Her First Impression As Reese Witherspoon's Younger Self In Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
Dakota Fanning may best be known for her performances in films like The Secret Life of Bees and on the TNT series The Alienist, but one of her earliest performances goes back to 2002 in the much-loved romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama.
At 7 years old, she played the younger and more innocent Melanie Smooter, who grows up ashamed of her Southern roots and becomes a fashion designer in New York under the name of Melanie Carmichael, played by Reese Witherspoon. Fanning actually experienced her first kiss in the film with Thomas Curtis as the young Jake Perry, whose older self is played by Josh Lucas.
5 One of Logan Lerman's First Roles Was As Mel Gibson's Younger Half In What Women Want (2000)
Not many actors can say that they started out their careers working with Mel Gibson twice in the same year, but Logan Lerman did just that. He played the youngest son of Gibson's character in The Patriot before playing Gibson's younger self in What Women Want right after.
It would only be a few years later that Lerman would land the lead role of Bobby McCallister on the short-lived The WB series Jack & Bobby, using that series as a springboard to launch a film career with the likes of Hoot and the Percy Jackson films, along with more acclaimed performances in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Fury, and Indignation. He currently stars on the Amazon Prime series Hunters alongside another A-lister, Al Pacino.
4 Gia (1998) Saw Not Only Angelina Jolie Make Her Mark As An Actress But Mila Kunis As Well
The 1998 HBO biopic film Gia, about the tragic life of supermodel Gia Carangi, was Angelina Jolie's breakthrough role, winning praise and accolades for her performance as Carangi. But while Jolie's rise to fame was fast and she became a fixture of Hollywood overnight, Mila Kunis, who played the younger Gia Carangi, saw an equal amount of success afterwards as well.
The same year that Gia came out, Kunis landed the role of Jackie Burkhart on That '70s Show at age 14--being the youngest of the show's teenage cast--which she played until 2006, and also took over for Lacey Chabert as the voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy in 1999, whom she continues to play to this day. She's also starred in films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Black Swan, and most recently Four Good Days alongside Glenn Close.
3 Zac Efron First Caught Attention As A Younger Version Of Sean Maher's Simon Tam On Firefly (2002)
Nowadays Zac Efron is a respected household name for his work in 2007's Hairspray, the Neighbors films, The Greatest Showman, and as notorious serial killer Ted Bundy in 2019's Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. But while the first High School Musical film may have put the actor on the map back in 2006, he actually made a notable appearance four years earlier on the beloved yet short-lived series Firefly.
Efron played a younger version of Sean Maher’s Simon Tam—the doctor amongst the crew of the spaceship Serenity—in a flashback to the childhoods of Simon and his sister River in the show's fifth episode "Safe." The role marked Efron's television acting debut, with only more successful roles to follow.
2 Jennifer Lawrence Stole Scenes As A Younger Charlize Theron In The Burning Plain (2008)
Jennifer Lawrence has carved out an acting career that others can only dream of, having gotten her first Academy Award nomination for her performance in 2010's Winter's Bone at the age of 20, before following that up with her work as a younger Mystique in the X-Men film series, as protagonist Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise, and as Tiffany Maxwell in Silver Linings Playbook--which nabbed her her first Academy Award for Best Actress.
But the cherry on top was that Lawrence got her shot at playing a younger version of another Academy Award winner--Charlize Theron--in The Burning Plain, which came out just two years before Winter's Bone. Theron plays a successful yet troubled restauranteur named Sylvia, while Lawrence plays the character as a teenager under her biological name of Mariana with a quiet yet raw energy that's not far removed from some of her later performances.
1 Robert De Niro Bought His Seat On The A-List As A Younger Marlon Brando In The Godfather Part II (1974)
Robert De Niro has rightfully earned his spot at the Hollywood table, having given no shortage of great performances of both the dramatic and comedic variety. While he had been working steadily as an actor since the late 1960s, it wasn't until he was cast in 1974's The Godfather Part II as the young Vito Corleone--previously played in the first film by the legendary Marlon Brando--that he rocketed to stardom.
De Niro had actually auditioned for the role of Sonny Corleone in the first Godfather film, but it's impossible to see him in any other role than Vito Corleone on his rise to becoming the Godfather eventually played by Brando. De Niro not only captured the same charm, cunning nature, and dominating presence that Brando brought to the role, but in a sense delivered his own unique take on the role as well. It was quite a feat for a then-unknown actor who still continues to amaze audiences past and present with his talent.