View 5 slides

8 Oscar Winners Who Got Their Acting Starts As Kids

While the majority of Oscar-winning actors don’t seem to break out until they are in their 20s, some of the most accomplished stars began building up their careers when they were mere kids. There are never any guarantees that a child actor will go on to succeed as an adult; many burn out, lose interest in acting, or the characteristics that made them stand out as kids (namely cuteness and precociousness) don’t transition well once they begin to grow up. But then there are those who took their modest child acting careers and achieved even more as adults. Here is a look at eight Academy Award winners who caught the acting bug when they were young.

Nicole Kidman

Kidman’s journey to Hollywood A-lister may have begun with her role in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm, but even before that, the Australian-born actress was getting noticed. She made her debut at the age of 14 in the film Bush Christmas, a relatively minor role, although you wouldn’t know it if you saw the DVD case with her name and face plastered on the front of it. She continued to excel in various film and television projects, eventually winning an Oscar for Best Actress in 2003 for her captivating performance in The Hours.