the news loves to cover stories of child stars who have fallen out of the spotlight into despair, losing their fame and fortune before the age of 18 because of drug habits or questionable relationships. It’s sad to see the derailment of those that seemed to have such promising futures as children, but it makes for a good story and even better gossip. Successful child stars, on the other hand, are rarely covered. Can you think of any in the news recently? We’ve compiled a list of 12 child stars who are still doing very well for themselves whether that’s on or off screen. Which child stars made the list? Some are big names, while others just held fame as a child. You might be surprised who has still managed to hang on to all of that old child star money. Let’s start with one of the biggest child stars who dated one of the biggest babes in Hollywood! #12 – Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin is one of the surprises on this list since we haven’t seen him star in a film in a very, very long time. Culkin is still worth a staggering *** million (scroll bellow to reveal his net worth!) thanks to huge earnings as a child star that he hasn’t yet managed to squander away. Most people assume that he’s broke because of his previous (and maybe current) drug addiction, but he’s kept his wealth well in-tact. For crying out loud, Culkin got Mila Kunis to go out with him from 2002 to 2010, so he’s been doing something right. If you lived under a rock for the most part of the 90’s… Culkin’s big starring roles outside of “Home Alone,” was “Uncle Buck”, “Richie Rich”, “My Girl” and “The Good Son”. Culkin might look like he’s entered his 40’s by now, but he’s only 34 years old with plenty of time to play around with the fortune he amassed as a little kid.
#11 – Angus T. Jones ($15 Million)
Angus is only 21 years old, so it’s not a huge surprise that he’s still rich, but the amount of money that he’s gathered is a bit mind-blowing. Jones starred on “Two and a Half Men” for nearly a decade as the son of Jon Cryer’s character, Alan Harper. Jones might seem a bit weird these days, but that seems par for anyone that has spent time hanging around Charlie Sheen. Jones left the show because his views on the world were different than what was portrayed on “Two and a Half Men”. Jones considers himself to be very conservative and thus is a self-proclaimed hypocrite for taking the money from the show. Still, Jones was able to net $15 million in his time on the CBS sitcom. So hypocrite or not, he’s pretty much set for life after his decade-long run. Before #10.. Do Know Your Pop Culture? Long before Angus T. Jones outburst slamming the show for its differences in moral values to his own, his on screen TV uncle Charlie Sheen left the show (or was booted off depending who you ask). Charlie being known for his drug fueled partying, was on top of the world after rejecting the studios offer of 1 million dollars per episode, only to have them crawling back to him with a two year contract worth 1.78 million dollars per episode. However, this “high-time” wouldn’t last as the show was put on hold after Sheen checked into a rehabilitation center for the 3rd time in a 12 month period. The show was then placed on an indefinite hiatus and following a downward spiral of ill-advised media interviews… Sheen was never to return to the show.
#10 – Dakota Fanning ($16 Million)
It seems like Dakota Fanning has been in movies forever, but she is only 20 years old. After her first big role in “I Am Sam” earned her a SAG Award nomination at the age of seven, Fanning became a big name child actor. Appearing in more movies like “Sweet Home Alabama” and “War of the Worlds” made Fanning some pretty big bucks. To this day, Fanning still appears in movies and on TV shows with her latest role in the film, “Every Secret Thing” (2014). If you think growing up in front of a camera has a grinding effect on your mental health, just know that it has a positive effect on your financial health. These days, Fanning has a net worth of $16 million after appearing in countless films and she’s still not old enough to legally have a beer.
Before #9.. Know Your Movies? Dakota Fanning has been credited in over 56 film and television roles since the start of her young career in the year 2000. Surprisingly she has managed to avoid being tight cast as everyone’s go to cute little girl, by taking on various diverse roles such as the blood sucking Vampire Jane in the Twightlight Saga movie series. The future looks very bright indeed for Dakota as she seems to have avoided the traps of child hood stardom. She has several upcoming movie roles for 2016 alone and has been popping up everywhere from talk shows to voice acting in video games.
#9 – Selena Gomez ($18 Million)
Selena Gomez got her start hanging out with the purple dinosaur Barney and hasn’t looked back since. Disney recruited Gomez at a very young age and made her a star on the show “Wizards of Waverly Place”. It was a huge hit with the tween audience, and after five years, she was able to branch out into the movie and music industries, where she has been very successful. Now at the age of 22, Gomez is releasing hit after hit on the radio. This is a notable accomplishment because after being the girlfriend of Justin Bieber for a few years, you would think that she would lose all interest in music. Thankfully she hasn’t been deterred and you can expect her net worth to grow over the $18 million that it’s at today. By the way, we’re going to hear more about her ex-boyfriend Bieber a little later.
Before #8.. Is The Price Right? What makes a good movie to me or you.. or even the people behind creating the film is often a very different thing then the people financing the film. To us its all about the movie being fun, captivating and taking us away from our lives for just a little while. To movie studios it’s all about the ROI (return on investment). While a movie could win countless awards and receive adoring praise, if it doesn’t earn a good return on the cost of making the movie it’s plain and simply a poor investment. This also explains why we keep seeing terrible Adam Sandler movies grace the silver screen year in and year out. Like him or hate him, Adam is just good ROI! Now can you spot a winner?
#8 – The Jonas Brothers ($18 Million)
The Jonas Brothers, like Selena Gomez, are a creation of the Disney Corporation. The brothers (Jo-Bro’s as some like to call them) appeared in filler commercials singing songs on the Disney network for nearly three years before they got the chance to star in the made-for-TV movie, “Camp Rock” (and “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam”). As a band, they lasted from 2005 to 2013 before going their separate ways. While they were still performing together, the brothers were able to amass a net worth of $18 million thanks to their tours and reality TV show appearances. Nick Jonas seems like he’s going to pad his net worth even more with a solo career that’s off to a good start with the smash hit “Jealous”. Disney has made a lot of child stars over the years, and the Jonas Brothers knew they made it when they were spoofed by none other than the guys of “South Park”. Before #7.. Know Your Boy Bands? When you think of boy bands, you probably picture hordes of screaming teenage girls, bad choreography (okay, awful) and catchy tunes your embarrassed to admit you kinda like. Well over the years, several boy bands have come and gone. From 98 Degrees to New Kids on The Block to the Jonas Brothers, we have had our fair share. But before you pass your judgement, its good to remember boy bands have played an important role to music over the last few decades. There was that group of talented young brothers, the Jackson Five that helped launch the career of their most talented and now iconic brother Michael. Oh, and lets not forget the Beatles were a boy band whether you care to admit it or not!
#7 – Frankie Muniz ($40 Million)
Frankie Muniz has done more in his life before the age of 30 than most of us will do in an entire lifetime. Muniz is an actor who has starred in a long-running TV show and in the movies, he’s also a race car driver, and is even part of a band. If that doesn’t sound like living the dream of anyone in their teens or 20’s, I don’t know what is. Muniz has been able to keep his wealth to the tune of a $40 million net worth. If you don’t believe that, just check out the Twitter war Muniz had with a user that said he sucked. Muniz was quick to remind him that he had $40 million in the bank and was retired by the age of 23, while the hater on Twitter was probably eating Doritos in his mom’s basement. That might have been a little much, but just let that be a lesson to anyone who wants to tell the former “Malcolm in the Middle” star that he sucks. Muniz is back to acting after a few years off, probably simply because he wanted something to do.
#6 – Natalie Portman ($54 Million)
If I told you that Natalie Portman has been acting since 1994, would you believe it? Well, that’s the truth as the young actress has been in films for over 20 years and got her first big role in the critically acclaimed movie, “Heat”. But it wasn’t until she was cast as Queen Amidala in “Star Wars” that Portman became a household name; she’s still only 33 years old. For all that she has accomplished, the Israel-born Portman has maintained the success from her younger years well into the 21st century with big hits like “Black Swan” and “V for Vendetta”. Portman has been able to turn her longtime acting success into financial success, as well, with a net worth that is estimated at $54 million. Many of the “Star Wars” fans will say that she was not right for the role of the Queen in their beloved movie series, but she probably couldn’t care less at this point.
#5 – Justin Bieber ($200 Million)
Yes, yes, we know, you don’t like Justin Bieber. Fortunately for Bieber, there are plenty of pre-teen girls that swoon over him as if he had the talent of The Beatles and the look of Elvis Presley. Bieber was born into a lower class family in Canada (thanks, Canada), and fell in love with music at a young age. Bieber and his family have posted videos of him singing popular tunes, as well as originals, on YouTube. Bieber got picked up by Scooter Braun and Usher from his videos, which rocketed his singing career with sell-out concert venues across the globe. Bieber’s popularity might have taken a step back recently thanks to his fan base growing up and realizing he’s not a real nice dude, but he’s still as rich as ever. How rich you might ask? Try $200 million, all for himself. Sometimes the world isn’t a fair place.
#4 – Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen ($300 Million)
Did you know the Olsen twins are still worth $300 million? That’s not a joke. Despite the fact that they haven’t been in any notable movie or television show since “Full House” went off the air, the twins are multi-millionaires living the high life in New York City. Much of that money was made when they were kids, but it wasn’t the family sitcom that created the bulk of their cash. They made the majority of their wealth in a series of home videos that kids gobbled up like candy. The videos weren’t all that special and had low production costs, but that didn’t stop kids from going ga-ga. After their acting careers came to a halt, the Olsen twins went into the fashion world. People gave Mary Kate and Ashley a ton of money no matter what designs they created, just to get their names on the label. The two were babies of a middle class family almost three decades ago, but now they are richer than some small countries, and you’re part of the reason if you’re between 25-35 years old.
#3 – Daniel Radcliffe ($110 Million)
We just mentioned that Emma Watson was the only one able to get consistent leading roles since “Harry Potter” ended, but that doesn’t mean the actor that played the title character is struggling with his money at all. Radcliffe has had a decent amount of success after the series with “The Woman in Black” and the upcoming sequel to “Now You See Me”, but not the type of success from the role he played as a child. Being the big star of one of the biggest movie franchises of all-time certainly has its perks. Between all of his roles in his young career (he’s only 25 years old, for crying out loud), Radcliffe has collected a whopping $110 million. So even if he never sees another role again, Radcliffe will still be rich for the rest of his life. People also say that he’s one of the nicest celebrities out there, so make sure to say hello if you ever run into him.
#2 – Miley Cyrus ($150 Million)
Miley Cyrus was born with an already impressive net worth thanks to her father Billy Ray Cyrus, who was a country music star in the 1990’s. Miley’s father’s career had just launched after she was born in 1992. Like a few others on this list, Disney recruited Cyrus as a kid for their network, to star in the ever popular “Hannah Montana”. Cyrus is still making Disney-type money these days thanks to huge tours and appearance fees that are among one of the highest for a celebrity. In no way does Miley resemble the Hannah Montana character of years ago, but she’s still making big money with a net worth of an estimated $150 million. Cyrus is twerking all the way to the bank with that kind of cash, and she’ll likely make a lot more. God help us all.
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