25 Oscar winners who started out as child stars Kevin JacobsenFri, March 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC 0 Regina King holding her Oscar in 2019; Ke Huy Quan holding his Oscar in 2023; Leonardo DiCaprio holding his Oscar in 2016Credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty; Alberto Rodriguez/Variety via Getty; Jason Merritt/Getty Child stars don't always carry over their early success into adulthood. Show business can be exposing and unbearably harsh, which is tough to deal with at any age, let alone for young actors who haven't fully matured yet.
25 Oscar winners who started out as child stars
Kevin JacobsenFri, March 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC
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Regina King holding her Oscar in 2019; Ke Huy Quan holding his Oscar in 2023; Leonardo DiCaprio holding his Oscar in 2016Credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty; Alberto Rodriguez/Variety via Getty; Jason Merritt/Getty
Child stars don't always carry over their early success into adulthood. Show business can be exposing and unbearably harsh, which is tough to deal with at any age, let alone for young actors who haven't fully matured yet. But there are those lucky few who not only lead fruitful careers into adulthood but earn the respect of their peers and win Hollywood's top prize: the Oscar.
The Academy has rewarded several former child actors (and a few child stars themselves) over the course of its history, from Old Hollywood legends like Elizabeth Taylor to contemporary stars like Kieran Culkin. While many of them earned their Oscars on merit, it's easy to imagine that their career trajectories of being able to weather the storm of Hollywood for so long played a part in wanting to vote for them.
Ahead, we look at 25 of the most notable child stars who won Oscars, presented in chronological order.
01 of 25
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor as Velvet Brown in 'National Velvet'; Elizabeth Taylor poses beside her Oscar for 'BUtterfield 8' in 1961Credit: Courtesy Everett; Screen Archives/Getty
Elizabeth Taylor was Hollywood royalty for decades, to the point that it's sometimes easy to forget that she'd been starring in films since she was 10 years old. Pictured left at age 14 in National Velvet, she went on to win two Academy Awards for Best Actress, for BUtterfield 8 in 1961 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1967.
02 of 25
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster as Samantha in 'Nicholas and Samantha'; Jodie Foster holding her Oscar at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989Credit: Everett Collection; Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage
Pictured left at the age of 10 in 1972's Napoleon and Samantha, Jodie Foster spent her childhood acting. The star won her first Oscar in her 20s, landing the award for Best Actress in 1989 for The Accused, and another one just three years later for The Silence of the Lambs.
03 of 25
Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin as Flora McGrath in 'The Piano'; Anna Paquin at the 66th Academy Awards in 1994Credit: Everett Collection; Tim Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Anna Paquin not only started as a child actor, she won her first Oscar before she even hit her teens. Pictured left in 1993's The Piano, the star was 11 when she landed the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her turn as Flora McGrath.
04 of 25
Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt (left) as Sarah Sargeant in 'Pioneer Woman'; Helen Hunt holding her Oscar at the 70th Academy Awards in 1998Credit: Everett Collection; Ron Galella/WireImage
Helen Hunt made her acting debut at age 10, appearing in 1973's Pioneer Woman (pictured left). Twenty-five years later, Hunt earned her first Oscar, winning Best Actress for As Good as It Gets.
05 of 25
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie as Tosh in 'Lookin' to Get Out'; Angelina Jolie holding her Oscar at the 72nd Academy Awards in 2000Credit: Hector Mata/AFP/Getty Images
The daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, Angelina Jolie was introduced to Hollywood at an early age. Pictured left in 1982's Lookin' to Get Out, the actress made her on-screen debut when she was 7. She picked up her first Oscar 18 years later, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Girl, Interrupted.
06 of 25
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank as Sasha Serotsky on 'Growing Pains'; Hilary Swank holding her Oscar at the 72nd Academy Awards in 2000Credit: ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images; Steve Granitz/WireImage
Hilary Swank landed her first acting gigs in her teens, appearing in episodes of Evening Shade, Growing Pains (pictured left), and Camp Wilder. She won her first Oscar in 2000, picking up the award for Best Actress for Boys Don't Cry, and a second in the same category in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby.
07 of 25
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly as Deborah Gelly in 'Once Upon a Time in America'; Jennifer Connelly holding her Oscar at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002Credit: Everett Collection
Pictured left in 1984's Once Upon a Time in America, Jennifer Connelly kicked off her acting career in her teens. The star, who made her on-screen debut at the age of 11, won her first Oscar in 2002, landing the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award for A Beautiful Mind.
08 of 25
Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody as Billy in 'Home at Last'; Adrien Brody holding his Oscar at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003Credit: Everett Collection; Bob Riha Jr/WireImage
Fans first met Adrien Brody in the 1980s, when the then-teenage actor was appearing in Home at Last (pictured left), New York Stories, and Annie McGuire. In 2003, the star won his first Oscar, landing the Best Actor award for The Pianist (breaking the record for youngest winner in the category at age 29); he won a second Best Actor Oscar in 2025 for The Brutalist.
09 of 25
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman as Helen Thompson in 'Bush Christmas'; Nicole Kidman holding her Oscar at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003Credit: Umbrella Entertainment; Jeff Vespa/WireImage
A 16-year-old Nicole Kidman made her first on-screen appearances in the 1980s in Skin Deep, Chase Through the Night, and Bush Christmas (pictured left). In 2003, Kidman won her first Academy Award, picking up the Oscar for Best Actress for The Hours.
10 of 25
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon as Dani Trant in 'The Man in the Moon'; Reese Witherspoon holding her Oscar at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006Credit: Everett Collection; Vince Bucci/Getty Images
In 1991, a teenage Reese Witherspoon made her acting debut, hitting the big screen in The Man in the Moon (pictured left) and popping up in the TV movie Wildflower. Fifteen years later, Witherspoon won her first Oscar, earning the Best Actress award for Walk the Line.
11 of 25
Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet as Reet on 'Dark Season'; Kate Winslet holding her Oscar at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009Credit: BBC; Jason Merritt/Getty Images
After five nominations, Kate Winslet nabbed her first Academy Award in 2009, winning the Oscar for Best Actress for The Reader. She made her acting debut in her teens, appearing in episodes of Dark Season (pictured left), Anglo-Saxon Attitudes, and Get Back.
12 of 25
Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges as Jimmy on 'Sea Hunt'; Jeff Bridges holding his Oscar at the 82nd Academy Awards in 2010Credit: Everett Collection; Dan MacMedan/WireImage
Jeff Bridges first appeared on-screen as an infant, making his debut in 1951's The Company She Keeps. Pictured left on Sea Hunt in 1958, Bridges won his first Oscar in 2010, nabbing the award for Best Actor for Crazy Heart.
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13 of 25
Christian Bale
Christian Bale as Jim Graham in 'Empire of the Sun', Christian Bale holding his Oscar at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011Credit: Murray Close/Getty Images; Michael Caulfield/WireImage
Not many actors can say one of their first gigs was working on a Steven Spielberg film, but a young Christian Bale earned the first Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor award in 1987 from the National Board of Review for his work in Empire of the Sun (pictured left) before winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2011 for The Fighter.
14 of 25
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman as Mathilda Lando in 'Léon: The Professional'; Natalie Portman holding her Oscar in the press room at the 83rd Academy Awards on Feb. 27, 2011Credit: Columbia Pictures; Dan MacMedan/WireImage
Viewers first met Natalie Portman when she was just 13 years old, making her debut in Léon: The Professional (pictured left). More than a decade later, the actress landed her first Oscar, winning Best Actress for 2010's Black Swan.
15 of 25
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway as Meghan Green on 'Get Real'; Anne Hathaway holding her Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013Credit: Everett Collection; Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Anne Hathaway first hit the small screen at the age of 16, appearing in episodes of Get Real (pictured left) in 1999. Nearly 15 years later, the actress won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Les Misérables.
16 of 25
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence as Mascot on 'Monk'; Jennifer Lawrence holding her Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013Credit: USA Network; Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Long before Jennifer Lawrence was accepting the Best Actress Oscar in 2013 for Silver Linings Playbook, she was spending her teens filling her résumé with bit parts in episodes of Monk (pictured left), Cold Case, and Medium.
17 of 25
Brie Larson
Brie Larson as Rachel on 'Touched by an Angel'; Brie Larson holding her Oscar at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016Credit: CBS; Christopher Polk/Getty Images
Brie Larson became Hollywood royalty when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2016 for her role in Room, but the actress officially got her start nearly 20 years earlier. Larson popped up in episodes of To Have & to Hold and Touched by an Angel (pictured left) when she was a child.
18 of 25
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio as Luke Brower on 'Growing Pains'; Leonardo DiCaprio holding his Oscar at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016Credit: Everett Collection; Jason Merritt/Getty Images
A young Leonardo DiCaprio filled his childhood with acting projects, making early appearances in The New Lassie, The Outsiders, Parenthood, Growing Pains (pictured left), and Critters 3. Decades later and after four previous nominations, DiCaprio won his first Oscar in 2016, nabbing the Best Actor statuette for The Revenant.
19 of 25
Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck as young Robert Kennedy in 'The Kennedys of Massachusetts'; Casey Affleck holding his Oscar at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017Credit: Everett Collection; Eddy Chen/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
Casey Affleck fans might know of his early appearances in quintessential '90s films To Die For and Chasing Amy, but before earning an Academy Award for Best Actor for 2016's Manchester by the Sea, Affleck made his first appearance on the small screen in a PBS adaption of the play Lemon Sky in 1988, which was soon followed by an appearance as a young Bobby Kennedy in the 1990 ABC miniseries The Kennedys of Massachusetts (pictured left).
20 of 25
Emma Stone
Emma Stone as Cynthia McCallister on 'Medium'; Emma Stone holding her Oscar at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017Credit: Fox; Eddy Chen/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
Many actors have an early drive to make it in Hollywood, but few make a PowerPoint presentation to convince their parents to allow them move to Los Angeles to do exactly that. Emma Stone's gambit paid off, but before winning a pair of Best Actress Oscars for 2016's La La Land and 2023's Poor Things, she appeared on VH1's In Search of the Partridge Family, Malcolm in the Middle, and Medium (pictured left).
21 of 25
Regina King
Regina King as Brenda Jenkins on '227'; Regina King holding her Oscar at the 91st Academy Awards in 2019Credit: Everett Collection; Craig Sjodin via Getty Images
Before her breakout role as Shalika in John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood in 1991, Regina King starred on the highly-rated sitcom 227 (pictured left), part of the NBC Thursday night juggernaut that dominated the 1980s. Speaking about the show ahead of her 2019 Best Supporting Actress win for If Beale Street Could Talk, King said, "227 was priceless for me. It was my foundation. Just being with Marla Gibbs, Hal Williams, Alaina Reed, Jackée — it was school."
22 of 25
Laura Dern
Laura Dern as Jessica McNeil in 'Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains'; Laura Dern holding her Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock; Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Laura Dern's first foray into film was as inglorious as it is for many actors: she was an uncredited extra. After brief appearances in White Lightning and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore — both of which starred her mother, Diane Ladd — in the early-1970s, Dern made her solo jump to the big screen with 1980's Foxes and 1982's Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (pictured left) as a teen. Fast forward to 2020, and Dern is not just an Oscar winner for her portrayal of a cutthroat divorce lawyer in Marriage Story (2019), she is one of the most in-demand and interesting actresses working today.
23 of 25
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix as Garry Buckman in 'Parenthood'; Joaquin Phoenix holding his Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020Credit: Everett Collection; Steve Granitz/WireImage
Acting is in the family, and middle child Joaquin Phoenix made a name for himself early with roles in SpaceCamp and Parenthood (pictured left) as Leaf Phoenix. "Leaf" was left behind in Phoenix's star turn in Gus Van Sant's 1995 To Die For, and just a few years later, Joaquin earned his first Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Gladiator, which was followed by his first in Best Actor for Walk the Line in 2006, and another in Best Actor for The Master in 2013. Great roles and performances, but, ha-ha, Phoenix earned his first Academy Award for Joker in 2020.
24 of 25
Ke Huy Quan
Ke Huy Quan on the set of 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'; Ke Huy Quan holding his Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards in 2023Credit: Paramount/Getty; Daniele Venturelli/Getty
Ke Huy Quan's big Hollywood comeback was the stuff dreams are made of. After working as a child actor in high-profile movies like Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom (1984, pictured left) and The Goonies (1985), he struggled to find good roles and left acting in the mid-'90s, only to return in 2022 with a highly acclaimed performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. His emotionally rich turn took him all the way to the Oscars, where he won Best Supporting Actor.
25 of 25
Kieran Culkin
Kieran Culkin as Fuller in 'Home Alone'; Kieran Culkin holding his Oscar at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025Credit: 20th Century Fox; Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty
Who knew that the kid in the suspenders wearing enormous glasses and clutching a Pepsi can in Home Alone (1990, pictured left) would one day sweep awards season? Kieran Culkin's career has taken him in some wild directions, but the 2020s found him hitting the big time with an Emmy win for Succession in 2023 and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar win in 2025 for his scene-stealing work in A Real Pain.
on Entertainment Weekly
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Published: March 13, 2026 at 07:45AM on Source: PRIME TIME
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25 Oscar winners who started out as child stars Kevin JacobsenFri, March 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC 0 Regina King holding h...
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