But based on what we've seen in theaters, it seems as though the younger you are, the better chances you have at blasting to the top of the Hollywood stratosphere in little to no time (give or take a handful of small parts in movies or television beforehand), especially when you're good-looking and/or precocious enough (and also, yes, sometimes talented). After all, how many sustained careers were started on a high note at a young age? Leo DiCaprio, Natalie Portman, Dakota Fanning, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Matthew Broderick are just a few of the stars who hit it big before drinking age and still see no end in sight.
But what about those would-be superstars whose first exposure as a potential household name didn't really foreshadow a long, successful profession in Hollywood? Here's a look at some young (or once-young) actors and actresses whose careers didn't exactly live up to the hype of their "breakout" roles.
RALPH MACCHIO
First Exposure: A small supporting role in the 1980 comedy farce Up the Academy.
Career Takeoff...? Macchio first turned heads in Francis Ford Coppola's drama The Outsiders in the supporting role of Johnny Cade, followed the next year as the lead role of Daniel LaRusso in the hugely successful martial arts classic The Karate Kid.
What Happened? Karate Kid's success instantly turned Macchio into a teen idol, and despite appearing in 1986 and 1989 sequels to the movie that made him a star, Macchio's career waned afterwards, being relegated to mostly supporting or bit parts in movies and TV by the 1990s. Macchio did find some success on stage, as well as guest roles on shows like Ugly Betty and Entourage.
JONATHAN KE QUAN
First Exposure/Career Takeoff...?: A few years after immigrating with his family from South Vietnam to America, Ke Quan made his first foray into Hollywood as Indiana Jones' young sidekick Short Round in Steven Spielberg's 1984 Indy sequel The Temple of Doom. A year later, Ke Quan picked up the role of tech-whiz Data in the Spielberg-produced family adventure classic The Goonies.
What Happened? After Goonies, Ke Quan attempted to continue his acting career, but with little success. He had a lead role in the low-budget 1991 martial arts movie Breathing Fire, as well as a small role in 1992's caveman comedy Encino Man. Aside from working as a stunt choreographer on X-Men (2000) and Jet Li's The One (2001), Ke Quan couldn't salvage his career since then.
MIA SARA
First Exposure: Ridley Scott's 1985 fantasy film Legend, playing Tom Cruise's love interest Princess Lily.
Career Takeoff...? The next year, Sara appeared opposite Matthew Broderick as his eponymous character's girlfriend Sloane in John Hughes' much-beloved teen comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
What Happened? After Bueller, Sara toiled in B-movies and direct-to-video flicks and guest spots on various TV dramas. She did have a major role in the Jean Claude Van Damme sci-fi film Timecop, for which she earned a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, and from 2002 to 2003, she starred as the supervillain Harley Quinn in the WB's short-lived superhero drama Birds of Prey.
ALEX WINTER
First Exposure: Winter's first Hollywood roles consisted of bit parts in Death Wish 3 (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987).
Career Takeoff...? Winter, alongside a young Keanu Reeves, found huge success as lovable slacker Bill S. Preston in 1989's comedy cult classic Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, which was followed in 1991 by the slightly less successful sequel Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.
What Happened? Despite teaching an entire generation to be excellent to each other, Winter (unlike Reeves) sadly didn't have the most excellent career after the Bill and Ted craze died down. Winter tried his hand at writing and directing (most notably helming the unnotable 1993 comedy Freaked), and the last time he had an acting role in a motion picture was 1997's The Borrowers. Winter still does the occasional TV role and voiceover, however, and recent rumors about a possible third Bill and Ted feature inspires hope for a return to the spotlight.
HENRY THOMAS
First Exposure: The 1981 World War II drama Raggedy Man.
Career Takeoff...? Not a year after his debut, Thomas snagged the prized lead role of Elliot in Steven Spielberg's science-fiction classic E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.
What Happened? After the massive success of E.T., Thomas took on a film and TV role every now and then, but never reached the same headlining success he achieved earlier (his most notable post-E.T. role being the young soldier Samuel Ludlow in 1994's Legends of the Fall). Nonetheless, Thomas has maintained a low-key yet steady line of work in Hollywood, most recently appearing in episodes of CSI and The Mentalist, as well as a supporting role in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' romance novel Dear John.
CHARLIE KORSMO
First Exposure: A role as Jessica Lange's son Matt in the 1990 dramedy Men Don't Leave.
Career Takeoff...? The same year, the 12-year-old Korsmo gained attention as a street orphan (called only "The Kid") taken under the wing of Warren Beatty's titular detective in the box-office smash Dick Tracy, and in 1991 gained big roles in the Bill Murray comedy What About Bob? and the Steven Spielberg Peter Pan adventure Hook.
What Happened? After Hook, Korsmo virtually fell off the map. He returned to acting only once, as geeky William in the 1998 teen comedy Can't Hardly Wait. After retiring from acting, Korsmo earned a Physics degree at MIT, began working in missile defense for the U.S. government, and gained a J.D. from Yale in 2006. He's been productive.
JAKE LLOYD
First Exposure: The so-ridiculously-horrible-that-it's-good-in-a-self-destructive-way Arnold Schwarzenegger holiday comedy Jingle All The Way (1996).
Career Takeoff...? At age eight, Lloyd was cast as Darth Vader-to-be Anakin Skywalker in the hugely anticipated prequel Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace.
What Happened? But when it was released two years later in 1999, Lloyd's less-than-stellar acting skills-- making Mark Hamill's whiny farmboy in the original 1977 installment of George Lucas' saga seem like Shakespeare in comparison-- was one of the many elements of the film that severely pissed off fans and critics alike. After making the 2001 drama Madison, Lloyd focused on his education and retired from acting that same year.
HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN
First Exposure: After a few years of small movie and television roles in both America and his native Canada, Christensen got his first taste of real Hollywood exposure in 2001's critically acclaimed drama Life as a House, which earned him both Golden Globe and SAG nominations.
Career Takeoff...? The older and increasingly volatile Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, in 2002's Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones, and its 2005 sequel Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith.
What Happened? Despite playing one of the most iconic characters in pop culture history in two hugely successful films, Christensen-- like Jake Lloyd before him-- received poor marks from fans and critics for wooden and sometimes embarrassing acting as the future Darth Vader (though part of the blame could very well go to Lucas' script and direction, seeing as how Life as a House and 2003's Shattered Glass proved that Christensen really could act). Still, Christensen's career didn't really pick up after Sith. Parts in movies such as the Edie Sedgwick biopic Factory Girl, sci-fi actioner Jumper, and the crime flick Takers never managed to reignite Christensen's superstar status.
BRANDON ROUTH
First Exposure: After a slew of bit roles in television shows such as Gilmore Girls and Will & Grace, the Iowa native made his feature film debut with a tiny role in the 2006 murder drama Karla.
Career Takeoff...? Despite very few entries on his resumé, Routh landed the highly prized role of Clark Kent/Superman in Bryan Singer's 2006 revival of the titular superhero's film franchise, Superman Returns.
What Happened? Even though Routh's performance as the Man of Steel was generally praised, the film as a whole didn't exactly make the impact that it intended, and the hopes of a sequel were shelved (and then abandoned altogether). After Returns, Routh's roles were few and far in-between, his most notable parts being a gay porn star in Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), a vegan bassist/supervillain in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), and the eponymous paranormal investigator in the critically and commercially savaged 2011 horror-comedy Dylan Dog: Dead of Night.
NIKKI BLONSKY
First Exposure/Career Takeoff...? Blonsky, then a 17-year-old employee at a New York Cold Stone Creamery, won her first professional acting role as lead protagonist Tracy Turnblad in the hugely acclaimed 2007 film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Hairspray, itself an adaptation of the 1988 John Waters cult classic film of the same name.
What Happened? Blonsky got rave reviews for her delightful performance as Turnblad (even scoring a Golden Globe nomination), but apart from supporting parts in two limited-release films that received little to no exposure, Blonsky hasn't been seen on the big screen since. She had a lead role in an ABC Family television movie that probably nobody saw-- because, well, it's ABC Family we're talking about-- and then got the lead in the short-lived (read: two months) television series Huge on the same network in 2010 (again, nobody watches ABC Family). Blonsky recently received a cosmetology license in New York, but apparently still hasn't given up on acting.
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