11 Actors Who Scored Huge Roles Before Their 20s And 9 Who Achieved Success After Their 40s
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An actor's big break can show up at any stage of life. For some entertainers, getting a huge role occurs early on in their acting pursuits.
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While for other performers, a life-changing professional moment may present itself after many years of dedication, hard work, and persistence.
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Here are 11 actors whose fame occurred prior to their 20th birthdays, along with 10 stars who scored major career breaks after turning 40.
1.A 14-year-old Matt Dillon was cutting class when he was discovered by a casting agent looking for kids at his school to act in Over the Edge. He was then hired to play Richie in the 1979 film, which led to his '80s teen idol status.
Matt has gone on to star in well-loved movies like The Outsiders, Drugstore Cowboy, There's Something About Mary, and Crash, to name a few. For the latter film, he received a 2006 Oscar nomination in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.
2.Drew Barrymore was hired to play Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at just six years old.
Director Steven Spielberg quickly decided to hire Drew after her audition, during which she told Steven about her fictional punk rock band, the Purple People Eaters. Playing Gertie in the iconic 1982 film kick-started Drew's prolific Hollywood career.
3.Hilary Duff was 13 when Lizzie McGuire started airing in 2001.
Hilary was ready to move back to her home state of Texas for good when she was given the chance to audition for the main character in the fan-favorite Disney Channel show, Bustle wrote in a 2022 interview with Hilary. She initially declined the offer but decided to give it a go after her mom encouraged her to do so.
4.Daniel Radcliffe was 11 when he was chosen to take on the lead role in the Harry Potter franchise.
Director Chris Columbus wanted Daniel for the part from the start, but casting director Janet Hirshenson said to HuffPost in 2016 that Daniel "just wasn’t interested." Daniel and his father, a literary agent, then saw Harry Potter producer David Heyman at a theater production. David approached the two and again asked Daniel about auditioning. This time around, Daniel agreed and earned the job after a series of screen tests.
5.River Phoenix embarked on his big break, portraying Chris Chambers in 1986's Stand by Me when he was 14.
River turned 15 during the summer that Stand by Me was filmed. He'd later star in movies like The Mosquito Coast, Running on Empty, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, My Own Private Idaho, and Dogfight. Furthermore, River scored an Oscar nomination for Running on Empty before his tragic death in 1993.
6.Jenna Ortega was 13 years old when she began portraying Harley Diaz in Stuck in the Middle.
Jenna had been in numerous other projects like Richie Rich and Jane the Virgin prior to winning this starring role on the Disney Channel series, which aired from 2016 to 2018.
7.Tyler James Williams was 12 years old when he first appeared as a young Chris Rock in Everybody Hates Chris.
In 2022, Tyler opened up to Yahoo Entertainment about how his face was "on literally every bus in New York City" leading up to the 2005 premiere of Everybody Hates Chris, which was "kind of traumatic" for the young star.
" ... I just wasn't used to that many eyeballs. And at 12 you just feel that as you're walking through a crowd," Tyler said.
8.Selena Gomez got her big break starring as Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place at 15 in 2007.
In 2021, Selena revisited her Disney Channel years, saying to Insider during a Television Critics Association panel, "I signed my life away to Disney at a very young age, so I didn't know exactly what I was doing."
9.Joseph Gordon-Levitt was 14 during the 1996 debut of 3rd Rock from the Sun, in which he played Tommy Solomon.
In a 2020 reunion with his 3rd Rock costar John Lithgow, Joseph said to John, "I remember that audition. I just remember getting laughs with you. And then I spent the next six years with you kind of teaching me what it meant to get a laugh from an audience."
10.Dakota Fanning carried out her breakthrough part of Lucy in I Am Sam when she was seven.
In this 2001 drama, Dakota got her first major film role as Lucy, a young girl whose father (Sean Penn) was a man with disabilities.
11.Macaulay Culkin was nine when Home Alone was filmed, after which his fame skyrocketed from playing Kevin McCallister in the 1990 family movie.
One reason Macaulay was selected for the part was that he didn't possess the typical child actor traits.
" ... He didn’t look like some kid you see on a TV show. This was a real kid," director Chris Columbus said of Macaulay in a 2020 chat with Yahoo Entertainment. "And he was funny and charming."
And these actors broke through after turning 40:
12.Although Viola Davis had many years of acting under her belt by 2008, she took on her breakout portrayal of Mrs. Miller in Doubt when the actor was 42.
"I felt like I had won $150,000,000 in the lottery; that was the feeling," Viola said to Screen Anarchy in 2008 regarding getting the part of Mrs. Miller.
Viola received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in 2009. She's since won an Oscar in 2016 for Fences.
13.Leslie Jones joined the Saturday Night Live cast at 47, making her the oldest person to ever become a series cast member.
Leslie was an SNL writer before being promoted to a featured player in 2014 during Season 40 of the long-running sketch comedy show. She'd previously been turned down as a cast member for Season 39 but ended up making appearances on SNL's Weekend Update, which led to her becoming a cast member. Leslie received three Emmy nominations throughout her years on SNL.
14.Alan Rickman turned 42 as he shot his first part in a feature film, Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
Prior to this popular 1988 flick, Alan was known for his work as an actor in theatrical productions. During an Entertainment Tonight interview in 1988, Alan stated that his professional experiences leading up to Die Hard went hand in hand with acting for the big screen.
"Each of them feeds the other, and if you've spent a long time doing one, it's great to move off to a different rhythm," Alan said while comparing acting on screen and on stage. "And actors are fortunate in that they can take their craft and job and put it into different environments."
15.Morgan Freeman got his breakthrough role in the 1987 crime-thriller Street Smart at 49 years old.
Morgan was then given an Oscar nomination for his performance as Fast Black in 1988. His success has continued to roll since then, with some of his most recognized films being Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, and Million Dollar Baby, for which he won an Academy Award in 2005. Morgan revisited getting the life-changing part in Street Smart in 2011.
"I walked the streets of Los Angeles, and I see people that walk in the streets now. And I think, 'Been there, done that,'" Morgan told the American Film Institute. "And you know, you just keep tap-dancing. Something good will happen. Don't sit down and say, 'I can't,' because then you can't."
16.Billy Bob Thornton was 41 when Sling Blade, a movie he wrote, directed, and starred in, brought him great acclaim.
After appearing as the character Karl Childers in 1996's Sling Blade, Billy Bob received two Academy Award nominations and took home an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. He's since discussed the timing of his career taking a triumphant turn.
"If I had made it as an actor when I was in my 20s or younger, I may not even be here now," Billy Bob said to People in 2022. He added, "I'm happy that things unfolded in a way that I didn't force, that they just happened. I still appreciate that."
17.Kathy Bates became well-known in the movie business after playing Annie Wilkes in Misery at the age of 41.
In 1991, Kathy was awarded an Oscar for her work in Misery. Before starring in this 1990 Stephen King adaptation, Kathy had been an accomplished Broadway actor. Following Misery, her onscreen career has stayed thriving with projects like Fried Green Tomatoes, Titanic, The Waterboy, and American Horror Story, to name a few.
18.Estelle Getty was 62 when she appeared on her first episode of The Golden Girls, in which she was cast as Sophia Petrillo.
Leading up to this legendary TV role, which started in 1985 and won her one Emmy, Estelle was primarily a stage actor. Though she charmed audiences on The Golden Girls, Estelle's costar Rue McClanahan later stated that Estelle had stage fright and would begin getting nervous the day before filming for the series, per the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences archive. On the days when shooting took place, Rue said Estelle was so nervous that "she was unreachable."
19.Although she had some smaller roles prior, Lucille Ball began playing Lucy Ricardo on I Love Lucy at the age of 40.
Meanwhile, Desi Arnaz, Lucille's real-life and TV husband, was 34 when the series first aired. Lucille played her unforgettable character from 1951 to 1957, during which time she won a 1956 Emmy and gained four additional Emmy nominations.
20.Lastly, Ty Burrell started playing Phil Dunphy in Modern Family when he was 41 in 2009.
The Emmy winner would go on to portray Phil in the sitcom for 11 seasons.
"I'm glad I had to wait until my 40s for success," Ty told the Guardian in 2014. "I was not a mature young man and would probably have gone off the rails."
He added, " ...Before Modern Family, I was always cast as the guy who got his comeuppance – and was usually killed or fired. It's nice to play someone well-intentioned now."
Moral of the story — your victory could be around the corner, and whenever it happens, the timing will be just right!
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