18 Celebs Who Became Famous As Little Kids, And We Blinked And They Grew Up

Every day on the internet makes me feel just a teeny bit older — and the most recent thing that made me contemplate my retirement plan was seeing how much Jacob Tremblay grew literally just in the time it took from The Little Mermaid production to its theatrical release.

Jacob was only 12 when he first landed the role of Flounder — and now he's 16! And just like Jacob, there are so many talented young actors and singers who've been on the scene for so long that now they're teens and twentysomethings. Let's take a look back:

1.Here's Jacob Tremblay when he burst onto the scene in Room (2015):

Closeup of Jacob Tremblay
Jeffrey Mayer / WireImage

Here's Jacob Tremblay now at age 16, promoting The Little Mermaid:

Jacob Tremblay
Joe Maher / WireImage

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Jacob Tremblay then vs. now
Jeffrey Mayer / Joe Maher / WireImage

2.Here's Mckenna Grace in 2013:

Closeup of Mckenna Grace

Here's Mckenna Grace now at 16:

Closeup of Mckenna Grace
Karwai Tang / WireImage

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Mckenna Grace then and now
Angela Weiss / Getty Images / Karwai Tang / WireImage

Adorably, McKenna and Jacob are close friends, and she recently supported him at The Little Mermaid premiere.

Mckenna Grace and Jacob Tremblay

3.Jacob's not the only Little Mermaid star who's been famous for a while! Here's Halle Bailey when she rose to fame in 2012 winning Disney's Next Big Thing alongside her sister, Chloë — she was 12 at the time, so the age that Jacob was when he voiced Flounder...

Closeup of Halle Bailey
Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic

And here's Halle — now a literal Disney princess at age 23 — on The Little Mermaid red carpet:

Closeup of Halle Bailey
Brendon Thorne / Getty Images

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Halle Bailey then vs. now
Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic / Brendon Thorne / Getty Images

4.Here's Chloe Bailey — aka Chloë — when she rose to fame along with Halle in 2012:

Closeup of Chloe Bailey
Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic

And here's Chloë now at 24:

Closeup of Chloe Bailey

Chloë dropped her first solo album, In Pieces, this year.

Axelle / FilmMagic

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Chloe Bailey then vs. now
Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic / Axelle / FilmMagic

And of course, here's a side-by-side of Chloë and Halle together:

Side-by-side of Halle and Chloe together
Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic / John Shearer / WireImage

5.Here's Anna Cathcart when she played Lara Jean's younger sister Kitty in 2018's To All the Boy's I've Loved Before:

Closeup of Anna Cathcart
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

And here she is promoting her spin-off series XO, Kitty now at age 19:

Closeup of Anna Cathcart
Steve Granitz / FilmMagic

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Anna Cathcart then vs. now
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images / Steve Granitz / FilmMagic

In extremely cute news, her To All the Boys costar Noah Centineo came to support her in XO, Kitty and recreated a cute behind-the-scenes photo from the original movie:

Noah Centineo and Anna Cathcart

6.Here's Sophia Grace and Rosie in 2011, after they rose to fame on Ellen:

Sophia Grace and Rosie
Christopher Polk / Getty Images for AMA

Here's Sophia Grace (20) and Rosie (16) now:

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Sophia Grace and Rosie

Sophia Grace welcomed her first child — a baby boy named River — in February.

7.Here's Mason Ramsey when he became famous in 2018 after he yodeled in Walmart:

Closeup of Mason Ramsey
Image Group La / Disney Channel via Getty Images

And here he is now at age 16:

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Mason Ramsey then vs. now

8.Here's Florence Hunt just after she first played Hyacinth on Bridgerton in 2020:

And here's Florence now at age 16:

Closeup of Florence Hunt
Kate Green / Getty Images for eOne

9.Here's Will Tilston in 2017 after he starred in Goodbye Christopher Robin — he would go on to play younger sibling Gregory Bridgerton in Bridgerton:

Closeup of Will Tilston
Desiree Navarro / WireImage

And here's Will Tilston now at age 16:

Closeup of Will Tilston
Karwai Tang / WireImage

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Will Tilston then vs. now
Desiree Navarro / WireImage / Karwai Tang

And here's a cute throwback pic of both of them on set just for fun:

10.Here's Mia Talerico when she played a literal baby on Good Luck Charlie in 2010:

Baby Mia Talerico
Craig Sjodin / Disney Channel via Getty Images

And here's Mia Talerico now at age 14:

Closeup of Mia Talerico

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Mia Talerico then vs. now
Craig Sjodin / Disney Channel via Getty Images / Michael Tullberg / Getty Images

11.Here's Aubrey Anderson-Emmons who played Lily on Modern Family starting in 2011:

Closeup of Aubrey Anderson-Emmons
David Livingston / Getty Images

And here they are now at age 16:

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Aubrey Anderson-Emmons then vs. now
David Livingston / Paul Archuleta / Getty Images

12.Here's Marsai Martin in 2014 when she started starring on Black-ish:

Closeup of Marsai Martin

And here's Marsai now at age 18:

Closeup of Marsai Martin
Axelle / FilmMagic

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Marsai Martin then vs. now
Albert L. Ortega / WireImage / Axelle / FilmMagic

13.Here's Bella Ramsey during the height of Game of Thrones in 2018:

Closeup of Bella Ramsey
David M. Benett / Dave Benett / Getty Images

And here they now at age 19:

Closeup of Bella Ramsey

Of course, Bella kept their HBO hit streak up with their starring role in this year's The Last of Us.

Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Bella Ramsey then vs. now
David M. Benett / Dave Benett / Getty Images / Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

14.Here's Javon Walton when he rose to fame in 2019 as Ashtray in Euphoria:

Closeup of Javon Walton
Gregg Deguire / FilmMagic

And here's Javon now at age 16:

Closeup of Javon Walton

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Javon Walton then vs. now
Gregg Deguire / FilmMagic / Axelle / FilmMagic

15.Here's Iain Armitage in 2016 — around when he starred on Big Little Lies and just before his breakout role on Young Sheldon:

Closeup of Iain Armitage
Walter Mcbride / WireImage

And here's Iain Armitage now at age 14:

Closeup of Iain Armitage
Amanda Edwards / Getty Images

And here's a side-by-side:

side-by-side of Iain Armitage then vs. now
Walter Mcbride / WireImage / Amanda Edwards / Getty Images

16.Here's Storm Reid in 2013, after she had her first big film role in 12 Years a Slave:

Closeup of Storm Reid

A few years later, she'd have starring roles in movies like Sleight and A Wrinkle in Time.

Allen Berezovsky / WireImage

And here's Storm Reid now at age 19:

Closeup of Storm Reid
Daniele Venturelli / WireImage

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Storm Reid then vs. now
Allen Berezovsky / Daniele Venturelli / WireImage

17.Here's Mackenzie Foy in 2012 — of course, you'll recognize her as THE Renesmee Cullen of Twilight saga fame:

Closeup of Mackenzie Foy
Jason Laveris / FilmMagic

And here she is now at age 22:

Closeup of Mackenzie Foy
Unique Nicole / Getty Images

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Mackenzie Foy then vs. now
Jason Laveris / FilmMagic / Unique Nicole / Getty Images

18.Finally, here's Jenna Ortega in 2014, before she ever even starred on the Disney Channel:

Closeup of Jenna Ortega

Her first notable role was playing young Jane on Jane the Virgin.

Paul Redmond / Getty Images

Here's Jenna Ortega now at age 20:

Closeup of Jenna Ortega
Cindy Ord / Getty Images

And here's a side-by-side:

Side-by-side of Jenna Ortega then vs. now
Paul Redmond / Getty Images / Cindy Ord / Getty Images