’90s Child Stars Who Grew Up To Be Unrecognizable

The 1990’s were filled with amazing movies (including these 12 iconic must-watches) and television, often featuring child stars. Some of these projects would come to define the generation, and the young actors’ lives. Whether it was because of their time on a sitcom, or films that became comfort watches for then-peer-aged children and teens, audiences still know many of these actors as the kids they were introduced to, not as the adults they grew up to be.

Many child stars continue to act today, though some have retired to lead a life out of the public eye. Audiences might not realize some of the former are still on screen, though, because they look very different than they did some 30 years ago. Not only are these kids all grown up, with the scars and wrinkles everyone earns over time, but they’ve gone through things that have changed them in big ways. From different personal styles and very different, sometimes tragic lives, it can make it hard for fans recognize the actors on our list as the child stars they used to love. These actors have become almost unrecognizable. Our memories of them are still special.

Macaulay Culkin is one of the most well-known child actors of the ’90s, as the star of the annual holiday classic “Home Alone.” The Chris Columbus-directed blockbuster wasn’t his first role, however. That honor goes to an uncredited part in the 1985 made-for-TV horror project “The Midnight Hour.” Still, Kevin McCallister’s Christmas war against a pair of bandits is what earned the actor a Golden Globe nomination and a Young Artist Award for best leading actor. Culkin went on to appear as Thomas in the 1992 rom-com “My Girl,” as evil cousin Henry in 1993’s “The Good Son,” and as the titular character in the 1994 comedy “Richie Rich.”

The actor is enjoying a career revival thanks to “American Horror Story” and his desire to work with star Kathy Bates, and he’s slated for upcoming appearances in Prime Video’s “Fallout” and “Zootopia 2.” Still, some might not recognize him as an adult today. He often sports graying facial hair and glasses, and he is prone to growing his hair out from time to time, which can make it a bit difficult to identify him after remembering the clean-cut child actor that he was. 

There were rumors that his long-haired and rumpled appearance in the early 2010s was due to substance use. In an interview with The Guardian in 2017, Culkin put those theories to rest. “I was not pounding six grand of heroin every month or whatever,” the actor said. He was enjoying life, doing shows with his band The Pizza Underground, and learning more about himself, something he didn’t get to do when he was in the limelight as a teen.

Mara Wilson was our designated cute actor of the ’90s. She got her start on screen as Nattie in “Mrs. Doubtfire,” but is also known for the precocious Susan in the 1994 version of “Miracle on 34th Street,” the titular character of “Matilda,” and for starring opposite Martin Short in the children’s fantasy film “A Simple Wish.” Wilson took a break from acting in 2000 to focus on her writing, but she returned to the film industry in 2012.

After more than a decade, the actor was unrecognizable when she returned. Most of that is simply because she went from being a famous little girl to a grown adult, with all the physical changes that brings. Wilson has talked openly about growing up; penning an article that was published in The Guardian about the difficulties of being known as a “cute” actor, her changing appearance as she grew up in the spotlight, and people reacting to her looks as an adult.

“I used to feel compelled to respond. Once I contacted the author of a list of ‘Ugliest Former Child Actors’ to ask her why, as a woman, she was punishing other women for the way they looked,” Wilson wrote. “It is not my job to be pretty, or cute, or anything that someone else wants me to be.” Growing up is just something everyone needs to do.

Known as T.J. Henderson in The WB sitcom “Smart Guy,” Tahj Mowry was in the public eye starting at just 4 years old. He was a preteen when “Smart Guy” aired, and while he continued to act after what would be his most popular project, many fans still picture him as the youngest Henderson child from that hit sitcom, or as the real life younger brother to “Sister, Sister” twin stars Tia and Tamera Mowry. Though he took a break from acting in 2007 that lasted through 2012, audiences might know him now for the ABC Freeform series “Baby Daddy.” Here he’s Tucker, a roommate to titular daddy Ben Wheeler (Jean-Luc Bilodeau).

Mowry is also unrecognizable because he simply grew up. He often sports facial hair today, which can make it difficult to connect him to that young actor from “Smart Guy,” and has had stylish cuts and colors over the years. His most notable facial features, his eyebrows and ears, still look the same, so fans can still recognize Mowry if they’re sharp. The actor’s body has also tuned up, and he regularly posts videos and photographs of his workout routines on Instagram, giving his fans a look into his life day-to-day.

Brandon “Bug” Hall is best known for portraying Alfalfa in “The Little Rascals” in 1994. The movie was his first role, and the actor went on to appear on shows throughout the early 2000s, with guest spots on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Cold Case,” “Charmed,” and “The O.C.” Hall’s streak of quality guest roles continued into the 2010s with “Masters of Sex,” “Criminal Minds,” “Castle,” and “90210.” When he and his family moved to a farm in Arkansas in 2020, he stopped acting, though his fans can still connect with him on social media. 

Today, Hall is unrecognizable, and that’s not only because he grew up from the little kid people remember him as. Alfalfa is a very stylized character, with an iconic (if unfortunate) hair style and outfit, which would make it difficult to recognize anyone outside of the costume. Based on videos posted on his YouTube channel and images on his X account, Hall now sports a full length beard and mustache, as well as longer hair that’s a mile away from that wild childhood cowlick.

“Hocus Pocus” fans know Thora Birch first as Dani Dennison, Max’s (Omri Katz) Halloween-loving sister. While the role put Birch on the map, her career after that magical classic is what showed off her range. The 1999 film “American Beauty,” starring Kevin Spacey, gave Birch numerous award nominations for her portrayal of Jane, the daughter to Spacey’s Lester. Her award considerations continued with the 2001 movie “Ghost World,” which saw her play Enid opposite Scarlett Johansson’s Rebecca. Though there was a short gap in her work in the 2010s, Birch returned to screens and took on roles behind the camera, directing the 2022 Lifetime project “The Gabby Petito Story” and appearing in a surprising role as Gamma in “The Walking Dead.”

The actress looks different now thanks to both the normal aging process and differing hair colors over the years. Despite that, her eyes are the same, and she has a bit of a different, chic style on the red carpet now, one that isn’t what people pushed on her at the height of her career. “I just felt like I was making people angry, because I wouldn’t wear the frilly bows,” she said to The Guardian in 2014.

Known as George Little in 1999’s “Stuart Little” and 2002’s “Stuart Little 2,” Jonathan Lipnicki’s career began when he appeared opposite Tom Cruise in 1996’s “Jerry Maguire.” Here he plays Ray, the son of Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger), whom Cruise’s Jerry enters a romantic relationship with. Lipnicki’s career continued into the early 2000s with a three episode arc on “Dawson’s Creek,” and appearances as himself on shows like “Saturday Night Live.” Though he gradually appeared in fewer projects over the years, he was a contestant on “Worst Cooks in America” in 2019 as part of their celebrity season, and features in the 2024 slasher film “Camp Pleasant Lake.”

Gone is the spiked blond hair and “Harry Potter” glasses people knew Lipnicki for in the ’90s. His hair has naturally darkened as an adult, the bane of many a fair-haired kid, and today he sometimes wears it a bit longer. He’s also ditched the eyewear. Some fans of the child star were taken aback to realize he was the heart of their favorite childhood movies when he appeared on the Brotherly Love podcast in December 2023, sporting shoulder length hair.

Amanda Bynes joined the cast of the children’s sketch comedy “All That” in 1996, and her career sparked from there. She earned her own spin-off comedy, “The Amanda Show,” in 1999, and was one of the most in-demand teen stars of the 2000s. Audiences also knew her for starring opposite Channing Tatum in 2006’s “She’s All That,” the 2010 cult classic “Easy A,” and for The WB sitcom “What I Like About You.”

The actress has been open about her tough personal life and how it has caused changes in her appearance. While speaking with Paper in 2018, Bynes discussed her substance use, saying that she “started smoking marijuana” at 16 years old, which later led to “definitely [abusing] Adderall” in an attempt to control her weight. In March 2024, she shared on Instagram (as archived by Page Six) that she put on 20 pounds due to depression, and how she hoped to use diet and exercise to lose 50 pounds.

Today, Bynes doesn’t always have the blond hair people know her for, often sporting a dyed jet black color. She has some facial piercings, the outline of a heart tattooed on her cheek, and uses makeup to make her eyebrows thicker. The actress has also had some cosmetic procedures, posting about lip injections in August 2025, as also reported by Page Six.

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA’s Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

Jaleel White is iconic for playing Steve Urkel on “Family Matters.” While Steve was only meant to appear in a single episode, audiences loved him so much that he became a series staple, cementing himself in pop culture history as one of the funniest characters of the ’90s. After over 200 episodes of the show, he went on to host game shows like “Total Blackout” and the still-airing “Flip Side.” He has also voiced popular characters like Sonic the Hedgehog, and recently journeyed to a galaxy far, far away when he took on a recurring role as the space pirate, Gunter, in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”

His most famous character is iconically known for big glasses, fun patterned shirts, and suspenders. When you remove all of that, it can make it hard to identify White as the actor behind Urkel, especially as an adult. In addition to those ordinary changes, the actor wears his hair differently than Urkel ever did, and typically keeps a short beard. He’s a long way from the ’90s, but still going strong.

Edward Furlong’s career began when he played John Connor in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” His resume broadened afterward with roles in the 1992 horror film “Pet Sematary 2,” the 1993 Kathy Bates-led drama “A Home of Our Own,” and the 1998 drama hit “American History X,” also starring Edward Norton. Furlong continues to act intermittently, appearing in budget horror movies like 2006’s “The Visitation,” 2009’s “Night of the Demons,” and 2013’s “The Zombie King.” He even did facial motion capture to return as John Connor for “Terminator: Dark Fate.”

The actor is unrecognizable now, compared who he was back in “Terminator.” On the American Glutton podcast in 2021, Furlong opened up about how alcohol, substance use, and compulsive eating impacted his appearance to host Ethan Suplee, who he had worked with on “American History X.” Sobriety not only changed his relationship with food, but encouraged him to be a healthier person in general. “I started trying to be more healthy in general. That’s when I started working out all the time … trying to eat healthier,” the actor said. “It’s a process of like, figuring out like, the healthy eating too.”

He found that, because of his substance use earlier in life, his body reacts differently to things, which has made his journey difficult. But he’s trying to make swaps where he can. “I like, wake up in the middle of the night, and I always like, f***ing go to the fridge and like, gorge on food,” he continued. “So I try to put healthy stuff in there.”

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA’s Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

Watching John Hammond’s grandchildren survive the dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park” is one of the best parts of the movie. Lex Murphy, played by Ariana Richards, is smart and savvy, even when she’s scared out of her mind by a life-sized T. Rex. The role put the actress on Hollywood’s radar, even though she had already spent the early ’90s earning Young Artist nominations for a variety of TV movie and big screen performances, ultimately winning four — including one for “Jurassic Park.” Though she maintained a successful career during her childhood, as an adult, she turned away from acting to focus on her art.

Like all of us who saw “Jurassic Park” premiere in the theatre, Richards has grown up, and her appearance has changed as a result. Now in her 40s, Richards has aged as gracefully as possible. Though her natural hair color has darkened, she keeps it highlighted, keeping it similar in color to when she was our kid-aged hero. With the personal photos she posts on Instagram, fans can watch her change in time with us all, including a variety of different hair colors she’s chosen over the years.

Omri Katz is best known for being Max Dennison in “Hocus Pocus,” but his first role was as John Ross Ewing III in CBS soap opera “Dallas.” With nearly 150 episodes under his belt, the show established his career, even if people recognize him more today for the Disney movie. He continued to appear on television after “Hocus Pocus,” with guest roles in “Freaks and Geeks” and “General Hospital,” and a recurring role as Tony in “The John Larroquette Show.” The actor also returned to the “Dallas” universe with the television film “Dallas: J.R. Returns” in 1996.

Katz’s last role on screen was in 2002. He left Hollywood to explore other career options, including hairdressing and being a business owner. He has appeared at conventions and other events, especially alongside his “Hocus Pocus” cast members, and he can be hard for fans to recognize. Katz has a graying beard and shorter hair than the longer cut Max featured in the Halloween film, and his cheeks have thinned. Those are all normal things to be expected of a man now in his late 40s, but it can still cause a double-take.

“Family Matters” is home to several big child stars of the ’90s, and Bryton James is just one of them. He was Richie Crawford, the sneaky only child of Rachel (Telma Hopkins). The actor started on the series when he was kindergarten age, and was part of the cast from Season 2 through 9. Since “Family Matters,” Bryton been a part of the soap opera “The Young and the Restless” as Devon Hamilton for over 20 years. He lent his voice to “Star Wars Rebels” and the DC Universe show “Young Justice,” and even had a recurring role on popular The CW drama “The Vampire Diaries.”

Richie had long, curly hair as a child, setting him apart from Steve Urkel and his shorter styles. As an adult, not only has Bryton aged, but he sports a shaved head. He also has trimmed facial hair and thinner cheeks, making his appearance far different than the character many know him for. Watching “The Young and the Restless” can help audiences see the changes over time, but for those just tuning in, it might be difficult to recognize him. For all the child actors we’ve loved, time has been many things, but never boring.