Random Child Stars Who Got Fired Because They Grew Up Too Fast (11 items)

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  (#9) Ella And Jaden Hiller

  The parents of child stars are frequently stereotyped as power-hungry narcissists with less than noble intentions for their kids, but in the case of Doug and Michelle Hiller, things luckily took a different turn. When twins Ella and Jaden were cast as Lily Tucker-Pritchett, the adopted daughter of Cam and Mitchell on the ABC sitcom Modern Family, it came as a happy surprise to their parents. But as the girls got older, it became clear they did not enjoy being on set for such long hours. The producers attempted to raise their pay in order to entice the family to stick around, but Ella and Jaden’s parents ultimately removed them from the show.
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  (#4) Lisa Bonet

  • 51

  Lisa Bonet (Denise Huxtable) was a standout on The Cosby Show from the start, and a whole new spin-off series, A Different World, was created to follow Denise through college. After the first season, Lisa Bonet got together with rock star Lenny Kravitz and became pregnant with their child, Zoe. The shows' creators, including Bill Cosby himself, decided that Bonet's pregnancy did not match the "wholesome" values of the show, and promptly sent her character off on a journey to Africa.
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  (#10) Anna Popplewell

  • 30

  Luckily for Anna Popplewell and her costar William Moseley, the classic C. S. Lewis novels that inspired the films gave them a heads up about their expiration date in this franchise. Moseley and Popplewell starred as the two eldest Pevensie children in 2005’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and its 2008 follow up, Prince Caspian. But at the end of Caspian, Aslan gave Peter and Susan the proverbial boot from ever returning to Narnia due to their age.
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  (#1) Malcolm David Kelley

  • 26

  Lost is a show full of mysteries and cryptic plot turns – like, say, what happened to Michael’s 10-year-old son, Walt. The writers originally planned to make Walt a pivotal presence on the island, but puberty caught up with actor Malcolm David Kelley to the point where he could no longer convincingly play a 10-year-old boy. Walt was sent away in a life raft after Season 2, though Kelley returned as a guest star three more times.

  When questioned about Walt in 2007, executive producer Damon Lindelof said, "We've always known Malcolm was going to grow faster than we could shoot the show. And we planned for it." However, after the show ended, Lindelof quipped that they expected the show to get canceled, and thought they wouldn't have to deal with Kelley aging.
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  (#3) Bobby Driscoll

  • Dec. at 31 (1937-1968)

  The boy who brought the voice of Disney’s Peter Pan to life had a far different ending to his journey than his animated counterpart. Bobby Driscoll was a key member of Walt Disney’s wheelhouse of bright-eyed child stars, with roles in classic films like Song of the South, Treasure Island, and, of course, Peter Pan, all under his belt by the time he was 16 years old. Unfortunately for Driscoll, he was stricken with severe acne not too long after Pan, and Disney studio heads unceremoniously terminated his contract.
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  (#8) Soleil Moon Frye

  • 42

  Child actor Soleil Moon Frye is primarily remembered by viewers as the lovable Punky Brewster, a role she played from 1984 to 1988. Shortly after the show took off, Frye was diagnosed with gigantomastia, a rare condition that causes young women’s breasts to grow unusually large at an early age. This proved to be a challenge for the show, since the Punky character is supposed to be a child. Rather than replace the actor, the creators opted to end the show after four seasons.

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