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10 Nerdy Child Actors Who Grew Up To Be HOT

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Some kids just don’t stay awkward forever, and this list from TheThings Celebrity proves it.

Every so often the internet resurfaces the same jaw-dropping realization: the gap-toothed kid from your favorite childhood movie is now, unmistakably, a grown adult who cleans up extremely well. TheThings Celebrity’s rundown of “10 Child Actors Who Grew Up To Be very Good Looking” leans into exactly that whiplash, tracking former child stars from their braces-and-oversized-glasses era into red-carpet-ready adulthood. The transformations span major franchises, from indie darlings to studio tentpoles, and the video treats each one as its own little glow-up case study.

• Abigail Breslin went from the bespectacled, gap-toothed Olive Hoover in 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine — a role that earned her an Academy Award nomination — to sharing scenes with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in 2013’s August: Osage County and starring as Chanel #5 (Libby Putney) on Fox’s Scream Queens, all by age 20.
• Alexa Vega (now PenaVega) started acting at six in 1994’s Little Giants, became the tomboy secret agent Carmen Cortez across the Spy Kids franchise from 2001 to 2011, then took on grittier, more mature roles like Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills and competed on Season 21 of Dancing with the Stars in late 2015.
• Josh Peck’s transformation involved dropping 110 pounds after his run on Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh, changing his look enough that longtime fans of the show often don’t recognize him.

Abigail Breslin’s Path From Olive Hoover to Scream Queens

Breslin was ten years old when Little Miss Sunshine hit theaters in 2006, and Olive’s oversized glasses and gap-toothed grin became one of the more indelible images of that year’s indie film crop — indelible enough to land her an Oscar nomination. A decade later, at 20, she’d worked her way into an ensemble drama stacked with two of the biggest names in film, holding her own opposite Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in August: Osage County. By the time she signed on as Chanel #5, also known as Libby Putney, on Fox’s horror-comedy Scream Queens, the shift from indie kid to leading adult actress was complete.

By 20, Breslin had traded Olive Hoover’s oversized glasses for scenes alongside Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Alexa Vega’s Turn From Spy Kid to Leading Lady

Vega was six when she appeared in 1994’s Little Giants, but it was Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids franchise that made her a household name, casting her as the tough, tomboyish Carmen Cortez across four films between 2001 and 2011. Fans who grew up with that franchise likely did a double take watching her age 27 self take on more provocative, adult-oriented roles like Rodriguez’s Machete Kills in 2013, or compete for a mirror-ball trophy on Season 21 of Dancing with the Stars in late 2015. The video frames her right alongside Breslin as one of the clearest before-and-after cases in the whole list, similar to the way Harry Potter’s Matthew Lewis became a go-to comparison for dramatic child-star transformations.

Other Child Stars Who Leveled Up

Josh Peck’s arc runs the other direction from a pure looks change — after his run as the heavier half of Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh, he dropped 110 pounds and reemerged looking like a different person entirely. Jonathon Lipnicki, the blond kid audiences knew from Jerry Maguire, Stuart Little, and Like Mike, took his own unexpected turn into competitive Brazilian jiu-jitsu, building a physique that bears little resemblance to the cherubic child actor. And Daveigh Chase, whose long black hair made her the stuff of nightmares in The Ring, later took on roles in the TV series Big Love and the film Obsessed on Campus, a long way removed from her horror-movie beginnings.

Fans of this kind of childhood-to-adulthood tracking tend to gravitate toward similar rundowns, like the ongoing fascination with how the cast of That ’70s Show has really transformed since the sitcom wrapped, or the years-long documentation of Jason Momoa’s transformation from childhood to 42. The appeal is the same in every case — a familiar face from a specific role, viewed years later through a completely different lens.