9 Celebs You Had No Idea Were Child Stars And 8 Who Found Fame Later In Life

Have you ever wondered exactly how and when your favorite celebs became famous? Did they achieve stardom from birth, or did they have to work their way into the acting industry slowly? Did they find their fame as children, or come into the profession later in life? For some stars, the answer is obvious. Everyone knows that actress and writer Mara Wilson got her big break playing the titular role in Matilda, while Emma Watson started her career playing young witch Hermione Granger. However, others have more surprising origins.

A lot of the celebs on this list we were shocked to see that they were child stars because we really had no idea! They didn't necessarily get their first gig on a hit show or in a blockbuster movie, but they were child stars nonetheless! It seems that age really is just a number in the acting business: you can have a successful career no matter how old you are when you start! Here are just a few celebs who prove this to be true.

17 Keira Knightley Made Her Film Debut Aged Just Ten

British actress Keira Knightley is famous for her roles in drama films like Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, and The Duchess. However, not many people realize that she had a successful career as a child actress before she became a leading lady. She got her first agent at the age of six and started off playing small parts in commercials and TV shows. Knightley landed her first blockbuster role aged just fourteen, playing the role of Sabe, the handmaiden of Natalie Portman's Padme Amidala, in Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace.

After securing this first major role, Knightley's career went from strength to strength. She gained the lead role in Disney movie Princess of Thieves, playing Robin Hood's daughter, in 2002. Shortly after this, she made a very pronounced move into mature roles, playing a pregnant drug addict in the drama film Pure. Knightley has now been on our screens for over twenty years!

16 Modern Family's Ty Burrell Didn't Hit The Screen Until He Hit 30

Modern Family star Ty Burrell's acting career got off to a pretty slow start. While he took on occasional stage work after graduating from college, he didn't appear on our screens until the early 2000s. By this point, Burrell was in his 30s, and he was still only managing to bag brief guest spots. In fairness, he did so on some pretty impressive shows: he starred in Law and Order multiple times (as different characters) and even appeared in the critically acclaimed political drama The West Wing.

It wasn't until he was cast as realtor Phil Dunphy in Modern Family that Burrell really became a household name. It looks like the role was worth waiting for - Burrell was nominated for eight consecutive Emmy awards from 2010 to 2017 for his performance, winning twice. The show was renewed for a tenth season this year and shows no sign of losing popularity. Ty got there in the end!

15 Jessica Alba Was A Child Actor - But Her Kids Won't Follow In Her Footsteps

Jessica Alba first expressed an interest in acting at the tender age of five. However, she didn't manage to convince her mother to let her try her hand at the profession until she was 11 and competing in an acting contest. Alba won the competition, with the grand prize being acting lessons. Just nine months later, young Jessica was signed by an agent.

Alba quickly became a familiar face in the acting world. She starred in commercials for huge companies like Nintendo and J. C. Penney, as well as gaining a role in the popular Nickelodeon show The Secret World of Alex Mack. TV roles turned into film roles, and by the time she turned 18 Alba was a sought-after Hollywood actress.

Despite her child acting career being ultimately successful, Alba has stated that she won't let her kids join the business until they're at least 18. She doesn't want them to suffer the same pressures she did, and would rather they enjoyed their childhood than spent it constantly working. Still, she doesn't regret her 11-year-old self's choice to enter the acting world.

14 Kristen Wiig Was 30 When She Made Her TV Debut

It's hard to imagine a time when comedienne and actress Kristen Wiig wasn't gracing our screens with her hilarious presence. However, it took actually her until the age of thirty to make her TV debut. Prior to leaving college, Wiig was preparing to take a job as an artist drawing pictures of people's post-plastic bodies. However, she realized in the nick of time that this really wasn't the career for her, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. She made her debut in 2003 on The Joe Schmo Show before landing her Saturday Night Live gig in 2005.

Even then, Wiig took a while to truly crack Hollywood. She got her first lead role in 2011 - aged 38 - in the comedy movie Paul, with her hit movie Bridesmaids coming out in the same year. Wiig now acts in a range of comedic and serious roles and is finally getting the recognition she deserves.

13 Fergie Got Her Big Break At Nine Years Old

Pop star Fergie is best known for being a member of the Black Eyed Peas. However, she started her career in the acting business, getting her big break at just nine years old. Her first role was as a voice actress in the Peanuts cartoon The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. However, Fergie - then still known as Stacy Ann Ferguson - really rose to prominence in 1984 on the famous TV show Kids Incorporated. She was the show's longest-running cast member during her six-season stint, eventually leaving the program to form the band Wild Orchid.

Unfortunately, the stress of being a child actor led to Fergie developing issues with anxiety and depression. She began using crystal meth to escape from her negative thoughts and developed an addiction to the drug that lasted several years. Fergie has now been clean for over a decade, describing meth as "the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with".

12 Naomi Watts Got Her Big Break In Her Thirties

Naomi Watts is one of Hollywood's biggest stars. She's been nominated for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe and has dozens of leading film credits to her name. However, it took Naomi many years of toil and struggle to finally find success in the acting industry. Despite starting out in the business at the age of 18, she secured only minor roles and fleeting gigs for many years. She also had near misses with a number of major roles, narrowly losing out to other actresses in the films The Postman, The Devil's Advocate, and Meet the Parents.

It wasn't until 2001 that Watts' unlucky streak ended and she finally got her big break. She was cast in the psychological thriller Mulholland Drive and was heavily praised by critics. The 2000s saw her receive a steady stream of major roles, and her days of struggle finally ended. Naomi really is the model of persistence!

11 Lea Michele Began Acting Way Before Her Big Break In Glee

Lea Michele shot to stardom after being cast as lead character Rachel Berry in the FOX series Glee. While many people assumed that it was Michele's first major role, she'd actually been active in the entertainment business for 14 years before she joined the show. Michele made her Broadway debut aged just eight years old as a replacement for young Cosette in Les Misérables. She also starred in productions of Ragtime and Fiddler on the Roof, gaining a whole host of impressive stage credits before her eighteenth birthday.

Despite being constantly on stage during her childhood, Michele didn't really make the transition to the screen until she was cast in Glee. She only has two credits from her younger years, the first being a voice acting role in the 1998 Christmas movie Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night. She also had a brief role in the crime drama Third Watch back in 2000. However, Michele's real big break came when she combined her love of screen acting and musicals and landed her role in Glee.

10 Jenna Fischer Didn't Get A Speaking Role Until She Was 27

The Office actress Jenna Fischer is another star who had a pretty rough time at the start of her career. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 24 to pursue her dream of acting, and although she was signed by an agent almost immediately, she found it very difficult to get good quality roles. Fischer's first paying film role was in a sex education video for psychiatric patients, and she didn't actually get a speaking part in anything until she was 27.

In 2004, Fischer became so frustrated about her lack of roles that she wrote, directed and starred in her own mockumentary. Entitled LolliLove, the film ended up being a hit and was the kickstart that Fischer needed. She secured her role in The Office a year later and has been steadily successful ever since.

9 Scarlett Johansson Decided She Wanted to Act Aged Seven

Scarlett Johansson decided that she wanted to become an actress at the young age of seven - and experienced her first setback soon afterward. She was left heartbroken when a talent scout signed one of her brothers instead of her but resolved to keep on trying to crack the business. Aged nine, she starred in the fantasy comedy film North as John Ritter's daughter. She followed this up with a turn as Sean Connery's father in the mystery thriller Just Cause.

Johansson's success really began when she hit her teens. Her first leading role came in 1996 when she played the younger sister of a pregnant teenage runaway in Manny and Lo. She got such positive reviews that offers for roles began to flood in. She made brief appearances in Home Alone 3 and Fall before landing another leading role in Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer. After this, Johansson was a permanent fixture in the Hollywood scene. She transitioned into adult roles in 2003, and the rest is history.

8 Amy Poehler Joined SNL When She Was 30

Amy Poehler is another actress and comedienne who started her career relatively late. While she joined various improvised comedy groups both during and after college, Poehler didn't get her first on-screen role until she was 30 years old. This role was her Saturday Night Live gig, the job that would ultimately launch her entire career. Poehler remained on SNL from 2001 to 2008, after which she left to join the cast of Parks and Recreation.

From this point onwards, Poehler's career has been consistently successful. She stayed on Parks until its cancelation in 2015 and subsequently wrote a best-selling book. She's got dozens of screen and writing credits to her name and has won Golden Globes and Emmys for her work. Starting late didn't affect her at all - Amy has bossed the industry regardless!

7 Ryan Reynolds First Hit Our Screens As A Teen

Ryan Reynolds is one of Hollywood's most in-demand hunks, starring in rom-coms like The Proposal and the superhero movie Deadpool. However, he began his career as a baby-faced teen back in 1991. Reynolds' first role was in the Canadian teen soap opera Hillside, later aired on Nickelodeon as Fifteen. He later featured as the title character's love interest, Seth, in the movie version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Unfortunately, he didn't get the girl - he lost out to classic Sabrina character Harvey!

Reynolds' childhood career was pretty short compared to those of some of his peers, but his experiences still gave him a bit of a head-start in the acting industry. He transitioned into more mature roles in the 1999 teen comedy Coming Soon and has experienced significant success ever since. Plus, he's ended up married to Blake Lively. Ryan did well!

6 Kathy Baker Made Her Screen Debut Aged 33

Actress Kathy Baker didn't join the entertainment industry until she was well into her 30's. Prior to landing her first film role in 1983's The Right Stuff, she'd studied French at UC Berkeley. However, she didn't end up pursuing a career in languages and instead decided to follow her dream of becoming a professional actress. Despite her late start, Baker quickly made a name for herself in the industry. She made critically acclaimed turns in movies like Street Smart and Edward Scissorhands before really achieving stardom through her TV work.

Baker won the Best Actress Emmy three times for her role as small-town doctor Jill Brock in the hit drama Picket Fences, alongside a Golden Globe for the same role in 1994. By the early 2000s, she was picking up Emmy Nominations on a practically annual basis. She's now appeared in over 50 on-screen and theatrical roles and can currently be seen opposite Ashton Kutcher in Netflix drama The Ranch.

5 Katherine Heigl Modelled and Acted As A Child

Grey's Anatomy and Knocked Up star Katherine Heigl actually started her career as a model. When she was nine years old, her aunt sent some photos of her young niece to a modeling agency. The agency liked what they saw, and Heigl began appearing in various magazine and catalog campaigns. She first transitioned to the screen in a Cheerio's commercial as part of her modeling gig.

In 1992, the acting side of Heigl's career took off as she was cast in the movie That Night. Numerous jobs followed, including the starring role in the 1994 comedy My Father The Hero. Things only got crazier for Heigl from this point onwards: she still modeled regularly for magazines like Seventeen while simultaneously breaking into the TV acting scene. By the time she hit 18, she was a fully-fledged star with dozens of acting and modeling credits to her name.

4 Alan Rickman Didn't Start Drama School Until He Was 26

Much-loved late British actor Alan Rickman was a bit of a late bloomer in terms of his theatrical career. For most of his twenties, he worked as a graphic designer, before deciding late on that he wanted to switch to acting. He enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1972 and graduated two years later aged 28.

Rickman's late start in no way hindered his ability to get jobs. He spent most of the 1980s working in theatre before receiving his big break in the form of the action film Die Hard. After his starring role as baddie Hans Gruber in this Bruce Willis classic, his stardom reached meteoric levels. He's beloved amongst the younger generation thanks to his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series of films and was deeply mourned when he tragically died of cancer in 2016.

3 Neil Patrick Harris Received His First Golden Globe Nomination As a Teen

Neil Patrick Harris is perhaps known for his Emmy-nominated role as Barney Stinson in the long-running sitcom How I Met Your Mother. However, he actually began his acting career 15 years before the show started. As a teen, Harris was scouted by playwright Mark Medoff at a New Mexico drama camp. Medoff consequently cast Harris in his movie Clara's Heart, earning the young star his first Golden Globe nomination. After this, Harris starred in the sci-fi comedy film Purple People Eater. It was less successful, but still a springboard to greater things.

However, it was the TV show Doogie Howser, M.D. that really made Harris' name. He starred as the titular child prodigy in this popular medical comedy-drama, earning himself another Golden Globe nomination in the process. All this by age 19! No wonder Harris went on to be so successful with a start like this.

2 Glenn Close Broke Free From A Cult Aged 22 To Study Acting

The story of how Glenn Close came to be an actress is actually pretty sinister. When Close was just seven years old, her parents joined the Moral Re-Armament group, a cult that involved living in communal centers. She was trapped in this environment for fifteen years, with the cult's leaders controlling everything the young Close did, said, or wore. The only thing that kept Close sane was her dream of escaping the group and becoming an actress.

When she was 22 years old, that's exactly what Close did. She ran away from the cult to attend the College of William & Mary, double majoring in theater and anthropology. It was the beginning of her training as a serious actress and led to Close gaining her first stage role aged 27. However, she didn't appear on the big screen until the age of 35, taking up an Oscar-nominated role in the movie The World According to Garp.

1 Jake Gyllenhaal's Parents Forced Him To Quit His Child Acting Roles

Jake Gyllenhaal was totally immersed in the film industry pretty much from birth. Both of his parents were filmmakers, his mother being a screenwriter and producer and his father a director. It's perhaps inevitable that Gyllenhaal quickly wanted to join the family business in an acting capacity. He got his first role aged 11, playing Billy Crystal's son in comedy flick City Slickers. However, his career was somewhat slowed down by the interference of his controlling parents. They wouldn't let Gyllenhaal star in the 1992 movie The Mighty Ducks because he would have had to leave home for two months, and often let him attend auditions knowing that they would stop him from taking up the part if he got it.  The only films he was always allowed to star in were those of his mother and father.

Gyllenhaal eventually broke free of his parents' influence and took control of his career as an adult. However, it's sad to think that he missed out on so many opportunities as a child because of their wish to control him.