>>212923866 (OP)It depends on the child star, of course, but the reason most fail in adulthood (in my opinion) is...
> the skills necessary to be a child actor are different from being an adult actor> child actors go through major physical changes which prevent them from playing in the roles they have experience in.I'll give a few examples of what I mean....
Margaret O'Brein was a very successful child actresses, mainly because she could speak the words clearly; cry on demand, and project an exaggerated emotion necessary for younger roles. But as she got older, those same qualities became a barrier to adult roles, which require a more nuanced manner of acting.
Here's an example of her roughly around the time she stopped getting important roles. Pay attention to the acting style as she makes her plea to America's youth:
https://youtu.be/wvnTDk9uGVE?si=LBgnyUB3QM0yyvpL
On the other hand, you had people like Mickey Rooney; who became a successful child actor; but who had already been a professional 'adult' actor (in a sense). He was first put on the stage at 14 months, working with his parents. He developed adult acting skills and habits before he was out of short pants. So when he would later play child roles, it was more of an adult actor playing a role as a child:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN5vteiAg5g
The final example of the last part (physical changes) would be the endless list of actors and actresses picked for their "look" as a child; who grew out of their looks and were left still with no real talent in acting.
![sanji-one-piece[1]](/images/tv/1753038517438561.gif)
