Movies with Great Child Performances

“Never work with animals or small children.” – Old acting adage

The famous child actor/actress has been a staple of movies from Jackie Coogan and Shirley Temple right up through all the various live action Disney child stars.  There is a big difference between fame and acting ability, though.  The children who can actually act, and not just mug for the camera, are rarer.  It’s for this reason than most child stars struggle to make the transition to adult roles.

I have enough movies in this category that I will revisit it at a later point.  For the present I am going to review Whale Rider (2002), The Professional (1994), The City of Lost Children (1995), and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988.)  The four movies all feature young actresses in early/debut roles.  They range in age from eight to twelve.

Note - True Grit (2010) was later added to this category.

You can find my posts for these movies here:

Whale Rider
The Professional
The City of Lost Children
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
True Grit

On to the reviews…