You know how it goes, stage parents throw their children into so they can live their failed attempts at stardom and also make a fortune from their children. Usually the kid ends up in rehab for drugs and alcohol. But this is not always the case as you can see from the following child stars up made a long lasting career out of it.
DREW BARRYMORE, Age: 34
Years in Show Business: 33
The fourth generation in an acting family, Drew appeared in a commercial when she was eleven months old. After winning over audiences at age six in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” Drew had some tough teenage years. But she came back as a grown-up star, and now she has her first movie as a director, “Whip It.”
CHRISTIAN BALE, Age: 35
Years in Show Business: 23
Though he appeared in some TV movies beforehand, Bale’s first major role was as the lead in Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun.” Since then, his star has steadily risen. Last year, he played the Caped Crusader in “The Dark Knight,” one of the highest-grossing movies ever. This year, he starred in a pair of summer blockbusters: “Terminator Salvation” and “Public Enemies.”
JODIE FOSTER, Age: 46
Years in Show Business: 43
A Coppertone Girl at age three, Jodie was doing guest spots on TV by six. While shooting her first movie, Disney’s “Napoleon and Samantha,” 10-year-old Jodie was picked up and mauled by her lion costar. It left her with scars, but didn’t diminish her drive. She went on to win two Best Actress Oscars, continues to star in hits like “The Brave One,” and is currently directing her third feature.
ELIJAH WOOD, Age: 28
Years in Show Business: 21
After appearing in a Paula Abdul video in 1988, Elijah got a one-line part in “Back to the Future Part II.” He got critical attention for 1990’s “Avalon,” and in his review for 1994’s “The War,” Roger Ebert called him, “the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history.” He lobbied hard to earn the role of Frodo Baggins in “The Lord of the Rings,” and the enormous popularity of the three films made him famous worldwide.
CHRISTINA RICCI, Age: 29
Years in Show Business: 23
Like many others, Christina was a child model until she got her first acting gig in the 1990 movie “Mermaids” with Cher. After the success of “The Addams Family,” she became known for quirky and sometimes dark roles. She started taking on more adult roles with the bawdy “The Opposite of Sex,” and got great reviews starring with Samuel L. Jackson in “Black Snake Moan.”
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, Age: 34
Years in Show Business: 19
Leo is a late-comer compared to some, getting his first break at 15 on the short-lived TV version of “Parenthood” in 1990. He appeared on the last season of “Growing Pains,” but really got attention starring with Robert De Niro in 1993’s “This Boy’s Life.” The next year he was Oscar nominated for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” And then he was in the biggest movie of all-time. Next up: his fourth movie with Martin Scorsese, “Shutter Island.”
SCARLETT JOHANSSON, Age: 24
Years in Show Business: 15
Johansson got her start at the tender age of nine with a bit part in Rob Reiner’s box-office dud “North.” Now she’s a bona-fide A-lister. Next year, she will star as the duplicitous Black Widow opposite Robert Downey Jr. in “Iron Man 2.”
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, Age: 36
Years in Show Businesses: 21
Harris’ first big role was in 1988’s “Clara’s Heart” with Whoopi Goldberg, but he really hit the limelight when he landed the lead in the TV series “Doogie Howser, M.D.” Now, he stars in another top-rated series, “How I Met Your Mother,” along with playing a twisted version of himself in two “Harold & Kumar” movies.
REESE WITHERSPOON, Age: 33
Years in Show Business: 19
Reese auditioned for a bit part in “The Man in the Moon” on a lark and wound up with the lead. She’s since gone on to win an Oscar for her turn as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line.” This year, she could be heard in “Monsters vs. Aliens.”
SETH GREEN, Age: 35
Years in Show Business: 25
Green first major role was in the 1984 Jodie Foster movie “The Hotel New Hampshire,” and he played Woody Allen’s younger self in “Radio Days.” He’s since gone on to play memorable parts in “Austin Powers,” “The Italian Job,” and most recently “Sex Drive,” along with creating the stop-motion animated series “Robot Chicken.”
NATALIE PORTMAN, Age: 28
Years in Show Business: 15
Portman first role was in Luc Besson’s “The Professional” (aka “Leon”) in 1994. After she took a brief hiatus to go to Harvard, Portman went on to star in Oscar-nominated movies and crowd-pleasing blockbusters. She costarred with fellow former child star Scarlett Johannson in “The Other Boleyn Girl,” and watch for her in the 2011 Marvel flick “Thor.”
JASON BATEMAN, Age: 40
Years in Show Business: 28
Jason’s first job was in 1981 on TV’s “Little House on the Prairie,” starting at age 12. He tried unsuccessfully to break out into movies with 1987’s “Teen Wolf Too.” After some lean years in the ’90s, he bounced back with a Golden Globe win for “Arrested Development,” and this year he’s in five movies, including the lead role in “Extract.”
KIRSTEN DUNST, Age: 27
Years in Show Business: 24
At three years old, Kirsten was a child model in commercials, and at eight made her film debut in Woody Allen’s section of “New York Stories.” She made a big impression kissing Brad Pitt when she was only 10 in “Interview with a Vampire.” Since then she had huge hits with the “Spider-Man” movies and showed of her majestic side as “Marie Antoinette.”
KURT RUSSELL, Age: 58
Years in Show Business: 46
At age 12, Kurt appeared in the 1963 movie “It Happened at the World’s Fair” starring Elvis Presley. 16 years later, he played Elvis in the TV movie about his life. That was his first film with director John Carpenter, who then turned Kurt into an action star with “Escape From New York.” Kurt was still doing action — and his own stunt driving — in 2007’s “Grindhouse.”
JENNIFER CONNELLY, Age: 38
Years in Show Business: 27
Jennifer got her start in the biz at age 14 when she landed a role in Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America,” but her career took off two years later when she was cast as the lead in “Labyrinth” opposite David Bowie. In 2001, Connelly won an Oscar for her performance in “A Beautiful Mind,” and this past year she starred in “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
RON HOWARD, Age: 55
Years in Show Business: 50
Ron Howard has had three stages of his career: as a child actor, starting at age five on “The Andy Griffith Show” and then in movies like “The Music Man”; then as a young adult star in “American Graffiti” and “Happy Days”; and his current incarnation as the Oscar-winning director of “A Beautiful Mind” and hit-making film and TV producer.
source: Split Screen: Most Successful Child Stars [yahoo movies]
It’s that time of again, when we all (or most of us) read articles like this and then think of our bank accounts and cry ourselves to sleep, because Forbes have just released Hollywood’s Top-Earning Actresses.
Brad Pitt must do something good to women because Angelina Jolie tops the list while his ex wife Jennifer Aniston is right behind her.
Most of Angelina’s money came from the $341 million that her movie Wanted made, plus she got a chunk of money from her next movie, Salt.
As for Jennifer’s money, her film Marley & Me made abotu $244 million, she gets money from being the spokesperson for SmartWater, she got money for her next film The Baster and of course she still rakes in cash from Friends residuals.
The top 15 list looks like this:
1: Angelina Jolie – $27 million
2: Jennifer Aniston – $25 million
3: Meryl Streep – $24 million
4: Sarah Jessica Parker – $23 million
5: Cameron Diaz – $20 million
6: Sandra Bullock – $15 million
6: Reese Witherspoon – $15 million
8: Nicole Kidman – $12 million
8: Drew Barrymore – $12 million
10: Renee Zellweger – $10 million
11: Cate Blanchett – $8 million
12: Anne Hathaway, $7 million
12: Halle Berry, $7 million
14: Scarlett Johansson, $5.5 million
15: Kate Winslet, $2 million
According to Forbes, The Top 10 women earned a combined $183 million compared to $393 million for the Top 10 men. And they said sexism was dead?
Angelina Jolie didn’t win any awards for her role in Changeling but at least she is still winning stuff on sex lists right?
According to a new poll by online dating websites Date.com, Matchmaker.com and Amor.com people were asked which celebrity would they give their partner a sex pass to sleep with.
The usual people are included on the list like Angelina, Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
Shira Zwebner, who works for Date.com said “this poll is the complete opposite of an indecent proposal. In fact, most men and women wouldn’t just grant their significant others permission to go for it with their celebrity of choice – they’d brag about it all over town, Johnny Depp’s appeal is more than just physical attraction, he is the complete package, and women envision that one night of passion with this Pirate will leave them more than just sexually satisfied. Angelina Jolie, meanwhile, tops this list because both men and women worldwide have crushes on her and – if she ever invited someone other than Brad Pitt into her bed – not even the most committed couple would walk away from that opportunity.”
Here is the list of women that men could sleep with:
Angelina Jolie 25.9% Jennifer Aniston 24.1% Halle Berry 23.8% Penelope Cruz 22.4% Eva Mendes 20.7% Nicole Kidman 20.7% Sandra Bullock 19.0% Jennifer Garner 18.9% Lucy Liu 17.2% Reese Witherspoon 17.2% Demi Moore 16.7% Julia Roberts 15.5% Kate Winslet 15.3% Kiera Knightly 12.1% Scarlett Johansson 11.8% Natalie Portman 8.6% Katherine Hiegl 6.9%
As for who the women can sleep with:
Johnny Depp 32.2% George Clooney 29.0% Will Smith 28.4% Brad Pitt 25.8% Matthew McConaughey 25.8% Hugh Jackman 19.4% Sean Connery 16.1% Patrick Dempsey 12.9% Tom Cruise 12.9% Justin Timberlake 11.5% Bruce Willis 9.7% Howard Stern 8.4% Robert Pattinson 6.5% Jake Gyllenhaal 6.5% Gerard Butler 3.2%
[Click thumbnails for a larger view]
Who would you let your significant other have sex with?
Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, and Hugh Laurie really took home the box office gold this weekend with their new cartoon movie, “Monsters Vs. Aliens“. The movie brought in a whopping $58,200,000 in it’s first week on the charts.
Rainn Wilson stars as the voice of Gallaxhar, an alien who lands on Earth and wants to take it over. The military decides to send in the monsters to take him out.
The movie has an all-star cast: Will Arnett as The Missing Link, Kiefer Sutherland as General W.R. Monger, Reese Witherspoon as Susan Murphy/Ginormica, Hugh Laurie as Dr. Cockroach, Seth Rogen as B.O.B., Paul Rudd as Derek Dietl, Stephen Colbert as President Hathaway, Amy Poehler as the voice of the computer, Renee Zellweger as Katie, and John Krasinski as Cuthbert.
Rounding out the top five box office contenders this weekend were “The Haunting In Connecticut” in the second spot with $23,010,000, “Knowing” in third place with $14,705,000, “I Love You, Man” taking fourth place with $12,600,000, and finally, “Duplicity” bringing in $7,556,000.
Parade magazine have come up with a list of 10 actors, who they believe are America’s Favorite Stars, the list features the usual people you would expect:
#1 Will Smith
Will Smith seems to glide from success to success without much effort. He’s a big presence. When he walks into a room, you know he’s there. In addition to hits like Ali, Men in Black, and Hancock, he cares about family and affecting the future.
Committed to the charity Malaria No More, he has traveled to Africa with his family to witness the devastation the disease can cause. “I think a large part of why I’ve been successful is that I have, essentially, a white-collar career with a blue-collar mentality,” he says. “I can never really relax. I’m always waiting to see what’s next. It’s always, ‘OK, something different is gonna happen here.’”
Next month he stars in the drama Seven Pounds. “I believe that the guy who works the hardest generally wins,” Will says. “ Nelson Mandela once told me that when he was in prison, he was able to watch one American film every six months. He said our films are about hope and what the world should be. He told me to keep doing exactly what I’m doing, because there’s a struggle somewhere that I’m helping. I got really inspired by that.”
#2 Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks is so likable, we’d follow him to the moon. In fact, we already did in Apollo 13. Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, Saving Private Ryan, and Big are other Hanks movies you watch over and over on DVD. “To me, this isn’t work—to go off and pretend to be somebody else,” he says.
“I couldn’t believe when they paid me $285 a week to act, much less the raises I’ve received since. I shouldn’t be called the nicest guy in Hollywood. I should be called the luckiest guy, because I still can’t believe it.”
#3 Reese Witherspoon
Some people bully their way to success. Reese Witherspoon rose to the top with “please” and “thank you,” the hint of a Southern drawl, and a winning smile. Legally Blonde put her on the map; Walk the Line won her an Oscar.
Now she’s a mom of two and a successful producer. “I try to be that person who can look in the mirror and be OK with myself,” she says. “I feel a certain responsibility to represent women who pay the bills, take care of the children, and try to have a fulfilling life themselves. I constantly feel like I’m striving to do better.”
#4 George Clooney
Clooney can kid about himself better than anybody. He’ll joke about turning Dr. Ross on ER into everybody’s fantasy guy. He’ll joke about wearing the Batsuit. But he does take some things very seriously. He’s passionately committed to bringing attention to the tragedy in Darfur. He’s determined to make worthy films like Good Night, and Good Luck and Syriana, as well as blockbusters.
Says Clooney: “My father has always inspired me. He said, ‘Don’t wake up at 65 and think about what you should have done.’ The great lesson is that you get a sort of credit card for being famous, and I’ve thought a lot about spending it in the right instances, for people and causes I can help.”
#5 Meryl Streep
She has an uncanny ability to transform herself into every character she plays, from a tragic heroine in Sophie’s Choice to the silly star of Mamma Mia! And she always seems to be enjoying herself—and embracing life. “Anybody who picks acting as a profession is bathed in insecurity,” she says.
“Even when you’re young, you think you’re not beautiful enough or you’ll never work again or ‘ I don’t know what I’m doing.’ I’ve had those feelings. People gave me a lot of confidence early on and encouragement to keep going. Each project I take is different—it intrigues me or makes me angry or tickles me in a new way.”
#6 Brad Pitt
Brad’s striking looks and love life make headlines, but he’s also a good guy, more down-to-earth than seems possible. He picks challenging movie roles like Babel or Fight Club. Next: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
“You need a game plan,” he says. “You either succeed because people want you to or you stay around because you make them let you. I try to stay dedicated to my work. If I were to dwell on any of the fame and celebrity stuff, I’d make decisions for the wrong reasons. I look at my kids and realize that they will inherit this world. So, if you’re going to throw your weight around, use it to make the world a little bit better.”
#7 Julia Roberts
The star of Pretty Woman has a megawatt smile that still works its charm. Onscreen, she can be one of the guys (see her with Clooney and Pitt in the Ocean’s movies) or a sassy fighter (Erin Brockovich). Offscreen, she’s a mom who took time off to raise her babies.
“Mustering up enough self-esteem to say, ‘I want to be an actor,’ was a big turning point,” she says. “I also said, ‘I can’t wait to be a mom.’ No five-year plan for me—I’m on the five-minute plan. I enjoy my life. You can’t be joyfully participating in the day if you’re thinking too much down the road.”
#8 Johnny Depp
What a grand joke that Johnny Depp—the handsome rebel of Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd—is now known for his riotous, rum-soaked (and moneymaking) Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean.
The dad of two says: “My kids opened my eyes. I feel as though some great fog was lifted. Now I do what I want, without compromise, and try to maintain dignity and integrity. People like to think I’m a brooding, angry, rebellious guy. I’m not any of that. I’m not trying to be anything other than what I am.”
#9 Jennifer Aniston
Aniston has a way with a comic line that makes America want to hug her, take care of her—and look just like her. We’ll always think of her as Rachel, the favorite pal on Friends. Jennifer often is called today’s Mary Tyler Moore, because she shares the same endearing style.
“I was always the class clown with a lot of ideas,” she says. “I didn’t map out my life, and I still don’t. Can’t you tell? I consider myself a spiritual person. I sometimes feel like I am guided. I trust in life, I really do. I get asked all the time, ‘What’s next?’ and the fun is that I’m wondering too!”
#10 Patrick Dempsey
In addition to playing Dr. McDreamy on the TV hit Grey’s Anatomy, Dempsey is the romantic hero in movies like Enchanted and Made of Honor.
“I’ve just about achieved some perspective on everything that’s happened,” he says. “I’ve worked hard to get to this point, so I don’t worry that ‘I don’t deserve this.’ I’m grateful for every opportunity. I just want to do it right.”
Smith brought in $80 million last year. Cameron Diaz was the top earning actress with $50 million. I love reporting on celebrity paychecks, it’s absolutely ridiculous how much they earn.
The top 5 earning celebrity men in Hollywood are:
1. Will Smith – $80 million
2. Johnny Depp – $72 million
3. Eddie Murphy – $55 million
4. Mike Myers – $55 million
5. Leonardo DiCaprio – $45 million
The top 5 earning celebrity women in Hollywood are:
1. Cameron Diaz – $50 million
2. Keira Knightley – $32 million
3. Jennifer Aniston – $27 million
4. Reese Witherspoon – $25 million
5. Gwenyth Paltrow – $25 million
How is it possible that Eddie Murphy earned that much, when we have the likes of “Meet Dave” as our most recent example of his work. The same goes for “The Love Guru” and Mike Myers.
