The Biggest Teen Stars Through the Decades
The Biggest Teen Stars Through the Decades
We all loved watching these teen stars while growing up. Whether they haven't had another successful hit since or are still an A-list actor today, see if you remember where these celebs got their start.
1980s — Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Milano spent her teen years as the daughter on the ’80s sitcom Who’s the Boss? opposite Tony Danza. After eight seasons as Samantha Micelli, she went on to star in Melrose Place and Charmed.
1980s — Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet played Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show, then starred in A Different World, the spin-off series about her character’s life in college. Fast forward to now, and she and Lenny Kravitz have a daughter named Zo?, who's also a successful actress.
1980s — Michael J. Fox
He’ll always be known for his role in the Back to the Future film franchise. Fox was diagnosed at 29 with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 and went public about it in 1998. He started The Michael J. Fox Foundation in order to help advance research for the disease. He's had many successful roles since 1999, including on CBS' The Good Wife.
1980s — John Cusack
If you don’t know who John Cusack is, you will once you see the iconic picture of him in Say Anything, holding a boombox in the air. That was actually the follow-up to his breakout role in The Sure Thing. Cusack is still a major film actor today.
1980s — Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields was not only one of the youngest fashion models to appear on the cover of Vogue, but she also gained critical claim in her teen years with movies like Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon.
1980s — Mia Sara
Mia Sara found stardom playing Sloan Peterson in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. She's performed in other films since the ‘80s classic, but this remains her most iconic role.
1980s — Molly Ringwald
As part of the “Brat Pack” in the ‘80s, Molly Ringwald starred in some of John Hughes’ best-known movies: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink. As a massive teen star, she continued appearing in films throughout the ‘90s and still acts on many TV shows and movies today.
1980s — Emilio Estevez
As another member of the “Brat Pack” in the ‘80s, Emilio Estevez became known for his roles in The Outsiders and The Breakfast Club.
1980s — Winona Ryder
Kids these days would know her as Joyce Byers on the Netflix hit Stranger Things, but Ryder has been a star since the '80s with movies like Beetlejuice and Heathers.
1980s — Christina Applegate
Still a successful movie star today, Christina Applegate got her start as Kelly Bundy on the sitcom Married… with Children that ran for 11 seasons.
1990s — Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone was the lead in the teen hit classic Clueless, starring as the iconic Cher. For those too young to understand, it was the Mean Girls of the '90s.
1990s — Ben Savage
Ben Savage played the lovable Cory Matthews on Disney's Boy Meets World for 7 years. It was like kids in the ‘90s were growing up with Cory, Shawn, Topanga, and the gang, and all while getting life advice from Mr. Feeny. He now stars in the revival, Girl Meets World, that follows the life of Cory and Topanga's daughter.
1990s — Joey Lawrence
The eldest of the Lawrence brothers — who all had their own show called Brotherly Love on NBC that later moved to the WB — was also known for his role as Joey Donovan on Gimme a Break. His other successful show was in 2010 opposite Melissa Joan Hart in Melissa & Joey.
1990s — Melissa Joan Hart
Melissa Joan Hart was all over our TVs in the '90s. She played the titular characters in both Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She later starred in four seasons of the sitcom Melissa and Joey.
1990s — Freddie Prinze, Jr.
Freddie Prinze, Jr. starred in some of our ‘90s favorites: I Know What You Did Last Summer, its sequel, and She’s All That.
1990s — Mayim Bialik
Now an Emmy Award nominee for her work on The Big Bang Theory, Mayim Bialik actually got her start as a teen star on the ‘90s sitcom Blossom.
1990s — Tatyana Ali
Tatyana Ali spent her early teen years playing Will Smith's younger cousin on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Most recently, Ali spent 6 years on The Young and the Restless.
1990s — Neil Patrick Harris
Kids these days probably won't know about Neil Patrick Harris' titular role on Doogie Howser, M.D. in the early '90s, but that's where he got his start as a teen before landing the role of Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, which ran for nine seasons.
1990s — Jonathan Taylor Thomas
If you don’t recognize his face from the eight seasons he was on ABC’s Home Improvement, then you might recognize his voice as Young Simba from Disney’s The Lion King.
1990s — Britney Spears
She's still making new music and touring the world with sold-out shows today. We could never forget when Britney stole our hearts the first time we heard "...Baby One More Time" in 1998.
1990s — Tia and Tamera Mowry
The identical twins got their stardom on the ABC sitcom Sister, Sister that ran for six seasons. The show maintained relevance thanks to Disney Channel airing reruns from 2002 to 2007. In 2018, Tia and Tamera confirmed that there was a revival in the works.
1990s — Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci became famous as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family movie (1991), then went on to star in Now and Then and Casper.
1990s — Will Smith
Will Smith was on the music scene with DJ Jazzy Jeff during the ‘80s, but his acting career took off during the ‘90s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
1990s — Danielle Fishel
You can't have Cory without Topanga! Danielle Fishel played her on Disney's Boy Meets World and then again in the reboot, Girl Meets World, in 2014.
2000s — Amanda Bynes
Amanda Bynes had us laughing as the star of Nickelodeon hits like All That and The Amanda Show. Though she was on air throughout the late ‘90s, she really rose to fame during the early 2000s with her movie Big Fat Liar, and then again in her starring role in the WB’s What I Like About You. Also, who could forget She's the Man?
2000s — Daniel Radcliffe
He'll always be "The Boy Who Lived" to the world, but Radcliffe has done a great job of trying to break out of being typecast as Harry Potter. Since the Potter films wrapped, he's appeared in The Woman in Black and Kill Your Darlings, plus in Broadway productions of Equus and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
2000s — Hilary Duff
She’ll always be known as Lizzie McGuire to those who grew up with Duff in the early 2000s. She continued acting, in addition to launching a successful music career. Today, she stars on the TV Land hit Younger.
2000s — Jesse McCartney
You might have forgotten, but Jesse McCartney actually started in the boy band Dream Street before he released his breakout solo EP Beautiful Soul in 2003, which reached number 15 on the Billboard 200.
2000s — Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Their childhood was spent on ABC’s Full House, taking turns playing the adorable Michelle Tanner, and starring in various films and videos produced by their own company Dualstar.
They released a string of direct-to-video movies — like Our Lips Are Sealed, Winning London, and Holiday in the Sun — that launched them into teen stardom. They also starred in the ABC Family (then Fox Family)'s So Little Time. Now the twins have their own fashion lines — The Row and Elizabeth & James.
2000s — Michael Cera
The 2000s were Michael Cera’s decade. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Arrested Development, Juno, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ... the list goes on and on.
2000s — Selena Gomez
Before her pop-star music career skyrocketed, Selena Gomez was Disney's star on Wizards of Waverly Place for four seasons.
2000s — Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf’s acting career has been very successful over the years. His most notable work was probably the Transformers franchise — the first film was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2007. But fans also know him from his early teen years on Disney Channel's Even Stevens. Did you know that role earned him a Daytime Emmy in 2003?
2000s — Taylor Lautner
You were either Team Jacob (Taylor Lautner) or Team Edward (Robert Pattinson) during the Twilight frenzy. The franchise made Lautner a household name.
2000s — Vanessa Hudgens
You might not remember her from the 2003 cult favorite movie Thirteen, but EVERYONE knew who Vanessa Hudgens was after the Disney mega-hit High School Musical.
They were so young!