It’s hard to find a child actor that not only looks the part, but is also able to convey the necessary emotions needed to keep the movie afloat. Naturally, when audiences come across a child actor with these talents, it’s not surprising that said child is heaped with praise and adoration. Hollywood is a fickle place, however, and more often than not, a child who is considered hot property at a young age is dropped like a sack of potatoes as they enter adulthood. The huge pressures placed upon them at such a young age can be overwhelming as they grow up in an industry full of temptation. The pressure can simply become too much, causing the star to struggle to come to terms with such fame at such a young age and drift off the rails. Other times, it is simply because they either lose interest in the industry or audiences lose interest in them.

However, we’re here to celebrate the child stars who chose to remain in Hollywood and continued to find success in cinema well into their adult years and who have become revered and respected actors in their own right. Indeed, here are 11 actors who achieved this great feat.

11 Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore achieved fame as a child actor with her role as the adorable Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. What followed was a very tumultuous few years in which Barrymore struggled with drugs and alcohol amongst other things. Fortunately, she had a strong support network who, with the combined determination of Barrymore, were able to get her life back on track. Since then, she has gone onto become one of the most bankable actresses in Hollywood with a slew of box office hits under her belt, including the Charlies Angels series, 50 First Dates and Never Been Kissed, to name just as a few.

Related: These Are Movies With Great Performances By Young Actors

10 Kurt Russell

With a career that spans over six decades, Kurt Russell is one of Hollywood’s most revered and respected stars. He made his movie debut at the tender age of 11 alongside none other than the king himself Elvis Presley. As a child throughout the 1960s, he starred in multiple Disney movies, later being promoted to leading man duties in the 1970s where he became Disney’s biggest star. His success only heightened during the 80s when he started building a reputation for appearing in more adult roles, especially with longtime collaborator John Carpenter in movies like The Thing, Escape from New York and Big Trouble in Little China. Currently 71 years of age, he has become a permanent fixture in Hollywood appearing in a plethora of hit movies, including multiple Quentin Tarantino flicks as well as mega franchises like Guardians of the Galaxy, Fast and Furious and The Christmas Chronicles.

9 Emma Watson

The cultural phenomenon of Harry Potter took the world by storm in the 90s, and when the hit children’s book series was adapted into the billion-dollar movie franchise, all of its child-led cast were instantly thrust into the limelight. While many of them have seen some success as adults, with Daniel Radcliffe notably continuing a successful career in the indie movie scene, none have quite continued to surf that wave of fame and success quite like Emma Watson. Since playing the lovable book-worm Hermione in Harry Potter, she’s gone on to receive critical acclaim for her appearances in movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Bling Ring as well as appear in huge box office smashes like Disney’s Beauty and the Beast live-action remake. As well as her career in cinema, Watson also continues to make headlines for her activism and philanthropy and was appointed UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in July 2014.

8 Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst was thrust into the limelight at a very young age, appearing as a child in the epic vampire drama Interview with the Vampire alongside the likes of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Antonio Banderas. She then went on to appear prominently in a slew of mainstream hits as a child, including Jumanji and Small Soldiers. It wasn’t until 2002’s Spider-Man that she really shot to superstardom, though. Playing Peter Parker’s love interest Mary Jane, the film went onto gross over $800 million. Since then (and between returning to the two highly successful Spider-Man sequels), Dunst has mainly been focused on indie roles, receiving praise, in particular, for her roles in the non-linear comedy drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, alongside Jim Carrey and Elijah Wood, and Lars Von Tier’s apocalyptic drama art film Melancholia.

7 Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood’s career started when he was a child, with notable appearances in The Adventures of Huck Finn, Flipper and the dark thriller The Good Son alongside fellow child star Macaulay Culkin. After appearing in the cult horror movie, The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez, Wood became a household name after appearing in the hugely successful Lord of the Rings trilogy in which he plays the lead character Frodo Baggins, a role he would later reprise in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. While still occasionally popping up in major blockbuster movies, like voicing the animated penguin Mumble in Happy Feet 1 & 2, he’s made a concerted effort to avoid being typecast since finding success in Hollywood. Wood is a keen fan of horror B-movies, and this can be seen by his appearances in a string of low budget gritty horror flicks including 2012's Maniac, the horror comedy Cooties, and the upcoming Toxic Avenger reboot.

6 Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci made a name for herself in the early to mid-90s as a child playing slightly unusual characters with a dark edge, most notably in The Addams Family and Casper. This trend continued into adulthood as she garnered critical acclaim in successful movies like Tim Burton’s supernatural thriller Sleepy Hollow, the dark fantasy flick Penelope, and the biographical serial killer film Monster. More recently, she has found success on the hit TV show Yellowjackets, and it was recently announced that she has been cast as a series regular in the upcoming show Wednesday, based on Wednesday Addams, the character that shot her to fame in the 1991 and 1993 Addams Family movies (although this time round she’ll be playing a different, currently undisclosed, character).

Related: Actors Who Were Nominated For an Oscar at a Young Age

5 Judy Garland

Judy Garland, like so many others who found fame at a young age, certainly didn’t find the ride that followed easy. Unlike so many in her position, though, Garland persevered in an industry that she so often felt at odds with, and as a result, her later work is just as celebrated as the days she walked the yellow brick road as Dorothy, with her final years seeing her receive an Oscar nomination for Judgment at Nuremberg.

4 Neil Patrick Harris

After appearing as a child in a few lesser-known movies, Neil Patrick Harris became a household name while playing the titular child prodigy doctor in Doogie Howser, M.D. He continued to work fairly constantly appearing in both television and film, albeit being rather typecast. This all changed when he was given the role of womanizer Barney Stinson in the hugely popular TV series How I Met Your Mother. The role opened numerous doors for him to play against type including some unforgettable appearances in David Fincher’s controversial thriller Gone Girl and Seth MacFarlane’s western spoof movie A Million Ways to Die in the West.

3 Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney began his acting career at the ripe old age of six and continued working in front of the camera in a career that spanned nine decades and included over 300 movies in one of the most impressive Hollywood careers of all time. Between the ages of 15 and 25 alone, he made 43 films. Having lived through almost every era of Hollywood, starting way back in the silent era, he has appeared in almost every type of film imaginable ranging from horrors (The Intruder) and comedies (It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World) to family favorites (Night at the Museum) and musicals (Babes on Broadway) and everything in between.

2 Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster had been making some ripples in the industry starring in numerous TV shows and some Disney movies in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but it wasn’t until she took on a role alongside Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 groundbreaking psychological crime thriller Taxi Driver that she shot to superstardom. At only 12 years old, the role didn’t come without its share of controversy due to the sexualization of her character. Foster had to undergo psychiatric assessment and was accompanied by a social worker on set and her older sister acted as her stand-in in sexually suggestive scenes. Following the success of Taxi Driver, Foster has had a long-lasting career in the movies, during which she has won two Academy Awards, one for her role in the courtroom drama film The Accused and one for her portrayal of Clarice in the psychological horror The Silence of the Lambs.

1 Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman’s journey to superstardom follows a similar path to that of Foster. She made her major big screen debut in the highly regarded hitman thriller Leon: The Professional, starring Jean Reno and Gary Oldman. While the movie was a critical and commercial success, Portman’s character also caused a certain amount of controversy due to the sexualization of her character, and while this was relevant to the story, she has later admitted that the sexualization spilled over into real life, making her feel awkward through much of her teenage years. Fortunately, her immense talent has shone through and as she blossomed into her adulthood her career continued to go from height-to-height, garnering huge commercial success in the Star Wars prequels and the Thor movies and critical success in movies like Black Swan and Hesher.