Popular TV Child Actors That Left Hollywood Behind

Everyone has read a story (or two) about how Hollywood chews up and spits out child actors. These young performers are revered, celebrated, and plastered all over the media while at the height of their powers on popular TV shows, then forgotten about after the programs run their course. Consequently, we don't ever hear from them again, unless it's in retrospective "where are they now?" pieces, or milestone anniversaries celebrating their shows.

In some instances, though, it isn't Hollywood's fault. Sometimes, life happens. The child actors may have decided that full-time acting wasn't for them and pursued another passion that piqued their interest. Alternatively, they might not have gelled with the glitz and glamor of showbiz, choosing a real, regular 9-to-5 and family time over unpredictable schedules and red carpet premieres.

Having said that, let's take a walk down memory lane to discover the popular TV child actors who left Hollywood behind and find out what they have been up to. From "The Wonder Years" to "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," these are some serious blasts from the past!

On "Malcolm in the Middle," Erik Per Sullivan low-key steals the show as Malcolm's younger brother, Dewey. Smart and observant, Dewey only partakes in the sibling malarkey when he needs to and proves himself to be a master manipulator, though he isn't quite as troublesome as his brothers.

Sullivan was a part of "Malcolm in the Middle" from the show's inception in 2000 until the final episode in 2006. After the sitcom concluded, he collected a few acting credits up until 2010, when he appeared in Joel Schumacher's "Twelve." Afterward, he disappeared from the Hollywood scene and kept a low profile in his personal life.

When the revival series "Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair" was announced, news broke that Dewey would be recast; he'd now be played by actor Caleb Ellsworth-Clark. Considering how popular Sullivan was as the fan-favorite Dewey, many viewers only had one question: Why wouldn't he return? According to Bryan Cranston, who plays Hal on the sitcom, Sullivan isn't interested in acting anymore. "He's actually going to Harvard," Cranston told the "Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade" podcast. "He's really, really smart, and he's getting his master's at Harvard right now. He said, 'Oh, God, no, I haven't acted since I was 9 or something. So I'm not into it.'"

"Home Improvement," which can be streamed on Hulu, features Taran Noah Smith as Mark Taylor, the youngest and geekiest of the Taylor boys who give their parents, Tim (Tim Allen) and Jill (Patricia Richardson), a hard time. Smith starred in all eight seasons of the show, beginning in 1991 and ending in 1999. With the sitcom's conclusion, his acting career wrapped up, too. "I started 'Home Improvement' when I was 7 and the show ended when I was 16," Smith told The Topeka Capital-Journal (via A Minor Consideration). "I never had the chance to decide what I wanted to do with my life. When I was 16, I knew that I didn't want to act anymore."

Smith had issues with his parents after "Home Improvement" ended, specifically surrounding access to the money he earned on the show and his relationship with a woman who was twice his age, though he and his folks patched up their differences later on. He attended the University of Southern California, where he studied film, then lived on a sailboat in Sausalito. As recently as 2019, Smith had another career: He owned a submarine and taught people how to pilot it. "We want to be able to help people with the true beauty and wonder that is under the ocean at all times," Smith told SFGate.

In the '90s, Brandon Hammond was one of the hottest rising child actors in the business. He secured himself roles in big movies like "Space Jam," "Mars Attacks!" and "Soul Food," while also becoming a regular as Anthony on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" and Matty Stevenson on "The Gregory Hines Show." Yet, with the turn of the millennium, Hammond all but disappeared from our screens.

For years, no one knew what happened to the talented young actor, but in September 2025, Hammond revealed the truth to People. "I was diagnosed with this super, super rare autoimmune condition called Castleman disease," he said. According to Hammond, he experienced these health issues not too long after the success of "Soul Food." He added, "I had all these chest pains, and my eye was flushed out red, just all types of physiological things were happening to me that we could not explain."

Subsequently, Hammond focused on his health and left Hollywood behind him. He explained how his agents encouraged him not to talk about his condition at the time, but decades later, he decided to let people know why he had left acting since he had been inundated with questions. Hammond is working on a "Soul Food" reunion documentary called "Sunday Dinner: The Soul Food Reunion," which he said was inspired by him seeing HBO Max's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" reunion.

As a child actor, Brian Bonsall tasted success in the late '80s and '90s, appearing in a number of high-profile productions. However, his two most famous roles were on "Family Ties," in which he played Andy Keaton, and "Star Trek: The Next Generation," where he featured in several episodes as Alexander Rozhenko, the son of Worf (Michael Dorn) and K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson). In terms of the latter, everyone knows that once you join the "Star Trek" universe, Trekkies view you as family for life.

In the mid-'90s, at the age of 14, Bonsall retired from acting and shifted his focus to a career in music. His musical endeavors revolved mostly around punk bands, such as Lowjob and the Ataris. In the 2000s, he received some notoriety due to his various run-ins with the law. In 2025, Bonsall appeared in Investigation Discovery's documentary series "Hollywood Demons," which focuses on the darker side of fame. In one episode, Bonsall revealed that a man had pretended to be him to date and harm women, something that he had been devastated to find out was happening.

As the son of Alan (Jon Cryer) and Judith Harper (Marin Hinkle), Angus T. Jones' Jake fit the bill as the last bit of the "Two and a Half Men" title. The early seasons of the sitcom saw the young Jake and Alan living in the Malibu beach house of Jake's uncle, Charlie (Charlie Sheen), and all the tomfoolery they got up to. Jake wasn't exactly revered for his brains, but he more than made up for it in the humor department.

In November 2012 — when "Two and a Half Men" was airing its 10th season out of 12 total — Jones made headlines when he appeared on a religious group's YouTube channel and encouraged people not to watch the sitcom, referring to it as "filth." Jones apologized for his comments, but his appearances on the series waned from there on out. Jones also enrolled in college around that time, which contributed to his absence.

While Jones cameoed in the finale of "Two and a Half Men," his Hollywood career petered out soon afterward, apart from an appearance in Louis C.K.'s "Horace and Pete" web series. Instead, he went into business with Sean "Diddy" Combs' son Justin Combs and Kene Orjioke, as they started a live events company. Jones also tried his hand at a music career. In 2023, he made an appearance as himself on Chuck Lorre's HBO Max comedy "Bookie," reuniting with "Two and a Half Men" co-star Sheen, but he's been largely out of the limelight since his time as Jake.

As a child actor, Taylor Momsen made a name for herself in film, especially 2000's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (where she played Cindy Lou Who), 2002's "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams," and 2007's "Superdog." She also tried her hand at acting in the TV world, appearing in an episode of "Early Edition" before receiving a main role as Jenny Humphrey on "Gossip Girl."

Momsen departed "Gossip Girl" after the fourth season, only cameoing in the sixth and final season of the show, as she embarked on a career in music with her rock band, the Pretty Reckless. She also didn't reprise her role as Jenny in the "Gossip Girl" revival, which was canceled after two seasons. "I kind of think I've left acting behind," Momsen told Parade in September 2025. "I think it was a childhood thing for me, but it was an experience that I cherish and is part of who I am."

There are coming-of-age series, then there's "The Wonder Years." From 1988 to 1993, Josh Saviano played Paul Pfeiffer, Kevin Arnold's (Fred Savage) nerdy best friend and a main cast member on the ABC comedy. After the show ended, there was a weird Internet rumor that Saviano became musician Marilyn Manson — untrue!

Much like his character, though, Saviano went on to study law, attending Yale and the Cardozo School of Law. He worked as an attorney for many years, then co-founded the Spotlight Advisory Group in 2018, which is a company that aims to assist creatives to "discover [their] life purpose and build a life that fulfills that purpose through [their] creativity, maximizes [their] impact on the world and leaves a lasting legacy." In January 2025, he joined NuCo Entertainment as its chief intellectual property officer.

Saviano made a brief return to the world of acting when he appeared in three episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" in the mid-2010s, but he's otherwise retired from Hollywood.

In the 2000s, sisters Kay and Danielle Panabaker seemed to pop up everywhere in both TV and movies. For Kay, she's best remembered for playing Nikki Westerly in the WB drama "Summerland," Debbie Berwick in Disney's "Phil of the Future," and Daphne Nicole Powell on the short-lived ABC superhero show "No Ordinary Family." While Danielle went on to play Caitlin Snow in The CW's Arrowverse, Kay stepped away from acting altogether in 2012.

Speaking to Naperville in 2016, Kay revealed that she had fallen out of love with acting after a few bad experiences that soured the experience. Instead, she found a new calling as a zookeeper. "With my parents' help, I began to re-evaluate my life," she said. "I went back to school and entered an 18-month animal program in Gainesville, Florida, at Santa Fe College. I did an internship at Disney World, and then I was hired."

In 2022, Kay posted a message on her Instagram account, celebrating her new career and the people she met along the way. "When I became a zookeeper seven years ago, I was really trying to figure out who I was as a person and what was truly important to me," she wrote. "I could never [have] imagined it would lead me to find such quality people who have really helped me learn to love myself."

In the later seasons of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," Ross Bagley's Nicky Banks steals the show as Phil (James Avery) and Vivian's (Daphne Maxwell Reid) youngest child. He's as cute as a button and knows when to drop a killer one-liner that has everyone giggling, including his cousin Will (Will Smith).

It wouldn't be Bagley's only acting role alongside Smith, though: He went on to portray Smith's stepson, Dylan Dubrow, in 1996's "Independence Day." For the 2016 sequel, "Independence Day: Resurgence," Jessie T. Usher plays the now-adult Dylan.

After "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" concluded, Bagley made one-off appearances in several TV shows, such as "The Wild Thornberrys" and "Judging Amy," and starred in two independent movies. His last role, per his IMDb page, was in 2015. So, what has Bagley been up to since then? According to his Instagram account, he still labels himself as an actor, but he's also a realtor and DJ.

Ben Hyland received his acting debut in 2008's "Marley & Me," playing the 5-year-old version of the character Conor Grogan. It kick-started his trajectory for the next few years, as he appeared on well-known TV shows like "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Blue Bloods." His most notable TV appearance was on Netflix's "House of Cards," in which he played Kevin Russo, Peter Russo's (Corey Stoll) son, in several episodes.

Hyland would play Stoll's son once again in FX's vampire series "The Strain," where he co-starred as Zach Goodweather. After the first season of the show, the role of Zach was recast, with Max Charles playing the character for the remainder of the series. It became one of "The Strain" Season 2's burning questions, though: Why was Hyland replaced? "We recast this part due to some specific story needs we have downstream," showrunner Carlton Cuse told Deadline. "We are sad to see Ben go. He is a very talented actor and a wonderful person. We will all miss him and thank him for his great work."

As it turns out, "The Strain" proved to be Hyland's last acting credit. Since then, he hasn't appeared in any TV shows or films, as he disappeared from Hollywood entirely.

When you discuss the most famous child actors of all time, the Olsen twins — Mary-Kate and Ashley — almost always feature in every list. The Olsens made a name for themselves by sharing the role of Michelle Tanner on the sitcom "Full House." Michelle established herself as a fan-favorite character thanks to her constant shenanigans and popular phrases like "Duh" and "You got it, dude."

The Olsens, though, turned into a mega media franchise after "Full House" ended. The sisters built an empire by starring in a number of movies and TV shows, often capitalizing on the twin concept and their goodwill. Yet, as Mary-Kate and Ashley approached adulthood, their acting careers slowed down, as they focused on their studies and new business ventures, such as their fashion line. In 2012, the Olsens told the British edition of Elle (via The Sydney Morning Herald) that they were done with acting. They mentioned that if they ever went back to Hollywood, it would be in a behind-the-scenes role, but they were happy with their decision to step away.

When news of the revival series "Fuller House" dropped, many expected that the Olsen twins might return to the screen, but they never did during the show's five-season run. In fact, "Fuller House" creator Jeff Franklin revealed that he had given up on asking the Olsens to make a guest appearance.