The growing pains of Hollywood's child stars

Corey Feldman, young and old Photograph: Corey Feldman

The road from ET to Music and Lyrics was a long and hard one, but Drew Barrymore, perhaps the unlikeliest survivor of child stardom, has carved out an admirable career in adulthood Photograph: Kobal and PR

How did that happen? Frankie Muniz makes the astonishing trip from Malcolm in the Middle to rock bottom in CBS's Criminal Minds Photograph: Gale Adler/ABC Studios and Kobal

Kurt Russell's staying power has been so impressive that it's easy to forget that his film career began at the age of 12, playing the key role of Boy Who Kicks Mike in It Happened at the World's Fair. This shot is from 1969, when he was appearing in Disney's The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit Photograph: PR and Kobal

Few actors have pulled off the transition from raw young talent in Michael Caton-Jones's This Boy's Life to the finished article with such aplomb as Leonardo Di Caprio Photograph: Andrew Medichin/Kobal and AP

21 years is a long time to hold exactly the same expression. Christian Bale, from Empire of the Sun to the Dark Knight premiere Photograph: Toby Melville/Kobal and Reuters

Girls will be girls ... Lindsay Lohan and Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap and Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson in Disneyland Photograph: Paul Hiffmeyer/Kobal and AP

Hair today ... Jason Bateman took over Michael J Fox's mantle in Teen Wolf Too and promptly dropped off the film radar. But a combination of smart turns in Dodgeball and Arrested Development have seen him establish an enviable career Photograph: Kobal and PR

Like Di Caprio, Kirsten Dunst seems to have had little trouble in forging a long-term career. Interview with the Vampire and Jumanji are early entries in a CV boasting a range of blockbuster and art-house movies Photograph: Kobal and PR

The wonder-where-they-went years ... Fred Savage all grown up Photograph: Graham Whitby-Boot/Kobal and Allstar

A diffident and thoughtful performer in films such as The Horse Whisperer and Ghost Town, Scarlett Johansson now corners the market in screen sirens. She plays Silken Floss in Frank Miller's adaptation of the classic comic book The Spirit, released next year Photograph: Kobal and PR

Still smiling ... Mickey Rooney's film career began in 1926, playing a midget in Not to be Trusted. Last year he made his pantomime debut in the Sunderland Empire's production of Cinderella Photograph: Murdo Macleod/Guardian and Kobal

Perhaps the most celebrated child actor of recent times, Haley Joel Osment's performance in M Night Shyamalan's breakthrough The Sixth Sense was absolutely essential to the film's appeal. His career since has been a tale of diminishing returns Photograph: Mark Sullivan/Kobal and WireImage/Getty