Where child stars of the Noughties are now – TV icon who broke 38 bones, Friends twins & Spy Kids actress who hated fame
THERE were so many iconic child stars who shot to fame in the Noughties – and while some have gone on to be Hollywood stars, others have shunned the limelight.
Alexa PenaVega – who played Carmen Cortez in all of the Spy Kids films – recently revealed to Fox how she quit Hollywood five years ago because “God pulled her out” in order to focus on “living her life for Jesus”.
Alexa, 33, and her former Big Time Rush member husband Carlos PenaVega, 32, who are both Christian, spent years in the industry.
However, in 2017, after welcoming their first child together, they decided that they were going to relocate their family from California to Hawaii “to be part of a community that shared their faith”.
But what happened to Daryl Sabara, who played her brother in Spy Kids, and all the other child stars of hit 2000s films?
We reveal where they are now…
Daryl Sabara
Daryl, 30, was just six years old when he played Alexa’s on-screen brother Juni Cortez in 2001, before reprising the role for another three movies.
After his Spy Kids debut, he went on to star in many TV shows including House and Weeds – and he starred opposite Robin Williams in The World’s Greatest Dad.
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And he’s still acting, most recently heard as the voice of Heatblast in animated TV series Ben 10.
In his personal life, Daryl has been married to Meghan Trainor since 2010, and they have a one-year-old son Riley together.
The couple were introduced by Chloe Grace Moretz, after he starred with the actress in a play, and he often gushes about his wife on Instagram.
Sharing a picture of Meghan’s new album recently, he wrote: “I am so unbelievably proud and inspired by you EVERYDAY @meghantrainor… this new era of music that you’ve created is EVERYTHING.
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“You make me feel so special that I get to call you my wife, and that I get the opportunity to raise an awesome child with you 
I love you forever and always.”
Christa B Allen
Christa Allen shot to fame as the young Jenna Rink, the younger version of Jennifer Garner’s character, in the hit 2004 movie 13 Going On 30.
After 13 Going on 30, Christa – who’s now 30 herself – had guest roles in TV shows like The Suite Life on Deck and Grey’s Anatomy.
She reunited with Jennifer Garner in the 2009 movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, where she once again played the younger version of her character.
She went on to star as Charlotte Clarke in Revenge and is still acting now, most recently seen in TV film Christmas For Keeps.
She’s also a huge TikTok star with 1.9 million followers on the app – often recreating iconic looks and scenes from 13 Going On 30.
Noelle and Cali Sheldon
The Sheldon twins were just babies when they starred in Friends as Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer AKA Rachel Green and Ross Gellar’s daughter Emma.
Now all grown up, Cali and Noelle Sheldon are still acting and most recently appeared in Jordan Peele’s horror film, Us.
They also turned 19 earlier this year.
To celebrate the milestone they posted sweet messages to each other on social media with Cali calling her sister her “soul mate” and “bestie”.
Daveigh Chase – The Ring
Daveigh Chase began acting at a young age with her breakout role coming in the 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko – but she’s most famous for playing everyone’s worst nightmare Samara in The Ring the following year.
She continued to act after, even landing the role of Lilo in Lilo and Stitch, but has got into a bit of trouble with the law too.
In 2018, Daveigh was arrested for being in possession of a controlled substance in Hollywood.
She spent two hours behind bars before posting £780 bail.
It came just 18 months after she had been arrested after she left a dying man outside a hospital in Los Angeles.
Police sources told TMZ that Daveigh had been hanging out with the man in the hours before he died.
However, the arrest was due to an unrelated misdemeanour traffic warrant and nothing to do with the man’s death, and Daveigh was not named as a suspect in the man’s death with the actress saying at the time she was “merely trying to get him help at the hospital”.
She had yet another brush with the law in November 2017 when she was allegedly caught joyriding in a stolen car.
On that occasion she was charged with felony driving without the owner’s consent.
According to IMDB, her latest film was in 2016 thriller American Romance.
Jonathan Lipnicki
Jonathan Lipnicki shot to fame as Renee Zellweger‘s adorable son who won the heart of Tom Cruise, and the nation, in Oscar-winning film Jerry Maguire.
He then went on to appear in loads of classic Noughties films, including Stuart Little and Like Mike.
Now, aged 31, Jonathan is a tattooed hunk with a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Weirdly, he even appeared in the fourth series of Celebs Go Dating, alongside the late Love Island star Mike Thalatissis, Towie’s Gemma Collins and Made In Chelsea’s Sam Thompson.
Frankie Muniz
Frankie Muniz found fame on the Emmy Award-winning comedy series Malcolm In The Middle, where he played Malcolm, a child genius who lives with his dysfunctional family.
He starred on the show alongside Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston from 2000 to 2006, before getting the title role in film Agent Cody Banks.
Frankie then quit acting to become a professional race-car driver – but has been injured many times, revealing he’d broken 38 bones in 11 years in 2017.
In 2009, he had a serious accident on the race track.
He told People: “My car flipped a bunch and I crashed into a wall. In the end, I broke my back, ankle, four ribs and my hand. My thumb was dangling by the skin.”
He has also been living with “aura migraines” since 2012, in which he experiences mini-strokes.
Explaining the attacks, he said: “First, I lose my peripheral vision and I can see people but I can’t recognize them. I can see words but I can’t tell what they say.
“Then I start going numb. It’s a gross feeling.
“But I know now when it’s going to come. I usually go lay down and wait [for it to be over].”
More recently, Frankie returned to screens in 2017 as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and made it all the way to the finals.
Last year, 36-year-old Frankie and his wife Paige Price welcomed their first child together, Mauz.
Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Cosgrove, 29, got her big break as Summer Hathaway in 2003’s School of Rock, alongside Jack Black.
It led to her getting on to Drake and Josh on Nickelodeon, and then later, in 2009, the title role in iCarly.
At the time, she was reportedly the highest-paid child actress, earning $180K (£148.3k) per episode.
Since then she’s voiced Margot in all three Despicable Me films, and has recently announced she’s bringing iCarly back on Paramount Plus.
Madison De La Garza
Madison De La Garza landed her role as Juanita Solis, the daughter of Gabrielle Solis (played by Eva Longoria), on Desperate Housewives in 2008, and was in the show until it ended in 2012.
Since then, she’s had a few small roles but is now focusing her attention behind the camera.
According to her Instagram, she’s a screenwriter and her short film Subject 16 is on Amazon Prime.
She also happens to have a very famous pop star for a sister – Demi Lovato.
Haley Joel Osment
Haley Joel Osment was arguably the biggest child star of the Noughties, starring in huge films like The Sixth Sense and AI: Artificial Intelligence.
He even got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Sixth Sense at the age of 11.
Haley, 33, has kept a low public profile over the past several years – other than a few small roles in films like What We Do In The Shadows.
But earlier this year he did turn up on an episode of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
The child star showed off a substantially thinned physique and trimmed beard and ended up winning the competition, donating over $140,000 to Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, the charity of his choice.
Brian Fadulto
Who could forget the iconic line, “You’re tacky and I hate you,” uttered by Brian Fadulto in School of Rock when he was 11 years old?
Now 30, Brian still loves to perform and is a singer and actor.
He also hosts a podcast called ‘The Gay Life Coach’ about mindfulness for the LGBTQI+ community.
But he has said playing a “young gay figurehead” made his personal life complicated, since he didn’t come out until many years later.
Abigail Breslin
Like Haley, Abigail Breslin was nominated for an Oscar aged 10 for her role of Olive Hoover in 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine.
She has continued to act since, bagging roles in TV show Scream Queens and most recently in Stillwater opposite Matt Damon.
In 2017, Abigail opened up about being sexually assaulted by someone she knew when she was younger.
And, during the pandemic, she tragically lost her father Michael to Covid-19, aged 78.
Will Poulter
One of the UK’s greatest child star exports, Will Poulter was 14 when he landed the role of Lee Carter in the 2007 movie Son of Rambow.
The 29-year-old was then one of a group of kids in Comedy Lab on Channel 4 – but he was soon to hit the big screen in 2010 film Chronicles of Narnia.
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Three years later, and he was starring opposite Jennifer Aniston – as her son – in We Are The Millers.
Now a fully-fledged star, he was most recently seen in TV series Dopesick, and will be starring in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 very soon.