# The best performance by a child you've ever seen (film or tv)



## badlands (Oct 14, 2009)

15 years or under as a cut-off.

Jack Wilde in Oliver or H. R. Pufnstuf for me.

Or maybe Hayley Mills in Tiger Bay.

Or the kids in The Innocents.


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## DotCommunist (Oct 14, 2009)

Leon/Portman


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## starfish (Oct 14, 2009)

Aleksei Kravchenko in Idi I Smotri (Come & See) i think he was 15.


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## killer b (Oct 14, 2009)

jodie foster in taxi driver?


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## Sigmund Fraud (Oct 14, 2009)

The kid in Bad Santa.


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## Jambooboo (Oct 15, 2009)




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## kazza007 (Oct 15, 2009)

mackuley culkin in home alone 2


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 15, 2009)

Eleven year old David Bennett, playing Oskar in The Tin Drum.


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## cesare (Oct 15, 2009)

15 year old Olivia Hussey in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet


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## pigtails (Oct 15, 2009)

That kid in American Gothic






Or Scott Baio in Bugsy Malone.......... no??


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## bluestreak (Oct 15, 2009)

dakota fanning in hounddog.  utterly wonderful actor, captivating performance.


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## Ride (Oct 15, 2009)

It's funny this thread should pop up now as I watched Funny Games U.S yesterday and Devon Gearhart was excellent in it.


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## RubyBlue (Oct 15, 2009)

Bonnie - in whatever she was in - cringe worthy - nasty.


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## RubyBlue (Oct 15, 2009)

Jambooboo said:


>



OMG - The Client - he was so cute


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## Endeavour (Oct 15, 2009)

starfish said:


> Aleksei Kravchenko in Idi I Smotri (Come & See) i think he was 15.


I'll second that. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


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## Wolveryeti (Oct 15, 2009)

Christian Bale in Empire of the Rising Sun


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## upsidedownwalrus (Oct 15, 2009)

Yes, Empre of the Sun was awesome.  Got a fair few haterz on here though.

The kid in the Shining


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## i_hate_beckham (Oct 15, 2009)




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## spawnofsatan (Oct 15, 2009)

The kid in Fresh


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## Utopia (Oct 15, 2009)

Anna Paquin in The Piano was pretty good


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## PandaCola (Oct 15, 2009)

The kid who played Gripper Stebson in Grange Hill. 

Over a number of years he had a massive impact on his audience: spreading terror and a wave of copycat attacks.


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## spawnofsatan (Oct 15, 2009)

Pixote or most of the kids in City of god.


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## kabbes (Oct 15, 2009)

I must throw a mention in for the kids in School of Comedy, which I watched for the first time last night.  They're brilliant!


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## red rose (Oct 15, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Leon/Portman


This.


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## g force (Oct 15, 2009)

Best one in recent memory, Portman is a good shout (shame about the rest of her career)


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## Biglittlefish (Oct 15, 2009)

What no ones mentioned the kids in The Wire yet? So many great performances in one place.


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## Biglittlefish (Oct 15, 2009)

And all the Kids in 'This is England'.


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## 5t3IIa (Oct 15, 2009)

Carrie Henn as Newt in _Aliens_


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## kabbes (Oct 15, 2009)

They mostly come at night.  Mostly.


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## 5t3IIa (Oct 15, 2009)

kabbes said:


> They mostly come at night.  Mostly.



I was gonna add that but I reckoned everyone would be hearing it in their heads anyway 

I think in that bit she just calls out 'OK!' when Ripley is telling her to stay put.


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2009)

I nominate Charlotte Burke in _Paperhouse_.


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## The Octagon (Oct 15, 2009)

I'm not sure whether to put the kids from City of God, as they were not having to 'act' too much (they were still captivating though).

Definitely Portman in Leon, and River Phoenix in Stand By Me.

Henry Thomas in ET too.

Finally, the little boy who played Bruno in Bicycle Thieves, heartbreaking stuff.


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## electrogirl (Oct 15, 2009)

Jodie Foster in Bugsy Malone is pretty amazing, she just IS an adult, the rest of them look like kids playing adults, but she just seems to BE an adult.

I saw an interview with chachi/bugsy and he said about her 'she acts me off of the screen'.


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2009)

Oh, and Tatum O'Neal in _Paper Moon_, obviously. And I second Hayley Mills (she's very good in _Whistle Down The Wind_ too). How about Jenny Agutter in _The Railway Children_?


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## 5t3IIa (Oct 15, 2009)

DaveCinzano said:


> Oh, and Tatum O'Neal in _Paper Moon_, obviously. And I second Hayley Mills (she's very good in _Whistle Down The Wind_ too). How about Jenny Agutter in _The Railway Children_?



Nope. Too stage school


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## purplex (Oct 15, 2009)

The jewish boy in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2009)

5t3IIa said:


> Nope. Too stage school



Which one?


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## 5t3IIa (Oct 15, 2009)

DaveCinzano said:


> Which one?



Agutter


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2009)

She's playing a middle class Victorian girl trying to hold her family together. Works for me.


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## idioteque (Oct 15, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Leon/Portman





g force said:


> Best one in recent memory, Portman is a good shout (shame about the rest of her career)





The Octagon said:


> Definitely Portman in Leon, and River Phoenix in Stand By Me.



Seconded/thirded/whatever we're on to all of these. And the main boy in This Is England too, I know someone's said it up there ^ already but I forgot to quote it.


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## spawnofsatan (Oct 15, 2009)

The feral kid in Mad Max 2


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## danny la rouge (Oct 15, 2009)

Jean-Pierre Leaud in 400 Blows.


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## spanglechick (Oct 15, 2009)

abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine


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## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2009)

I'm amused how the annoying shite out of Sixth Sense is getting no love whatsoever


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## belboid (Oct 15, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> Yes, Empre of the Sun was awesome.  Got a fair few haterz on here though.



only cos it was fucking shit.

Ben Marshall & Andrew Shim are stupendous in Room for Romeo Brass, even tho I don't like the film as a whole at all.


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## The Octagon (Oct 15, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> I'm amused how the annoying shite out of Sixth Sense is getting no love whatsoever



I nearly put him in as he was good in parts, but yes, irritating as hell too.


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## dodgepot (Oct 15, 2009)

electrogirl said:


> Jodie Foster in Bugsy Malone is pretty amazing, she just IS an adult, the rest of them look like kids playing adults, but she just seems to BE an adult.



yeah, everyone else is really hammy compared to her in that.


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 15, 2009)

dodgepot said:


> yeah, everyone else is really hammy compared to her in that.



Fat Sam is not hammy, just big boned.


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## Pieface (Oct 15, 2009)

*el jefe posting*

Ivana Baquero in Pan's Labyrinth


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## dodgepot (Oct 15, 2009)

yeah, that's a good'un


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## electrogirl (Oct 15, 2009)

I hate moon eyes Haley Joel Osmond and his stupid lispy mouth, his female equivalent is that one who played Matilda who is just as lispy and has Jamie Oliver tongue syndrome.


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## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2009)

wasn't she in Chocolate?


good book that.


shite film, mind


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## spanglechick (Oct 15, 2009)

DaveCinzano said:


> Fat Sam is not hammy, just big boned.



did a proper long, chuckly lol.


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## Diamond (Oct 15, 2009)

I reckon Natalie Portman's best adolescent performance is in Beautiful Girls as opposed to Leon.


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## gsv (Oct 15, 2009)

I was going to mention Haley Joel Osment specifically in The Sixth Sense. Compare his scared-as-fuck performance all the way through witht the much happier little boy at the end.

I think Haley-Joel-Hate is a backlash to AI (shit script and film, not his acting at fault) and generally to his being highly successful and feted.

GS(v)


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## electrogirl (Oct 15, 2009)

I think the backlash is due to his annoying mouth and moon eyes.


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## DotCommunist (Oct 15, 2009)

gsv said:


> I was going to mention Haley Joel Osment specifically in The Sixth Sense. Compare his scared-as-fuck performance all the way through witht the much happier little boy at the end.
> 
> I think Haley-Joel-Hate is a backlash to AI (shit script and film, not his acting at fault) and generally to his being highly successful and feted.
> 
> GS(v)



probably more to do with him being one of those massive headed precocious little shits that nobody likes. See also: the swollen headed kid from The Shining


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## gsv (Oct 15, 2009)

Ah, you mean "he's really good but too young so we hate him" ?

GS(v)


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## Dandred (Oct 15, 2009)

cesare said:


> 15 year old Olivia Hussey in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet



Am I a peodo for thinking those tits are great?


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## Barking_Mad (Oct 15, 2009)

starfish said:


> Aleksei Kravchenko in Idi I Smotri (Come & See) i think he was 15.



^^ Agreed.


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## Madusa (Oct 15, 2009)

Has anyone seen this british 60's movie called 'Our Mother's House'? Cast pretty much entirely made up of about 5/6 kids. Kinda fucked up movie but it's amazing. fantastic performances all round and all the more so cos the kids totally, totally carry the plot.


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## Mrs Magpie (Oct 15, 2009)

My nomination is actually radio. Becky Simpson in Spoonface Steinberg.


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## Jambooboo (Oct 15, 2009)

RubyBlue said:


> OMG - The Client - he was so cute



It's the kid from _The Champ_ LOL.


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## chazegee (Oct 16, 2009)

Human Giant.


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## chazegee (Oct 16, 2009)

Dandred said:


> Am I a peodo for thinking those tits are great?


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## mike desantos (Oct 17, 2009)

Billy Mumy in the Twilight Zone episode "it`s a good life", still gives me the creeps


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## Intastella (Oct 17, 2009)

electrogirl said:


> Jodie Foster in Bugsy Malone is pretty amazing, she just IS an adult, the rest of them look like kids playing adults, but she just seems to BE an adult.
> 
> I saw an interview with chachi/bugsy and he said about her 'she acts me off of the screen'.



Yeah, so did the Fonz tho...


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## AverageJoe (Oct 17, 2009)

One from TV

I really like Jamie Borthwick - who plays Jay in Eastenders. Its almost as if he isnt acting, he just seems so natural in character which for someone his age (he's 15 now, but has been in Enders for 3 years)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Borthwick

I also find Thomas Sangster immensely watchable - he's 19 now, but under 15 roles include Love Actually and Nanny McPhee. He also played Hitler at 13!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sangster


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## ChrisFilter (Oct 17, 2009)

Tom from Hollyoaks.


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## brixtonvilla (Oct 17, 2009)

Amazed that no-one has mentioned the girl who plays Eli in _Let the right one in_ yet. An amazingly mature performance from an 11-year-old - you get the feeling that she's been alive hundreds of years, and seen so much. Whoever gets the part in the remake will not get close to her.


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## Orang Utan (Oct 17, 2009)

Jambooboo said:


>



he died this year 

eta the kid from the client, not the champ


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## Orang Utan (Oct 17, 2009)

brixtonvilla said:


> Amazed that no-one has mentioned the girl who plays Eli in _Let the right one in_ yet. An amazingly mature performance from an 11-year-old - you get the feeling that she's been alive hundreds of years, and seen so much. Whoever gets the part in the remake will not get close to her.



though her voice was dubbed by another actor - sterling performance all the same


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## Orang Utan (Oct 17, 2009)

abigail breslin in little miss sunshine and anything else she's been in


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## belboid (Oct 17, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> abigail breslin in little miss sunshine and anything else she's been in



naah, she's rubbish in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause


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## Space Girl (Oct 17, 2009)

DaveCinzano said:


> Oh, and Tatum O'Neal in _Paper Moon_,



I second that one, still one of my fav films too


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## brixtonvilla (Oct 17, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> though her voice was dubbed by another actor - sterling performance all the same



Interesting, I didn't know that. Ta.


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 18, 2009)

Juan Adames as the kid in the original _Gloria_.


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## Flashman (Oct 18, 2009)

Was going to say Kristy McNichol in Little Darlings but she was over 15 I think.

So Another vote for Foster, in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.


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