i watche freaky friday the other day and i just thought jodie was brilliant keeping in mind she was only about 13, most othe actresses that age are quite wooden and have no character.
also mostother child actor dissappear as they get older but no jodie shes now a well established actress and director and she is still gorgeous at 40.
im 18 and would rather snog jodie than briney or beyonce
jennifer
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Um, I liked her in this movie. She was a very good actress even at a younger age. But, I'd have to say that I liked Natalie Wood better. She was probably one of the first 'child stars' that actually rose out of her childish performances and became a huge success in older parts, unlike Shirley Temple who only made a few and then retired.
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Elizabeth Taylor was 10 years old when she made her first movie, 12 when National Velvet made her an international star, and she made nine movies before her 18th birthday.
Then there is Judy Garland, whose 8th role, at 17, was Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.
Is Jodie up to that standard? As an actress perhaps--perhaps even better--but face it, Liz is legend and Dorothy's a tough act to follow.
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IMO Jodie Foster is a great actress. However, I would not say she was the best child actress ever.
As for Natalie Wood... I guess the only child's role I remember her in was "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) when she was nine. And I don't know if she was better than any other little girl would have been in the same role. She was in many films as a teenager, but I never saw them, not until "The Searchers" when she was 17 or 18. And then she was only in a few scenes. (Her little sister Lana Wood probably had more lines, as the young Debbie.)
But during her 20s, Natalie had great roles and received many awards, including Oscar nominations for leading and supporting actress.
I also admit never really caring for Elizabeth Taylor or Judy Garland. So I don't have an opinion on either of them.
Natalie Portman was excellent in "The Professional", and is now an accomplished adult actress. (Let's just ignore Starwars, as the actor playing C3PO was the one and only person who showed any ability.)
Reese Witherspoon was also an excellent child actor who has made good in adult roles.
I still think Foster was better than all of them Taylor, Wood and Natalie Portman. If she had done the Professional she would have been better than Portman because Portman is wooden compared to Foster's more natural acting style. See the Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. She's even better in it than Taxi Driver and Freaky Friday because she carries the entire film and it was a great role for her.
shareThere wasn't an actor under the age of 18 ANYWHERE who was as good as Jodie Foster and I would still list her as one of the five best actresses working in the business today...one of the few child actors who was so talented that the transition from child star to adult actress was virutally seamless. How many other actors who started working as children are still working as adults and have two Oscars at home?
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Dana Hill was very good too, don't forget. Watch her in Shoot The Moon (1981 or '82) with Albert Finney and Dianne Keaton. Sadly, people have forgotten her, probably owing to her sheltered, miserable existence in the final years of her very sad, short life. She was very small in stature, small in screen presence in her final years, and now, it seems, small in the artistic immortality department. Sad.
shareAnother child actress around this time that the very grown up/tomboy demeanor was Kristy McNichol.
shareJodie was the best child actor ever. She set the benchmark. Every child actor wants her career and talent. I mean it was so clear even then that the other child actors of her generation weren't half as good as she was. And Elizabeth Taylor and Natalie Wood became legends but Jodie was still an even better child actor than them. She was just so natural and intelligent enough to understand how to play her characters. And she's still one of the best and top actresses today even though she doesn't work much.
"I've always depended on the kindness of strangers"
I would put Jodi in the top 10-15 but not "the best." There were child stars before film, and who's films were thrown away or destroyed by fire that are not able to be compared to Jodi, Liz, Judy, Shirley, Natalie, Patty, Roddy, Dean Stockwell, Jackie Coogan, Jackie Cooper, Baby Peggy, the Crawford brothers, the Hickman brothers, Haley Mills, the Cartwright sisters, Dickie Moore, Dickie Jones, Mary Lee, Bonita Granville. Bobby Blake, Gary Coleman and many more.
shareDefinitely one of the best. She was wise beyond her years and showed a great maturity in her acting without coming across as precocious. She showed great range in this time period (mid-70s) in films such as Taxi Driver, The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, Bugsy Malone and Freaky Friday.
shareTatum O'Neal was a good child actor.
shareThe curious quality about her was that she was able to act beyond her age, in addition to being wise, quick-witted, and intelligent. In films like Taxi Driver, The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, Candleshoe, and this film, she acted and talked more mature than her age and can stand head-to-head with adults and get the best of them. She also had a tough, independent, and tomboy demeanor that made her vibrant and exciting to watch as she negotiated through tough situations.
"...sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.” ~ Cool Hand Luke
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