8 Former Child Stars Who've Moved On to 'Typical' (and Impressive!) Day Jobs
8 Former Child Stars Who've Moved On to 'Typical' (and Impressive!) Day Jobs
Alexandra Schonfeld, Emily KrauserFri, April 10, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC
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From left: Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle on 'Wizards of Waverly Place'; Jennifer Stone shares her nursing badge on Instagram on April 7, 2020Credit: Jennifer Stone/Instagram -
Several former child stars, including Peter Ostrum and Kay Panabaker, transitioned to careers involving animals after leaving Hollywood
Jennifer Stone became a registered nurse and worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic after her acting career
Bridgit Mendler pursued advanced degrees at MIT and Harvard and now leads a space-focused tech startup she co-founded
Though being a child star has its perks, not everyone who started acting as a kid wants to stay in Hollywood.
For every Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez who continued to act as adults, many others realized they have dreams beyond the big and small screens. Gomez's Wizards of Waverly Place costar Jennifer Stone, for instance, worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Peter Ostrum and Kay Panabaker are among those who pivoted to careers involving animals.
Of course, some young actors haven't strayed from the business, hosting a podcast or working as an entertainment lawyer, for example. Still, their time in front of the camera took a backseat as they pursued other passions.
Meet some of the former child stars who have taken jobs away from the spotlight.
01 of 08
Peter Ostrum: Veterinarian
From left: Peter Ostrum as Charlie Bucket in 1971's 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'; Peter Ostrum attends the opening night gala for the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, Calif., on May 18, 2023Credit: Wolper/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock; David Livingston/Getty Images)
Ostrum's singular acting credit came as Charlie Bucket in 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
One of the film's producers, David Wolper, offered Ostrum a three-film contract, but he opted out.
"They didn't know what movies I would be offered, and that made me uneasy," Ostrum told Veterinary Practice News in May 2023. "I had a great experience making Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, but I don't know that I fell in love with acting, per se."
Following a lifelong love of animals, Ostrum became a veterinarian. Per the publication, he received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University and worked at Countryside Veterinary Clinic in Lowville, N.Y., for 37 years. He retired in December 2022 but continued to be involved with a dairy consulting business, Dairy Health and Management Services.
02 of 08
Jennifer Stone: Nurse
From left: Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle on 'Wizards of Waverly Place'; Jennifer Stone shares her nursing badge on Instagram on April 7, 2020Credit: Jennifer Stone/Instagram
Stone's first major role came in 2007 when she landed a gig playing Gomez's BFF Harper Finkle on Wizards of Waverly Place. After the show wrapped in January 2012, Stone continued acting for a bit before attending college.
At 20, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and that guided her to a new career path.
"I was like, 'Okay, let me pivot from majoring in psychology to majoring in something that I can further understand myself better and what's going on with my body and also be able to help people,' " she told PEOPLE in May 2024.
Stone announced her graduation in December 2019. She then revealed in April 2020 that she was officially a registered nurse working on the frontlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to her work as an ER nurse, Stone co-hosted the Wizards of Waverly Pod with her former costar, David DeLuise, until October 2024.
03 of 08
Kay Panabaker: Zookeeper
From left: Kay Panabaker arrives at the gala benefit opening for the 'Revenge of the Mummy:The Ride' at Universal Studios in Los Angeles on June 24, 2004; Kay Panabaker in a photo posted on Instagram on Jan. 20, 2019Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty; Instagram/kaypanabaker
After years working as a child actress on shows like Summerland and Phil of the Future, and later acting on the series No Ordinary Family, Panabaker took a step back from the spotlight and focused her attention on animals.
In May 2022, Panabaker shared on Instagram that at the time she had been a zookeeper at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., for seven years.
Panabaker told Naperville Magazine in December 2016 about her role at the Disney park, explaining that she worked with various animals, including goats, sheep, elephants, porcupines, skunks, donkeys, cows, parrots and opossums.
As for why she decided to leave show business, Panabaker told the outlet that she felt herself losing enthusiasm for the job, specifically after an on-set experience with a producer asking her to lose weight.
She said that while she continued to audition in L.A. for a bit after that, "The passion wasn't there."
"Looking back, finding my true passion was worth all of the extra time," Panabaker said. "I work with some of the most incredible people, who inspire me to work harder and make a bigger difference in the world. That aspect was missing in my previous career and is something that feeds my soul in my current line of work."
04 of 08
Charlie Korsmo: Professor
Charlie Korsmo as Jack in 1991's 'Hook'; Charlie Korsmo in a photo for Case Western Reserve University School of LawCredit: Everett; Courtesy Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Charlie Korsmo starred in Dick Tracy (1990), What About Bob? (1991) and Hook (1991) before taking a step back from acting in high school.
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"After Hook, that was my last movie as a kid, we really had a sort of choice to make," he told PEOPLE in 2018. "But I hadn't been in school for a few years. I suddenly found I didn't really have friends my own age anymore."
While studying physics at M.I.T., Korsmo felt the urge to return to acting and reconnected with his old agent, who got him a role in 1998's Can't Hardly Wait. Despite his foray back into the business, Korsmo graduated from M.I.T. before attending law school at Yale, and later became a corporate law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Korsmo isn't entirely retired from acting, however — in recent years, he landed roles in 2018's Chained for Life and 2024's A Different Man.
"I was not out there looking for parts, but he said there was a part in there for me, so I said, 'We can do it in a very short shoot because I've got a job and I've got young kids,' " Korsmo told PEOPLE of working on Chained for Life with an old director friend. "But I really loved the script and the timing seemed right."
05 of 08
Bridgit Mendler: CEO
From left: Bridgit Mendler as Teddy Duncan on 'Good Luck Charlie'; Bridget Mendler visits the 'Young Hollywood' Studio in L.A. on Nov. 2, 2019Credit: Adam Taylor/Disney Channel via Getty; Derek Martin/Young Hollywood/Getty
Bridgit Mendler stepped into a starring role on Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie in 2010 as a teenager, though her first acting credit was on a 2006 episode of General Hospital.
Good Luck Charlie wrapped in 2014, and during her time on the show, Mendler also appeared in 2011's Lemonade Mouth and performed several songs for the movie's soundtrack. In 2012, she released her debut album Hello My Name Is…, and her last EP and tour came in 2016 with Nemesis.
After putting her music career on pause, Mendler attended the University of Southern California. She was then announced as one of the 2017 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab's Director's Fellows and started a graduate program at the university in 2018.
Since 2020, Mendler has been pursuing a PhD from MIT, and she earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in May 2024.
In 2024, Mendler announced that she would serve as the CEO of Northwood Space, a startup with the mission of creating a "data highway between earth and space" that she co-founded with her aerospace engineer husband, Griffin Cleverly. On the same day she made that announcement, Mendler also shared that she had adopted a son in 2022.
"Once my eyes were kind of opened up to the ways in which space is so integrated into life on Earth, that's where it really connected for me," Mendler told NBC's Gadi Schwartz of when she decided to enter the world of tech during an interview on Today in May 2025.
06 of 08
Clayton Snyder: Real Estate Agent
From left: Clayton Snyder as Ethan in 2003's 'The Lizzie McGuire Movie'; Clayton Snyder takes a selfie at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego in September 2023Credit: Walt Disney/courtesy Everett Collection; Instagram/heyclayton
Clayton Snyder landed his first role in 2001 as Lizzie McGuire's (Hilary Duff) crush Ethan Craft on Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire, playing the character on both seasons of the show as well as in the eponymous 2003 film.
He took a brief break but continued acting in the mid-2010s and was attached to the Lizzie McGuire reboot before it was canceled in 2020 after filming two episodes. Snyder's last credited role was the 2021 TV movie The Maltese Holiday.
These days, Snyder works as a real estate agent in California, per his Instagram. He's also the club director of L.A. Athletic Club Water Polo and co-hosts the podcast Water Polo Wednesday.
07 of 08
Andrea Barber: Educator
From left: Andrea Barber as Kimmy Gibler on 'Full House'; Andrea Barber attends the premiere of Netflix's 'Fuller House' at The Grove — Pacific Theaters in L.A. on Feb. 16, 2016Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Netflix/AP Images
Before stepping back into the role of Kimmy Gibbler on the Full House reboot Fuller House, Andrea Barber thought she was done with acting.
"It was a pretty seamless transition for me, and I was ready," she told PEOPLE in November 2017. "I never looked back, and I know that sounds crazy, but I had a lot of success as a child actor, and it really doesn't get better than Full House for me."
After starring on the original show from 1987 to 1995, Barber graduated from Whittier College, interned at the United Nations in Geneva and earned a master's degree in the U.K. She then went on to pursue a career in education.
In addition to her return to the Full House universe, Barber appeared on Nickelodeon's That Girl Lay Lay from 2021 to 2024 and appeared in 2022's Christmas on Candy Cane Lane.
08 of 08
Jeff Cohen: Lawyer
From left: Jeff Cohen as Chunk in 1985's 'The Goonies'; Jeff Cohen attends The Academy Celebrates Filmmaker Richard Donner event at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., on June 7, 2017Credit: Warner Bros/Everett; Joshua Blanchard/Getty
Jeff Cohen's first film role came in 1985's The Goonies as Chunk, alongside Ke Huy Quan's Data. His last credit was 1991's Perfect Harmony.
Though Cohen stepped away from the spotlight, nearly 40 years after The Goonies, he and Quan worked together again, albeit in a different capacity — when Quan was ironing out his contract for 2022's Everything Everywhere All at Once, he employed Cohen, now an entertainment lawyer, to represent him.
"When the producer of our movie was trying to make my deal, he said he never imagined that he'd have to talk to Chunk and Data for his movie," Quan told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2023 of the unlikely reunion.
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