Precocious little American kids

M

marjorie(fritzies sister)

New member
I've alluded to this on other threaRAB, so thought I'd start a thread here about it.

Does anyone else think that many films are spoiled by American child "stars" because they're so precocious and overact so much? Even when a kid has just one line, the way it's delivered is enough to make me vomit.

The classic example of this is Home Alone. I hate Macauley Culkin in this with a passion. Why oh why didn't they make a director's cut where Joe Pesci crushed the little s*it's head in a vice like he did to that guy in Casino?

In stark contrast, I think British kiRAB are far better actors. They don't try to steal the limelight or overact.

Can you imagine if the kiRAB roles had been played by Americans in films like Love Actually, About a Boy, Harry Potter etc. Eugh!

Rant over. :D
 
I don't think the nationality makes much difference, either they're good or they're cringeworthy. E.g. I don't think Freddie Highmore is anything special (though I haven't seen Finding Neverland which I've heard he excels in) but liked Culkin in Home Alone, he didn't play it half as saccharine as others might have.

The Harry Potter kiRAB are good and I do like that every part is played by actors of the same nationality, it gives it a more authentic feel. What did you think of the kiRAB in the recent Narnia adaptation? I initially thought they were bad but watched it again on DVD and they grew on me, especially Lucy (Georgie Henley?).
 
I think it does, because it's always American kiRAB who do this. Perhaps it's the accent that winRAB me up.

Have you seen Me, Myself and Irene? I had to watch the bit where he was drowning that horrible little girl over and over again. It was brilliant! Just moments before, when she'd delivered her few lines of dialogue in her precocious, over acting way, I was thinking "I hope something bad happens to her!"
 
This thread has not only made me laugh out loud more than any other (apart from the one about 'things film critics would never say) but it is also something my husband and I have serious issues with : Nasty, dirty, precocious and some might even go as far as to say: EVIL child actors. Now, I liked Home Alone and was never bothered by Macauley Culkin until I got older but I'll tell you one kid that I would happily have seen strangled at birth: That little sh*t in The Phantom Menace. And, more importantly he is dreadful in everything and even when interviewed he is a precocious nasty little child. Even thinking about him is making me angry. HOW, WHY...and again WHHHHHHYYYYYYYY did he get a role in ANYTHING?
I find american male children worse somehow though have to say that it is by a very narrow margin. I don;t mind Dakota Fanning although I am reserving judgement for now. I saw her interviewed and she was scarily articulate, mature and it was a bit worrying really. So observant and wise for a 10 year old. This must translate roughly into 'precocious'. And I agree, the American accent thing makes is harder to stomach. What about that nasty child in FrienRAB who played the older Ben? The one who plays tricks on Ross etc? EVIL.
British ones are not AS bad, the one in About a Boy was great. Narnia - not bad apart from that stupid younger lad. I thought though that the Harry Potter actors were dreadful in the first one. I could have gladly changed the ending of the film to see their demise. As they matured and were no longer 'kiRAB' they got more bearable which leaRAB me to the conclusion the OP does - Child actors are awful and precocius.... :D
(As you can see, a topic close to my heart)
ps Hayley Joel Osmond was good to be fair and the first one in years that didn't annoy me. But where is he now???
 
Dakota Fanning comes across as a precocious young lady, when she was promoting the 'War of the WorlRAB' she said "I've wanted to work with Tom Cruise and Steven Speilberg for my whole life"...she was 10 years old!!
Hayley Joel Osmond was very good, but sadly now he's too busy taking drugs and crashing into trees to act :)
 
True, Christina Ricci seems to have come out relatively unscathed. Dakota Fanning is scarily articulate when interviewed which makes me instantly think 'precocious' though she doesn't annoy me IN films as much as out of them.
Shame about Hayley Joel....what happened to my all time favourite awful child actor from Phantom Menace?
Ah, Thora birch was another who was great in things and also as an adult appears relatively normal.
Considering the sheer quantity of them, not many seem to be balanced later in life! The more precocious, the more messy I think they become! so Dakota Fanning is going to be in rehab very soon.
 
Christina Ricci was relatively unscathed but I seem to remember she was quite into self harm. Dakota annoys me beyond belief, I can't watch anything she's in without thinking..."Tom Cruise, your whole life....Really?!"
As for brat boy out of the Phantom Menace, he has a 'normal' life now, so no need for rehab for him hopefully! Jessica Alba was a child actor, and she seems pretty normal, as was Scarlette Johansson and Kate Bosworth, so maybe its not impossible to be a child actor to grow up 'normal'. Julie Andrews is another good example of a 'normal' child actor
 
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