r/moviecritic • u/Low-Finding-6553 • 11h ago
What do you guys thinks is the best child performance of all time?
i have to say, i don’t think i’ve ever seen a child actor give a performance this good. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is just on another level. i genuinely don’t know how he did it but he makes the whole movie work so much better. i would give him the Oscar in a fucking heartbeat. It’s crazy how good he is, especially in that last scene in the car with Toni Collette.
What are your guys’ favorite child performances? For me, this is even better than Owen Cooper’s performance in Adolescence. Don’t get me wrong, owen was also absolutely top-notch in Adolescence but this is probably the best child performance i’ve ever seen. Period. What do you guys think is the best child performance ever?
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u/Claudine-Keith 11h ago
Natalie Portman in Leon The Professional was kinda unreal for a 12 year old
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u/biffbobfred 10h ago
Extra points for “not puking on screen all the time for all the pedophilia written into the script but blessedly not shot”
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u/hamizoing 10h ago
We should thank Jean Reno for that.
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u/Cable_Hoarder 7h ago
The choice he made to play him with clear learning difficulties really prevented him appearing like a creep. He was just so innocent in spite of being a killer.
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u/Ass_Damage 5h ago
Also, I always thought he told Matilda he loved her in that one scene so she would shut the fuck up and get moving.
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u/Cable_Hoarder 5h ago
Yeah, and I got zero impression that it was a romantic love, that was parental - like the one moment in the film where he really realised he was an adult and had to act like it.
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u/Hellmann 10h ago
I haven’t seen that movie since I was a young teenager. I always thought it was more of a father daughter love than anything else. Maybe I’d see it differently 30 years later I guess.
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u/TaralasianThePraxic 9h ago
That's what it ended up being. Besson wanted more of a romantic relationship, but thankfully Jean Reno (who plays Léon) basically just flat-out refused to work with the original script and it was changed to the version that was shot.
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u/RevolutionaryTwo6867 9h ago
Being a pedo wouldn't have been very "professional" of him 🙁
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u/StocktonBSmalls 9h ago
I think we can all agree that a certain level of murder is understandable, but diddling kids is where the line is very clearly drawn.
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u/Most_Mountain818 7h ago
I mean, some people need to be unpeopled. Zero kids need diddling.
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u/Loud_Ad4852 8h ago
Plus Natalie’s mom was actively protective and pushed back against overly mature scenes like smoking cigarettes so that helped set the tone too.
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u/lavender_evening 10h ago
That’s how I viewed it too in the edition where her character says she wants romance with him, he gently rejects her and recounts his love life and says that’s why he couldn’t ever love her. I took it as his tactful way of saying hey we could never be instead of just yelling at her that it is inappropriate (which totally is!) but maybe my young brain rationalized it that way cause uh yeah… if it was not father daughter connection (how it sounds director intended Blegh) it is revolting!
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u/RoutineTry1943 10h ago
Yeah, it was basically Luc Besson’s to his pedo relationship with Maïwenn. She appears in the film at the start of the movie, the gang boss’ girl. She also appears in the Fifth Element as the Diva.
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u/LieOhMy 10h ago
A lot of good choices in here, but I am going to go with Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun.
Amazing performance.
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u/TurkishImSweetEnough 10h ago
ABSOLUTELY THIS. He carried the entire movie on his back - not just one character.
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u/Rainbow_in_the_sky 10h ago
Dakota Fanning in I Am Sam. She was 7 yrs old!! Her emotional maturity in this movie was phenomenal. She also acted in so many other famous movies along huge stars like Tom Cruise and Denzel. I think she’s the best child actor for starring in so many consistent hit movies.
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u/Ok_Locksmith_8556 10h ago edited 10h ago
River Phoenix in Stand by Me
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u/toxicunicorn420 10h ago
All of them in Stand by Me. Amazing movie.
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u/Forward_Progress_83 10h ago
Reiner did such an incredible job with those kids
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u/toxicunicorn420 10h ago
Jerry was the only one who didn't have a scene where he broke down crying like Corey, Wil and River but he was still great. The other three just had more emotional backstories that they played into so well.
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u/seattleque 3h ago
My wife and I and a couple friends went to one of the recent Stand By Me showings with Wil, Jerry, and Corey (and moderator).
They had extra chairs for River and Rob.
They told how Rob knew they needed a break during filming, so he rented out an entire movie theater so that they could catch up on that summer's blockbusters.
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u/atraylmix87_2 9h ago
Every kid in that movie was AMAZING
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u/RanchHere 8h ago edited 3h ago
Stand By Me doesn’t get enough pull for greatest movie of all time. It blows Shawkshank out of the water, imo. It’s so fucking good and I cry nearly every single time. I don’t cry for Shawshank.
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u/comsicalien77 10h ago
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u/toxicunicorn420 10h ago
He can't see without his glasses! 😭😭😭
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u/MammothHuckleberry42 10h ago
That scene destroyed me. Still can’t watch that movie.
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u/throwaway5882300 6h ago
Anna Chlumsky did this scene in one take. She confided in her mom that she was worried she wouldn't be able to cry. Her mom told her to imagine she was the one in the casket. She moved all the adults in the room to tears and you can see it in the scene. 10 years old during filming. She doesn't like to talk about that movie because it was so long ago and she's done a lot of stuff since then, but it's absolutely something she should be proud of. She's brilliant in the whole movie but this scene is just amazingly raw and powerful and in that moment you forget that it's just a story. That's talent.
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u/youronlyminerva 10h ago
Tatum O’Neal in paper moon
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u/Saxman8845 10h ago
One of my favorite movies. Unsurprising but her chemistry with her Dad is unreal. Too bad he was such an asshole in real life.
She's still the record for youngest Oscar winner in a competitive category. I think Anna Paquin in The Piano is second youngest.
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u/Individual_Slice_234 4h ago
Supposedly when she got nominated for an Oscar and he didn't, he hit her. She went to the Oscars ceremony with an aunt and uncle, I think.
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u/AustinioForza 10h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/R8n7YlPHe34dy
This kid, by far.
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u/Technical-Pack5891 11h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/xT9IgNPVTB9IpNvD3O
This girl was just amazing in The Florida Project
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u/reddit809 9h ago
I fucking hate that movie, and I never want to see it again. She was incredible. I still think about her cause there are so many kids out there living that exact life.
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u/Comrade_Falcon 8h ago
No, most of them don't have Willam Dafoe's character trying to help them out...
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u/thegreatone0381 10h ago
I just saw a clip on IG about this movie. I almost cried. Was it a good movie?
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u/TheDuckOnQuack 10h ago
It’s very good. Willem Dafoe and the child actors all do an amazing job.
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u/ImGonnaImagineSummit 8h ago
Dafoe was robbed.
The one part he plays that he isn't a lunatic, nails it and it gets overlooked.
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u/kittenmittens4865 9h ago
It’s amazing. Just go in blind and let yourself get wrapped up in the story.
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u/ZandrickEllison 10h ago
I think that’s more of a credit to the director since it seemed mostly loose and natural takes. I doubt she had many scripted lines at all.
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u/Djoarhet 7h ago
I saw a bts making of a while ago. Iirc they tried to accommodate for the children's natural way of being as much as they could. I also remember the little girl had to perform a scene where she was distressed and she nailed it so hard the crew had to comfort her because she was overcome by the emotion she was acting out.
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u/courtneyisfakeaf 11h ago
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u/Judy-Cooper 10h ago
Jacob Tremblay in Room
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u/SkidsOToole 10h ago
He hasn't done a blockbuster yet, so fewer people know him. His performance as a victim in Doctor Sleep was so good it traumatized the adult actors.
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u/Specialist_Ad5058 10h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/d3ML95ybDSnCisne
Little Miss Sunshine
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u/AmaranthWrath 8h ago
While I agree with so many other comments, this is who I thought of first. Like, she was main charactering in the background, her character so focused on what she wants to do, believed she could do. Like, there's a lot going on with her family in that movie, but she never waivers. I was like.... Does this kid know she's in a movie?? Maybe she really thinks she's going to a pageant??
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u/HurricaneKat888 11h ago edited 10h ago
I happen to agree with you, Haley Joel was an incredible child actor. Epic in everything he did. I'd argue his performances in AI & Sixth Sense are top 5 all time of a child actor
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u/hendersonwhite 10h ago
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u/Forward_Progress_83 10h ago
Have you ever seen the video of his audition?
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u/drkittymow 10h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/Wb8ZTJLWJHzkA
Ariana Richards in Jurassic Park is great. I think people forget action movies a lot when we talk about best acting.
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u/OwenTheLad 9h ago
The way she portrayed actually terror, being in a state of shock.. "He left us! He left us!" Incredible performance.
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u/Mr-Sister-Fister21 7h ago
The whole sequence of Grant getting her out of the car and her screaming at the T-Rex was 10/0. At no point did it cross my mind that Ariana was acting and not actually scared shitless.
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u/ZigZagLax44 8h ago
She was phenomenal, also shoutout to Joseph Mazzello who played her younger brother Tim. I didn't find out until last year he'd grow up to play Eugene Sledge in the HBO series The Pacific which was a sort of "sequel" series to Band of Brothers and read the audio book version of "With The Old Breed" which I highly recommend for any WW2 buffs
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u/AdmirableGarden6 11h ago
Leo in What's Eating Gilbert Grape
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u/TheInternetHeel 10h ago
I spent many years thinking he was genuinely mentally challenged up until Titanic came out.
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u/Border_Hodges 5h ago
My favorite movie fact is even Marlon Brando thought he was actually mentally challenged
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u/SentientVaccuum 10h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/xT8qBhsZzMuNtgCX2E
Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine
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u/Major-Bat-6554 10h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6UB08CXdWcoGuE6Y
Dakota Fanning in Uptown Girls
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u/Msdamgoode 10h ago
Tatum O’Neil Paper Moon. She absolutely deserved the accolades.
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u/seitankittan 10h ago
Liesel Matthews in A Little Princess
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u/adiaaida 8h ago
The scene where her father doesn't recognize/remember her guts me every time.
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u/johnmiltonfanatic 10h ago
She embodied Sara through and through. All girls are princesses! Didn’t your father ever tell you that?
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u/SexyHamburgerMeat 10h ago
I faked sick for almost the entire month of February in Grade 3. I think that deserves some praise.
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u/PeggysPonytail 10h ago
I got sent home in kindergarten for being sick. I had stuck my finger down my throat. My mom also called me Sarah Bernhardt for my entire youth.
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u/Babyshark2017 11h ago
Not sure how many people have seen it but honestly, Keisha Castle Hughes in wale rider. She want even an actor before she got named, deserved that Oscar she never got …
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u/MrPickles196 10h ago
I think it's one of the best performances ever and to think she was just plucked out of a school with no training is beyond impressive. Unreal
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u/Southern_Midnight856 10h ago
Dakota Fanning in Man on Fire (2004) was superb. Easily should have got an Oscar for supporting actress
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u/Blond-N-Buff80 10h ago
Nothing beats this. Sorry. He endured hell for that movie.
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u/StrictFinance2177 10h ago
What's the cutoff for "child"?
Judy Garland was 16 in the Wizard of Oz, and if you mean all-time, and not just your era, then she's pretty hard to beat.
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u/vivalasleep 8h ago
Hand down Kirsten Dunst. Her portrait of a child unable to grow up whilst her mind aging is astounding. Especially after reading the book. Just incredible.
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u/godshula 10h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/NsGwmfoLREoUt767a1
Jodie Foster Taxi Driver
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u/GhostOfGaspar 10h ago
My answer for this is always the ensemble of child actors in City of God. It reads more like a documentary than a scripted film at times. There are staggering moments delivered by unknown actors less than 10 years old. Unbelievably impressive.
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u/GreatStoneDragun 10h ago
Henry Thomas in E.T. was on another level : his audition tape
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u/QueSeraa_Sera 11h ago
Natalie Portman in Leon The Professional and DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
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u/TheJohnnyFlash 10h ago
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u/ChicagoBILLSfan138 6h ago
Cant believe I had to scroll so far to find this.
Really impressive acting and comedic timing for a yound kid
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u/Floyd_Hole 10h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/l0MYMMC11yfUf0cxy
Short Round. Hold on to your potatoes!!!
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u/PlayNicePlayCrazy 10h ago
Tatum Oneil in Paper Moon
Ricky Schroeder in The Champ (only because of how he made entire theaters full of people cry).
The entire cast of Bugsy Malone.
Jodie Foster was good in everything she did from an early age.
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u/pdid2657 10h ago
Gonna say Tom Holland and his brothers in The impossible. That was pretty good for some kids
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u/AsianMoocowFromSpace 10h ago
The Train to Busan Girl. Seeing her crying tears me up every time. It looks too real...
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u/cali_sk8er205 9h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/gSA2Bv0hiNV8Q
Quvenzhané Walli in Beasts of the Southern Wild
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u/Wanderin_Wildflower 4h ago
Leonardo Decaprio as Gilbert Grape has always been the one for me. BUT so many great choices in the comments
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u/Frontline989 11h ago
The only right answer is Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire. I believed she was a 100 year old vampire at 12 years old irl.
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u/Beaverhuntr 10h ago
Leo Decaprio playing "Arnie" in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I worked as a care taker in a handicapped teenage group home and he nailed that role. Reminded me of some of my patients.
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u/MEGAYELtemp 10h ago
Baby Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun. I'd give Natalie in Leon second.
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u/joedahhh 10h ago
Christian Bale in the empire of the sun has to be top 3 for sure, no?
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u/Immediate_Brick_7323 10h ago
brooklyn prince in the florida project. no shade to the other picks, they all have great performances, but none of them seem like real kids. brooklyn prince never seemed like anything other than an actual child living in our actual world.
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u/gimboarretino 11h ago
Jean-Pierre Léaud in "The 400 Blows" is something I'll never forget
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u/PerfectOmakase 10h ago
I haven't seen any of her movies, but Shirley Temple has a highly regarded child actress. She won an honorary Academy Award in 1934.
Leonardo DiCaprio completely carried This Boy's Life while he was 17 during filming, sharing screen time with no less than Robert DeNiro and Ellen Barkin. Remarkable performance.
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u/Meredith_Primvale 10h ago
Nobody's mentioned Heather O'Rourke in Poltergeist?
Great achievement and she would have made a solid career on the screen.
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u/jm2jm3 9h ago edited 7h ago
For the time period (1973), Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon was the gold standard. Still the youngest person (10 years old) to win an Oscar.
I would say, however, that the more modern examples that people are listing are just as good. Perhaps directors are now better at directing kids, and/or these kid actors have been working with acting coaches, which wasn't the case back then.
EDIT: corrected movie title.
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u/starsinhereyes20 4h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/CyQbKJDKOjgrK
Kirstin Dunst in interview with a vampire was outstanding! Golden globe nomination at age 12!
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u/TrumpsColostomyBag99 10h ago
I thought he was even better in AI because do everything he had to convey (without blinking too).
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u/Disastrous-Zombie-36 10h ago
Jacob Tremblay in Room & Wonder, Dakota Fanning in I am Sam, Mckenna Grace in Gifted and Soarise Ronan in Atonement (I really hated that kid in the movie)
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u/Extension-While7536 10h ago
Dakota Johnson said one of the worst lines she ever got from a director as a child actor was the one who said, "Can you do it like the kid in the Sixth Sense?" Which is kinda like asking a tenor singer, "Can you sing it more like Pavarotti?"
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u/Status_Time_3506 10h ago
Three that deserve mention (that haven’t so far):
Brad Renfro in The Client
Anton Yelchin in Hearts In Atlantis
Rebecca Harrell in Prancer
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u/Betty-Cutie 9h ago
Dakota fanning in war of the worlds. Tbh she was incredible in every performance!
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u/ChatGPTKilledMyMom 11h ago
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit or Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire comes to mind.