Not as awkward a childhood as I thought, apparently. If you saw that show when it first aired, your crush has been running for about 48 years now. That could be some kind of record.
And I commend you on your foresight.
“Tabatha” was adorable as a child though.
Patrick Dempsey used to play a geeky teen in movies like Can’t Buy Me Love, Some Girls, and Happy Together (although he was actually in his early twenties when he made these movies). Now he’s a romantic lead.
The young Eliza Dushku was made up as the awkward, nerdy kid in her earliest roles, like here with a young Katherine Heigl in That Night or here with a young Leonardo diCaprio in This Boy’s Life.
Lauren Woodland, who played the round-spotty-headed Emily Francisco on Alien Nation
They intentionally deglamorized her for the role, but here’s Scarlett Johansson at 17 in Ghost World.
Allison Smith played Allie’s daughter Jennie on the sitcom Kate & Allie in the eighties. Fifteen years later, she was playing Leo’s daughter Mallory on The West Wing.
But wasn’t the whole point of her character to be someone who realized they’re not half as frumpy as they think they are and that after high school you’re an adult and can change that?
I remember her looking a lot more normal towards the end of the movie.
Some people just ain’t getting the point of the thread. Or have no idea what awkward means.
beat me to dudley! he’s always my go-to answer for these threads.
and lipnicki, hot damn. that one’s a surprise.
More Matthew Lewis
matthew-lewis on Tumblr scroll down
http://pinterest.com/pin/116530709079247186/
And from that second link, here’s Anna Chlumsky
I don’t really count any others on that site. Even Jaleel White as Urkel was largely clothing and mannerisms rather than any real appearance deficiencies.
There’s nothing goofy, awkward, or ugly in those kid pics.
Okay, not goofy, awkward, or ugly, but no real indication of how they would turn out, either. And how many goofy, awkward, or ugly child actors are there, really? It’s like with actresses; they take someone who’s not model-perfect, cast her as an ugly duckling or social outcast, and we’re all supposed to pretend they are.
There’s Sarah Jessica Parker, although some will question whether she ever actually got out of the awkward stage.
Jeannie Russell, who played Margaret on the old Dennis the Meance series was so heavily stereotyped as akid actressthat she never overcame it, even though she grew upto be, maybe not a hottie, but certainly normal.
As Stephen King said in his review of The Lawnmower Man: In movies, geeks aren’t ever really unsightly. They just have bad haircuts.
Josie Davis. Here she is as the awkward nerdy daughter in Charles in Charge. And here she is today.
Shee-it, my crush on Angela Cartwright goes back years before that, to her Make Room for Daddy days, and she still looks pretty good for a lady who is even older than I am.
Doesn’t really matter, because the OP asked for examples. If there aren’t any, there aren’t any. And we’ve seen a few posted, like the aforementioned Matthew Lewis, Jonathan Lipnicki, Jerry O’Connell, Anthony Michael Hall. I’m not really convinced most of the girls listed were really that awkward or goofy looking as children. The Anna Chlumsky picture I posted is the best example shown, and she seems to have generally good features. Sarah Jessica Parker is a possible example, where she has some agular harsh features that she has made work for her and generally plays more glamorous than some would think she actually is.
She may have played an awkward nerdy daughter, but there’s nothing in that picture that looks awkward or particularly nerdy.
She was very awkward and nerdy in the show, being tall and gangly, plus her sister was played by the cute and perky Nicole Eggert, so in context you could definitely believe it. Having said that, I, being awkward and nerdy myself, did like her character more.
I loved Josie Davis as a teen, and the daughter on Kate & Allie was a babe. They were better looking as teen IMO.
A great one that usually gets mentioned in these sorts of threads is Alicia Witt. Here she is as a child in the movie Dune. And here she is as an adult.