# Best performance by a child actor/actress **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568 "2006-07-22T02:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/21 "2006-07-22T17:06:13Z")
[QUOTE=KarlGauss] Until two days ago, that is, before I saw Leon, I would have answered [River Phoenix](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000203/) in [Stand By Me](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0092005/) if asked what was the best performance by a child (he was either 14 or 15 when the movie was filmed). [/QUOTE] Even more impressive, IMO, is his performance in **The Mosquito Coast** , which came out the same year as Stand By Me. And I agree with Rodgers01 about Henry Thomas in **E.T.** The great thing about that movie is that the character of Elliot actually behaves like a kid, instead of a little adult. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/22 "2006-07-22T17:14:59Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] That girl in _Whale Rider_ was astonishing. That recital scene had me bawling. [/QUOTE] Actually, I forgot about her. I agree - she was incredible. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/23 "2006-07-22T17:45:07Z")
I’ll go with [Abigail Breslin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Breslin) and [Rory Culkin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Rory+Culkin) in Signs. Both were amazing, I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/24 "2006-07-22T17:47:42Z")
Oh, and I forget [Emily Browning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Rory+Culkin) in A Series of Unfortunate Events. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/25 "2006-07-22T17:53:15Z")
I thought [Max Pirkis](http://imdb.com/name/nm1263986/) did a great job as the midshipman in **Master and Commander**. Also as Octavian in HBO’s **Rome**. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/26 "2006-07-22T18:19:11Z")
Dakota Fanning’s little sister, Elle, in **The Door in the Floor**. So much sadness and gravity in one so young; she turned five while they were filming. ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/27 "2006-07-22T18:22:10Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Now that I think about it, **Lucas Black** as the kid in [Sling Blade](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0117666/) is my pick for best performance by a child actor. [/QUOTE] Lucas Black was also pretty good as P. Joe in _Crazy in Alabama_ ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/28 "2006-07-22T18:31:43Z")
The remarkable Ana Torrent in **The Spirit of the Beehive**. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/29 "2006-07-22T18:51:53Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] That girl in _Whale Rider_ was astonishing. That recital scene had me bawling. [/QUOTE] AGREED! [Keisha Castle-Hughes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1095720/). She also played the Queen of Naboo in “Revenge of the Sith.” Jodie Foster has always been one of my favorites. Not only for “Taxi Driver” but also for [The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074806/). Very cool movie. Martin Sheen is great in this. Nobody has mentioned Brooke Shields’ performance in [Pretty Baby](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078111/) yet? Her best role, IMO. I’ve always been a fan of hers, as she is one of the most consistently beautiful people I’ve ever seen in the media; yet I’ve never much been a fan of her acting. _Pretty Baby_, however, captured her perfectly. Shoot, _I_ wanted to have sex with her by the end of it. (But I didn’t, so you can relax.) ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/30 "2006-07-22T18:57:14Z")
[QUOTE=vivalostwages] Dakota Fanning’s little sister, Elle, in **The Door in the Floor**. So much sadness and gravity in one so young; she turned five while they were filming. [/QUOTE] And if she isn’t a mirror image of Dakota, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle…er…aunt. She was wonderful in that part. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/31 "2006-07-22T19:06:51Z")
[QUOTE=Gene Frenkle] The little girl who played Keanu Reeve’s sister in **The River’s Edge**. And **Ponette**. [/QUOTE] [Ione Skye](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001746/), I think, and [Victoire Thivisol](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0858284/), who was also in _Chocolat_ with Juliette Binoche. [QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] I think that the boy who played Edward, in the Chronicles of Narnia did a very good job and whomever played Lucy is one to watch. The boy who played Liam Neeson’s son in Love, Actually I thought was brilliant. [/QUOTE] [Skandar Keynes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1342727/) and [Georgie Henley](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670137/), and [Thomas Sangster](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1032473/), who was also recently in _Nanny McPhee_. [QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] That girl in Whale Rider was astonishing. That recital scene had me bawling. [/QUOTE] Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was actually nominated for an Oscar for her role in 2004 (she lost out to Charlize Theron in\* Monster\*). She’s–get this–playing Mary in the upcoming film _The Nativity Story_, to be released in December. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/32 "2006-07-22T19:15:02Z")
How about the redheaded kid in that Fray video, “Over My Head”? Sort of the anti-Jeremy. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568/33 "2006-07-22T21:20:40Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] [Ione Skye](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001746/), I think, [/QUOTE] Ione Skye played Reeve’s girlfriend. I’m not sure who played his sister, but she was much younger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performance-by-a-child-actor-actress/365568.md?page=1)