Favorite performances by child actors

I looked for a pre-existing thread, but found none. Anyway, yet another list…

Joseph Mazzello in SHADOWLANDS
Ana Torrent in THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
Ana Torrent in CRIA CUERVOS
Haley Joel Osment in AI ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Haley Joel Osment in THE SIXTH SENSE
Jean-Pierre Leaud in THE 400 BLOWS
Georges Du Fresne in MA VIE EN ROSE
Rodrigo Noya in VALENTÍN
Ana Torrent in EL NIDO (THE NEST)
Tatum O’Neal in PAPER MOON
Justin Henry in KRAMER vs. KRAMER
Hugh O’Conor in MY LEFT FOOT
Diego Puente in CRÓNICA DE UN NIÑO SOLO (CHRONICLE OF A LONELY BOY)
Anna Paquin in THE PIANO
River Phoenix in STAND BY ME
Elijah Wood in THE GOOD SON
Reese Witherspoon in MAN IN THE MOON
Jamie Bell in BILLY ELLIOT
Margaret O’Brien in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
Adam Hann-Byrd in LITTLE MAN TATE
Kolya Spiridonov in THE ITALIAN
Kirsten Dunst in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
Joseph Mazzello in JURASSIC PARK
Enzo Staiola in BICYCLE THIEF
Mohsen Ramezani in THE COLOR OF PARADISE
Jonathan Ke Quan in INDIANA JONES & THE TEMPLE OF DOOM
etc.

Rather than a perfect performance, a perfect casting:
Harvey Stephens in THE OMEN

…oh, and the kid who terrorizes John Cusack in BETTER OFF DEAD.

Jodie Foster in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.
Victoire Thivisol in Ponette.
Adele Haenel and Vincent Rottiers in Les diables.
Charlotte Gainsbourg in Charlotte for Ever.
Michael Eric Kramer in On the Edge.
Heather Matarazzo in Welcome to the Dollhouse.
Pascal Lamorisse in Le ballon rouge.
Catherine Demongeot in Zazie dans le métro.

What is the age cutoff here?

Jodi Foster in “Taxi Driver” is probably the most amazing young role I’ve ever seen. But, we may not classify her as a child.

Henry Thomas in “E.T.”
Richie Andrusco in “Little Fugitive”
Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce in “The Night of the Hunter”
Max Pomeranc in “Searching for Bobby Fischer”
Briggete Fossy in “Forbidden Games”.

Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed
All the kids in the original Village of the Damned
Pamelyn Ferdin in The Beguiled

It’s tv, but too bad – Cousin Oliver in The Brady Bunch

Unconsciously I put a top around age 14, though I tried to remain below it.
I have not seen Ponette. Thomas’ performance in E.T. is also remarkable, although I think Spielberg directed him to overplay his cuteness somewhat.

Mischa Barton in Lawn Dogs

Ponette is pretty awesome. Victoire Thivisol was like 4 years old in that movie.

Hannah Pilkes – The Woodsman (2004)

Mia Wasikowska – In Treatment (2008 – TV)

Elizabeth Taylor in “National Velvet.”
Claude Jarman Jr. in “The Yearling”
John Howard Davies in David Lean’s “Oliver Twist” and Anthony Pelissier’s “The Rocking Horse Winner”
Nova Pilbeam in the first version of Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much”
Peggy Ann Garner in “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn” and “Jane Eyre”
Martin Stephens in “The Innocents” and “Village Of The Damned”
Robert Lynen in the 1932 version of “Poil de Carotte” directed by Julien Duvivier
Anthony Wager and Jean Simmons in “Great Expectations”
Bobby Henrey in Carol Reed’s “The Fallen Idol”

catinca untaru (alexandria in ‘the fall’) comes to mind.

Jackie Coogan in THE KID (1921)
Mickey Rooney in BABES IN ARMS (1939) or THE HUMAN COMEDY (1943)
All the kids in ROME OPEN CITY (1945)
Enzo Staiola in BICYCLE THIEVES (1948)
Patty McCormack in THE BAD SEED (1956)
Jean-Pierre Leaud in THE 400 BLOWS (1959)
Rita Tushingham in A TASTE OF HONEY (1961) — although I’m not sure how old she was then
Patty Duke in THE MIRACLE WORKER (1962)
Bertil Guve and Pernilla Allwin in FANNY AND ALEXANDER (1982)
Kate Winslet in HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994)

I agree with;

Martin Stephens in The Innocents and Village of the Damned
Jodi Foster in Taxi Driver and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Ana Torrent in Spirit of the Beehive
Max Pomeranc in Searching for Bobby Fischer
Bobby Henrey in The Fallen Idol
Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce in The Night of the Hunter

and I’ll add;

Pamela Franklin in The Innocents
Linda Blair in THe Exorcist
Dean Stockwell in Kim
Billy and Robert Mauch in The Prince and the Pauper
Ann Carter in Curse of the Cat People
Peter Ostrum in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Ellen Page in Hard Candy
Alexei Kravchenko in Come and See
Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson in Let the Right One In
The children in City of Lost Children
All of the kids in The Bad News Bears

(not sure of some of the ages)

I can’t believe Nikolai Burlyayev in IVAN’S CHILDHOOD hasn’t been mentioned yet!

I just wanted to mention Nikolai Burlyayev in Ivan’s Childhood

The kid with the camera in Yi Yi (Yang Yang is his name?).
Mary Badham in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Hunter Carson in Paris, Texas.
Whoever played the kid in the first season of The Wire (who was looking after 6 or 7 kids and got shot by 2 other kids).

To THE INFINITE SOYBEAN: I would hesitate to list Linda Blair’s performance in THE EXORCIST as a great CHILD performance because, as I understand it, all of the demonic, deep-voiced howls and dialogue were dubbed in by Mercedes McCambridge. IMDB even gives her credit for that voice work, although I don’t McCambridge was credited with that work at the time of the film’s release (1973).

So, the performance was shared, so to speak, by a child and an adult.

That is true, Frank P. Tomasulo. There was also a young adult of similar size to Linda Blair that performed some of the scenes in the bed that required a little more strength than that of a child (I don’t recall her name). I think that Linda Blair did a remarkable job for a twelve year old in the scenes that she did appear in, whether demon or non-demon.

Anna Torrent’s performance in Cria Cuervos is utter brilliance right up there with Osment in the Sxth Sense, Paquin for The Piano and Oneal’s Paper Moon! I saw someone mentioned Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, that one is definitely the standard bearer for a child taking it to the utmost limit of both reality and decency of film realism.

Forgot to include Brandon De Wilde in SHANE.

Subir Bannerjee in PATHER PANCHALI
Jean-Pierre Léaud in THE 400 BLOWS
Ana Torrent in THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
Ana Torrent in CRÍA CUERVOS…
Stephen Archibald in MY CHILDHOOD
Yangyang Chang in YI YI
Alexei Kravchenko in COME AND SEE

One of the most impressive performances in recent films is by JODELLE FERLAND in Tideland. It is even more impressive when you consider the fact that she also did the voices of the dolls.

There are many wonderful performances by child actors, but for me, only one will be forever etched into my consciousness, and that is Brigitte Fossey in FORBIDDEN GAMES. It is an absolutely beautiful, complicated, and heartbreaking performance in one of the most tremendous films I’ve had the privilege to view.

Ana Torrent in Cria Cuervos . . .

I forgot: Catinca Untaru in The Fall.

Her performance was the best thing about the movie.

The children in Cría cuervos and Killer of Sheep but my favorite would be Honami Kurashita for her role in Hotel Hibiscus which could easily be described as a real life studio Ghibli.

I don’t believe these were mentioned yet. Some of my favorites.

Minzhi Wei and Zhang Huike – Not One Less
Yuya Yagira – Nobody Knows
Christian Bale – Empire of the Sun
Natalie Portman – Leon
Brandon Ratcliff – Me and You and Everyone We Know

Eammon Owens in The Butcher Boy

Ana Torrent in THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
Tatum O’Neal in PAPER MOON

Natalie Portman in Beautiful Girls.
Bobby Driscoll in The Window.
Dakota Fanning in Man on Fire.

Paper Moon. Tatum. Brilliant.