Many of Australia’s biggest stars got their start long before they were old enough to drive, building their skills through children’s television, commercials, theatre, and early film roles before going on to achieve international success.
From leading actors claimed by Hollywood to rising stars currently making waves around the world, these Australian child actors prove that talent, hard work, and perseverance can turn a childhood passion into a lasting career. Whether they first appeared on a beloved Aussie kids’ show or landed a breakout film role at a young age, their early start laid the foundations for remarkable careers that continue to thrive today.
Here are 11 Australian child actors (or former child actors) who transformed childhood opportunities into some of the entertainment industry’s biggest success stories.
Nicole Kidman
With a career spanning more than four decades, Nicole Kidman is widely recognised as one of her generation’s finest acting talents. Known for her roles in numerous Hollywood blockbusters, independent films, and prestige television, Kidman has consistently ranked among the world’s highest-paid actors since the late 1990s.
It all began back in 1983, when a plucky 16-year-old Kidman landed her first onscreen roles in two Aussie films: a remake of the holiday classic Bush Christmas and the kids’ crime comedy action movie BMX Bandits.
Alyla Browne
Teenager Alyla Browne is balancing an impressive acting career with her studies at a performing arts high school in Sydney. She is best known for starring as the young Imperator Furiosa in George Miller’s 2024 film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga alongside Chris Hemsworth, which earned her a nomination for an AACTA Award for best supporting actress.
She was also hailed as “the next Nicole Kidman” after playing the daughter of Kidman’s character in the prestige drama series Nine Perfect Strangers, and earned a Logie award nomination for playing the title role in the series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. She also appeared as young Alithea Binnie in Three Thousand Years of Longing alongside Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, the Aussie horror film Sting alongside Ryan Corr, and as Maria Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with Jim Carrey. More recently, she took up a free-diving course and got her boat licence to prepare for her role in the Stan Original film Whale Shark Jack.
Credit: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock
Ryan Corr
Melbourne-born star Ryan Corr is one of Australia’s most in-demand actors, known for starring in films such as Holding the Man, The Water Diviner, Ladies in Black, and High Ground, as well as popular Aussie television series including Packed to the Rafters, Love Child, Underbelly, and Bloom, and the major American fantasy drama House of the Dragon (the prequel to Game of Thrones).
Corr started making appearances in film and television at age 5, but his acting career really got started at 13, when he was cast in the 2001 children’s television film Opraholic. Soon after, he landed breakout television roles as Matthew McDougal in Sleepover Club and as the spiky-haired Sheng Zammett in the children’s sci-fi series Silversun. You might also recognise Corr from his role as Eric in the second season of Blue Water High, which first aired in 2006.
Although his childhood roles laid the foundation for his career, Corr pursued formal training at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating in 2009. A year later he received the prestigious Heath Ledger Scholarship, one of many accolades he has gathered so far.
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Angourie Rice
Angourie Rice is forever racking up roles in major international productions. Her CV includes major film roles such as Cady Heron in the 2024 musical film Mean Girls (based on the stage musical, itself based on the cult 2004 movie). She also plays driven psychology student Emily Raine in the 2026 British romantic comedy Finding Emily and Betty Brant opposite Zendaya and Tom Holland in three of Marvel’s Spider-Man films. Her television credits include an episode of Black Mirror, as well as prestige dramas such as HBO’s Mare of Easttown with Kate Winslet and Apple TV’s The Last Thing He Told Me opposite Jennifer Garner.
Rice was born in Sydney to parents who both worked in theatre, and her acting career began when she was still a child. The family moved to Perth when she was in primary school, where she started racking up credits in several short films and television appearances. She gained industry attention at just 11 years old for her lead role in the 2012 short Transmission from director Zak Hilditch, and made her feature film debut in Hilditch’s acclaimed apocalyptic sci-fi thriller These Final Hours in 2013.
In 2016, Rice made her Hollywood debut starring opposite Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in the action comedy The Nice Guys, which she filmed at age 13. In 2017, she starred in the acclaimed Australian film Jasper Jones, as well as Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled.
Amongst all these roles and others, Rice’s family relocated to Melbourne, where she completed high school in 2018. International acting commitments have kept her far too booked and busy to pursue university or formal acting training, but she has said in interviews that she prepares for her roles through detailed script analysis, research, and observing the legendary actors she works alongside.
Credit: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock
Maia Mitchell
Actress and singer Maia Mitchell is perhaps best known for her central role as Callie Adams Foster in US television series The Fosters and its spin-off series Good Trouble, as well as the Disney Channel original films Teen Beach Movie and Teen Beach 2 as McKenzie/Mack.
Aussie millennials, however, may recognise this Lismore-born star from the children’s television shows they were tuning in to after school. Mitchell was discovered by talent agencies after performing in school plays and local theatre productions, and got her big break at 12 years old, being cast as Brittany Flune in the children’s television series Mortified, which aired on the Nine Network between 2006 and 2007. She went on to star in Channel Seven kids’ adventure series Trapped and its sequel series Castaway, which follow a group of teens thrust into an extraordinary situation after their parents disappear from a remote scientific research station.
She currently stars opposite British actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster in the Australian-produced historical drama series The Artful Dodger for Disney+.
Credit: Ovidiu Hrubaru/Shutterstock
Catherine Laga’aia
Catherine Laga’aia is making her film debut in a big way: Disney cast the young Samoan-Australian actress in the title role of the live-action remake of Moana, which started filming when she was just 17 years old.
Laga’aia made her screen debut in the Australian television miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart in 2023, and graduated from NIDA in 2025 with a Diploma of Stage and Screen Performance.
She is also a member of arguably Sydney’s most talented family, as the second-youngest daughter of acclaimed New Zealand-Australian actor and musician Jay Laga’aia, who is known for his work in musical theatre, children’s entertainment, and onscreen roles including Captain Typho in two Star Wars films. Five of the eight Laga’aia children have followed in their father’s footsteps and are working in the performing arts.
\Catherine Laga'aia in “Moana” Courtesy Disney
Caitlin Stasey
Caitlin Stasey lives in Los Angeles and is known for her roles in Josh Thomas’ Please Like Me, CW’s historic romantic drama series Reign and the legal drama series For the People. She also starred in the hit psychological horror film Smile and Apex, the breakout 2026 action-thriller that also starred Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton.
Stasey made her first onscreen appearance as a child in Qantas’ memorable I Still Call Australia Home campaign, for which she travelled the world in 2001 as a member of the Australian Girls Choir. But her acting career started in earnest in 2003, when she was cast in kids’ television series Sleepover Club. At 14 years old, Stasey was offered the role of Rachel Kinski on Neighbours – joining a legacy of successful Aussie actors who have done a stint on the long-running soap opera – and played the character from 2005 to 2009. Her breakthrough film role came in 2010 with Tomorrow, When the War Began, adapted from the teen novel of the same name.
Credit: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock
Kodi Smit-McPhee
Kodi Smit-McPhee’s career got a running start as a child actor. He made his feature film debut in Richard Roxburgh’s acclaimed 2007 film Romulus, My Father alongside Eric Bana, winning him an AFI Award for best young actor. He then received Critics Choice Award nominations for best young actor for both 2009’s The Road, in which he starred opposite Viggo Mortensen, and 2010’s romantic horror film Let Me In.
Smit-McPhee went on to star in a number of Australian and international productions. He lent his voice to the lead character, Norman, in the animated comedy horror movie ParaNorman; portrayed a younger version of Nightcrawler (a character previously played by Alan Cumming) in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix; and starring in Australian director Jane Campion’s acclaimed 2021 film The Power of the Dog.
Smit-McPhee was born in Adelaide to an artistic household. He began acting professionally at the age of 9, and dropped out during his first year of high school in order to pursue his career. His father, Andy McPhee, is a veteran actor and former professional wrestler, and his older sister, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, is an actress and singer known for her roles in Neighbours and HBO’s Hung. The McPhee family shares a tight-knit dynamic, and they have all relocated to Los Angeles to support one another’s careers.
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Dannii Minogue
Before Kylie shot to superstardom, her younger sibling Dannii was the first Minogue sister to make a name for herself in the entertainment business. Minogue’s career began as a child, appearing in Australian television shows from the age of 7, including Skyways and The Sullivans. She joined the weekly music programme Young Talent Time in 1982 and became a breakout star, recording her first solo records for the programme before gaining further recognition for her role as the rebellious tomboyish teenager Emma Jackson on Home and Away between 1989 and 1990 – earning her a nomination for the Silver Logie for the most popular actress on Australian television.
Minogue has continued to work extensively as an actor, presenter, and judge on various television programmes in Australia and the UK. In 2025, she was cast in The Imposter, an Australian-British co-commissioned series – and her first major television role since Home and Away.
Diesel La Torraca
Born and raised in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Australian-American Diesel La Torraca is best known for his role in the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia, in which he plays Austin Miller, the shy and anxious younger brother with a vivid imagination.
La Torraca began acting at 5 years old, appearing in commercials and minor television roles. In 2019 he played Felix in the zombie comedy-horror film Little Monsters alongside Lupita Nyong’o and Ben Jones in Foxtel’s gothic-drama miniseries Lambs of God alongside Sam Reid, Kate Mulvany, and John Bell – a performance that earned him a nomination for best male new talent at the 2019 AACTA Awards. He has also appeared in television series such as The Secrets She Keeps and Black Comedy.
His mother, Joanne Hunt, is an actress known for her roles in Home and Away, A Country Practice, and the 2008 thriller Restraint.
Diesel La Torraca in “Ginny & Georgia.” Credit: Amanda Matlovich/Netflix
Mathew Waters
Mathew Waters will probably never shake his association with his childhood role as Bronson Twist, the youngest sibling in Aussie ‘90s children’s television series Round the Twist. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Waters’ acting career began at the age of 8, when he was selected to play the role of a young Peter Allen in the world premiere of the musical biopic The Boy From Oz in 1998. From there, Waters landed starring roles in a number of television shows in addition to Round the Twist, including as Scratch on The Escape of the Artful Dodger, as Spike on Snobs, and as Troy on the second season of Blue Water High.
He has also starred in a number of musical theatre productions between Australia and the UK over the years, and he was invited to play a role in the 2003 filmPeter Pan after director P.J. Hogan saw him play the artful dodger in Oliver!.
