8 child stars who quit acting and returned to Hollywood years later

Bialik landed the role when she was 12 years old and played Blossom for six seasons.

Bialik's return to acting was motivated by more than just a desire to get in front of the camera again. She also needed health insurance.

"I was running out of health insurance and figured if I could even get a couple of acting jobs here and there, and if it's enough to get you your Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA health insurance, we would at least have insurance," Bialik said in a 2017 interview with ABC News. "My then-husband was still working on his master's degree. I was teaching neuroscience for about five years. And I was not expecting to be a full-time actor. But this show called The Big Bang Theory brought me on."

"The Big Bang Theory" aired its series finale on May 16, 2019. She currently co-hosts "Jeopardy!" with Ken Jennings and stars on "Call Me Kat."

The Sprouse twins played Tipton Hotel residents Zack and Cody Martin on the Disney Channel sitcom from 2005 to 2008, and the subsequent spin-off "The Suite Life on Deck" from 2008 to 2011.

Cole credits his college experience with keeping him grounded.

"Taking time for college was really important, and I think it's one of those things that I'd recommend to every single young actor," he told Variety in 2019. "It allowed me to regain a semblance of my anonymity, which is something that's really important. Anonymity is one of those things that allows you to enter into a human space with an open heart and really be able to move with more agency and learn about people and learn about their stories without these predetermined notions of yourself, being carried by other people."

Cole appeared in 2019's "Five Feet Apart," and he currently plays Jughead Jones on The CW's hit drama "Riverdale," a recurring role he's had since 2017. He also starred in the horror podcast "Borrasca" in 2020.

Dylan returned to the screen for 2017's indie "Dismissed" and, in his biggest role since his hiatus, he appeared in last year's "After We Collided" as Trevor. He has also appeared in two music videos: Camila Cabello's "Consequences" and Ygo's "Think About You." But he's branched out to other industries too: He opened the All-Wise Meadery in Brooklyn, New York, with two business partners in 2018, and he started releasing a comic book in 2020.

The "Home Alone" movies, which came out in the 1990s, are holiday classics.

"I was tired of it, to be honest," Culkin said in a 2018 appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." "I did like 14 movies in six years or something like that. I was away from home a lot. I was away from school. I needed something else. It was the smartest thing I could have possibly done was to take eight years off."

Chlumsky also starred in its 1994 sequel, "My Girl 2."

Chlumsky graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in international studies and worked as a fact checker at Zagat and an editorial assistant at Harper Collins. Nearly a decade after she quit acting, Chlumsky felt pulled to return to the craft.

"I was seeing a lot of Broadway, and I was inspired again," she told People magazine in February. "And it was alluring to apply my creativity towards something and tell a story, but of my own decision making."

The "Indiana Jones" film was his first onscreen role. He went on to play Jasper Kwong in "Head of the Class" in the 1990s.

Quan told People magazine that he decided to step away from acting in the early 2000s since there were few opportunities for Asian-American actors.

"It was tough," he said. "I was waiting for the phone to ring, and it rarely did."

Quan moved behind the camera, studying film at USC and becoming an assistant director and stunt coordinator. He was encouraged to try acting again after watching "Crazy Rich Asians" in 2018, and landed a starring role in "Everything Everywhere All At Once."

"I was happy working behind the camera but I had serious FOMO," he told the outlet. "I wanted to be up there with my fellow Asian actors!"

Before "Boy Meets World," he appeared in the TV shows "Dear John" and "A Family for Joe," among others.

Savage studied political science at Stanford after "Boy Meets World" ended.

"I was 19 at the time and had been on the show for seven years," he told Rolling Stone in 2014. "I was really focused on going to college. I got into Stanford two years earlier, but had to defer. When the show ended I was tunnel-visioned about going to college and being a normal kid for a while."

Since "Girl Meets World" ended in 2017, he has also acted in films such as the Hallmark movie "Love, Lights, Hanukkah!" and "Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez."

Bateman was 12 years old when he played James Cooper Ingalls in "Little House on the Prairie," his first TV role.

Bateman didn't act much in the '90s, which he attributed to wanting "to get the wiggles out" and make up for experiences he missed out on as a child actor, he told The Guardian in January.

"Having thought, 'This is really fun,' and staying at the party a little bit too long, I'd lost my place in line in the business," he said. "It was a case of trying to claw that back towards the end of the 90s, and not getting a lot of great responses."

Bateman eventually struck gold with "Arrested Development" in 2003, starring in the show until its end in 2019. He currently plays Martin "Marty" Byrde in "Ozark."

Before "Full House," she has small roles on TV shows such as "Days of Our Lives," "Our House," and "Growing Pains."

After "Full House," Barber studied English at Whittier College in her hometown and earned a master's degree in women's studies from University of York. She interned for the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and worked in international education until showbusiness came knocking again.

"I never thought I would go back to acting," she told People magazine in 2017. "Maybe for a brief second I thought, 'Do I want to do this?' Then I thought about the audition process. The auditions were always the worst part for me as a child actor. So I thought, nope, 'I've found new passions in college.'"

When "Full House" creator Jeff Franklin asked if she wanted to reprise her famous role in "Fuller House," Barber said it was "a no-brainer."