WHERE ARE THEY NOW: 15 sets of siblings who were child stars
Talia Lakritz
- Some child star siblings continue to act or perform together, like Elle and Dakota Fanning and the Jonas Brothers.
- Others gave up acting altogether, like fashion moguls Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
- Sometimes one sibling remains an actor while the other pursues other interests, like Dylan and Cole Sprouse.
Growing up in the spotlight can be tough. Luckily, these famous siblings had each other to lean on.
Some continue to work together on acting and music projects, while others have gone their separate ways to pursue their own interests.
Here's what 15 sets of child star siblings are up to now.
Twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse appeared in "Grace Under Fire" and "Big Daddy" before landing their breakout roles as stars of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody."
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.
After a brief break from acting to attend New York University, the Sprouse twins are back to acting in TV shows and films.
Cole starred in "Five Feet Apart" and currently plays Jughead Jones on The CW's hit drama "Riverdale."
Dylan returned to acting with 2017's indie "Carte Blanche" and has appeared in two music videos: Camila Cabello's "Consequences" and Ygo's "Think About You," but he also opened the All-Wise Meadery in Brooklyn, New York, with two business partners in 2018.
Mackenzie and Maddie Ziegler rose to fame on Lifetime's "Dance Moms."
The Zieglers appeared on "Dance Moms" from 2011 to 2016. The reality show followed their training and careers in competitive dance and showbusiness, and the dynamics between the dancers, their mothers, and Abby Lee Dance Company owner Abby Lee Miller.
Maddie toured with Sia after appearing in several of her music videos and now works as an actress, and Mackenzie became a pop singer and influencer.
Maddie will portray Velma in the upcoming film remake of "West Side Story" in 2021. Mackenzie released her second album, "Phases," in 2018. Both have garnered millions of YouTube subscribers and Instagram and TikTok followers.
As young actors, Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal appeared in several projects together.
In 1993, the siblings first appeared in "A Dangerous Woman," which their father, Stephen, directed. The young stars even made guest appearances with their mother, Naomi Foner, on two episodes of the cooking show "Molto Mario" on the Food Network.
In 2001, they appeared as siblings in the cult hit movie "Donnie Darko."
Both are A-list actors today.
Maggie is known for films such as "Secretary," "The Dark Knight," and "Crazy Heart." She most recently starred in as Eileen "Candy" Merrell in the TV series "The Deuce" and had a small role in "Best Summer Ever."
Jake recently joined the Marvel universe as Mysterio in "Spider-Man: Far from Home." His most famous films include "Nightcrawler," "Brokeback Mountain," and "Prisoners."
Tia and Tamera Mowry played long-lost twins on the sitcom "Sister Sister."
They also played long-lost twins in the Disney Channel original movies "Twitches" and "Twitches Too" about twin witches.
They continue to work together on a "Twintuition" book series.
They took a break from acting to attend Pepperdine University and both majored in psychology.
Tamera hosted the daytime talk show, "The Real," for seven years, and announced her departure in July. She also acted in "A Christmas Miracle" in 2019.
Tia has also continued acting, with movie credits include roles in "Baggage Claim" and "Indivisible," and a role on the TV show "Family Reunion."
Another famous set of twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, got their start on "Full House."
The Olsen twins were babies when they began starring on "Full House" in 1987, and were 9 years old when it ended. They went on to star in their own TV series, "The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley" and "Two of a Kind," as well as a slew of movies, including "Passport to Paris" and "Our Lips Are Sealed."
Hilary Duff played the titular character in Disney Channel's "Lizzie McGuire," while her sister Haylie made cameos as Cousin Amy.
Haylie provided the singing voice for Lizzie McGuire's double Isabella Parigi in "The Lizzie McGuire Movie." She also landed her first movie role in "Napoleon Dynamite."
After "Lizzie McGuire" ended in 2004, Hilary starred in movies such as "A Cinderella Story," "Raise Your Voice," and "The Perfect Man."
Hilary has continued acting, and Haylie launched a blog and children's fashion line.
Hilary most recently starred in the TV series "Younger" and the movie "The Haunting of Sharon Tate." She was also set to star in a reboot of "Lizzie McGuire" featuring the character in her 30s, but production halted after two episodes were filmed and the showrunner was fired.
Haylie started the food blog Real Girl's Kitchen in 2012, which became a series on the Cooking Channel, and she founded the children's clothing line Little Moon Society in 2017.
Nick, Kevin, and Joe Jonas formed The Jonas Brothers band in 2005.
The brothers released four albums between 2006 and 2009 and toured with Kelly Clarkson, The Cheetah Girls, and the Backstreet Boys. They also starred in the Disney Channel original movies "Camp Rock" and "Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam," then had their own series called "Jonas" for two seasons.
The band broke up in 2013 due to "creative differences."
After six years apart, the Jonas Brothers got back together in 2019 and released a new album, "Happiness Begins."
While the band was broken up, Nick acted in films such as "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" and television shows including "Kingdom" and "Scream Queens." He also released two solo albums. Joe formed the band DNCE and hit the Billboard charts with their song "Cake By The Ocean." Kevin largely kept out of the limelight.
Their latest release is a song featured in the Netflix series "Dash and Lily" called "Like It's Christmas." Nick is also an executive producer of the series.
Elle Fanning got her start playing younger versions of her sister Dakota's characters.
Elle's first role was playing a younger version of Dakota's character in the film "I Am Sam," and both sisters dubbed "My Neighbor Totoro" in 2005.
Both continue to act, and they are set to star as siblings in "The Nightingale" in 2021.
Elle has recently starred in the TV series "The Great," as well as "All the Bright Places" and "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil."
Dakota's most recent onscreen credits include the TV show "The Alienist: Angel of Darkness," "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood," and "Ocean's 8."
Abigail and Spencer Breslin appeared in several films together as kids, sometimes even playing siblings.
The Breslin siblings appeared together in "Raising Helen," "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," and "The Santa Claus 3: The Escape Clause."
Spencer shifted to music, while Abigail continues to act.
Spencer writes music and performs with his rock 'n roll band, Broken Machine, but still acts in small, independent projects occasionally.
Abigail, who was just 10 when she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in "Little Miss Sunshine," played "Baby" in a 2017 remake of "Dirty Dancing" and appeared in the TV show "Scream Queens." Her latest role was Little Rock in "Zombieland: Double Tap" in 2019.
Macaulay and Kieran Culkin both got their start in the "Home Alone" movies.
Both brothers appeared in the original "Home Alone" and the sequel "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," although they played cousins.
Macaulay took a break from acting in 1994, but returned with a few small roles in 2003. Kieran is currently starring in "Succession."
Macaulay wrote an autobiography, co-founded a pizza-themed Velvet Underground tribute band called The Pizza Underground with which he toured before they split up in 2018, and hosted a podcast called Bunny Ears. He has continued acting as well — he did voiceover work for "Robot Chicken" and is slated to appear in a 2021 episode of "American Horror Story."
Kieran is currently starring in "Succession" as Roman Roy and earned an Emmy nomination for the role this year. Other notable roles include Wallace Wells in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and Simon Boggs in "She's All That."
Alyson and Amanda Michalka were known as "Aly & AJ" on the Disney Channel in the mid-2000s.
Aly & AJ released their albums "Into the Rush" in 2005 and "Insomniatic" in 2007. They starred together in the Disney Channel original movie "Cow Belles" as well as "Super Sweet 16: The Movie."
Aly also acted in the Disney Channel series "Phil of the Future" from 2004 to 2006.
Both continue to enjoy acting careers, and they still make music together.
Aly most recently starred in "iZombie" and "Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television." AJ is currently voicing Catra in "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" as well as holding roles in "Schooled" and "The Goldbergs."
After briefly changing their band name and releasing music as 78Violet, they returned to their roots as Aly & AJ in 2017 with their EP "Ten Years," and their 2019 EP "Sanctuary."
Nat and Alex Wolff starred together in a Nickelodeon series called "The Naked Brothers Band."
The mockumentary show was created by their mom, Polly Draper, and lasted for three seasons, from 2007 to 2009.
They have released four albums together under the artist name Nat & Alex Wolff, and they have acted in a few films.
The brothers appeared in the TV movie "Mr. Troop Mom" and starred in the 2018 film "Stella's Last Weekend," which was written and directed by their mom.
Alex has acted in movies such as "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," "Jumanji: The Next Level," and "Bad Education." Nat appeared in "The Fault in Our Stars," "The Intern," and currently stars in the TV series "The Stand."
Laura and Vanessa Marano both got their starts as young actors on television.
Laura and Vanessa played siblings in the TV show "Without a Trace." Laura went on to appear in "Superbad" in 2007, and Vanessa became known for playing April Nardini on "Gilmore Girls" from 2005 to 2007.
The Marano sisters starred together in "Saving Zoë" in 2019.
While they occasionally work together on film projects, they also maintain their own acting careers. Laura's notable film appearances include "The Perfect Date" and "Lady Bird." Vanessa does more indie movies, and has also starred in TV shows "The Dead Girls Detective Agency" and "Switched At Birth."
Raini and Rico Rodriguez appeared on Disney Channel shows before landing their most famous roles.
Raini had small roles in "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and "Handy Manny" before her breakout role in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" in 2009.
Rico appeared on "Cory in the House" before he joined the cast of "Modern Family" as Manny Delgado in 2009.
Both Raini and Rico's stars have continued to rise.
Raini starred as Trish De la Rosa in the Nickelodian show "Austin & Ally" from 2011 to 2016, where Rico joined her as a guest star for one episode. She has since had roles in TV shows such as "Bunk'd" and voiced characters for "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous" and "Vampirina."
Rico starred on "Modern Family" for 11 seasons until the show's end in 2020. He also appeared in "The Muppets" and "Epic Movie.
Twins Peyton and Spencer List both started acting at a young age.
Born in 1998, the twins acted together in "Spider-Man 2" in 2004, "Saturday Night Live" in 2007, and "Bereavement" in 2010.
Both continue to act, occasionally starring side-by-side, and Peyton has ventured into singing as well.
Spencer's latest roles have included parts in TV shows "Good Trouble" and "The Fosters," as well as films such as "The Bachelors" and the upcoming "Exploited."
Peyton became known for her roles in"Bunk'd," "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," and "Happy Together," and songs "Dance Till We Die" and "Liar Liar."
The twins acted together again in "Anthem of a Teenage Prophet" and "The Thinning: New World Order" in 2018.
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