Jenny Lewis, Anna Paquin, and that little guy from Jerry Maguire — all grown up.
BY RI KENNEDY
10. Jonathan Lipnicki
Sure, he kind of looks like a Backstreet Boy today. But can you believe that this is the kid who stole all of Tom Cruise’s thunder in 1996’s Jerry Maguire? (“The human head weighs eight pounds!”) Now nineteen, he may have traded in the glasses and the cute catch phrases for a fake ID, but he’s no doubt ready to show you the money.
9. Madeline Zima
Remember that baby face and ever-present nasally voice? That’s Grace Sheffield, who gave our TV screens a charming little bounce and some one-liners as she trailed behind Fran Drescher in The Nanny from 1993 to 1999. But most recently she’s ditched the schoolgirl uniform to mount David Duchovny in Showtime’s Californication.
8. Christine Lakin
Christine Lakin played Al Lambert in the early-nineties sitcom Step by Step. She was the tomboy who got her kicks from sassing her siblings and annoying her parents. When Step by Step ended in 1998, Lakin dropped off the radar — until recently, when, in an unfortunate turn of events, she co-starred with Paris Hilton in The Hottie and The Nottie. She played the “nottie” to Hilton’s “hottie” and required extensive make-up to make her look less attractive.
7. Jamie Bell
Jamie Bell starred in 2000’s Billy Elliot. Remember that tiny dancer? He’s lost the tutu and gained some upper-body muscles and a love of mugging for the camera. He’ll soon be seen in Steven Spielberg’s Adventures of Tintin, as well as (we’re guessing) many a girl’s (and boy’s) bedroom walls.
6. Lacey Chabert
Chabert got her start playing precocious Claudia Salinger on Party of Five. Next to Neve Campbell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Scott Wolf, and Matthew Fox, she was the nerdy little sister. But when she reappeared in 2005’s Mean Girls, she was funny as hell, and very grown-up, at last having shed the turtlenecks for sexier ensembles.
5. Anna Chlumsky
Vada Sultenfuss — that sweet, slightly mischievous little girl with big blue eyes who lost her best friend to a bee sting in My Girl. But after that, Anna Chlumsky disappeared from the acting world, save for an underloved sequel and an awkward, unmentionable phase where she and the workings of puberty starred alongside Christina Ricci in Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain. This year, she’s resurfaced, looking full-on stunning in blink-or-you’ll-miss roles — our favorite being that of Tina Fey adversary Liz Lemler on 30 Rock.
4. Nicholas Hoult
What have you accomplished since 2002? Gotten to know the characters of Laguna Beach? Drunk your way through a bachelor’s degree? About A Boy‘s Nicholas Hoult has been passing the time a little differently. Gone are the cherub face and bowl cut; he’s now lean and long (six-foot-four!) with piercing blue eyes and sexy Vulcan eyebrows.
3. Jenny Lewis
Jenny Lewis made her acting debut in a Jell-O commercial, but she’s mostly remembered for her roles in 1989’s Troop Beverly Hills and the full-length Nintendo commercial The Wizard. Though she’s done her best to put her film work behind her, in the late ’80s, she was a recurring star of many boyhood fantasies. Today she’s a full-blown alt-rock goddess. Her copper hair, where-does-she-find-those-hats style, and raw talent make her massively sexy.
2. Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin became famous in 1993 when she became the second-youngest Oscar winner in history. Many things have changed since, but those adorable gap teeth remain. Today she runs all over True Blood as the gutsy Southern belle Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie’s strengths include reading minds, having hot vampire sex with real-life fiancé Stephen Moyer, and looking smoking in tiny sun-dresses and tight t-shirts.
1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
As an extraterrestrial impersonating a cheeky high-school student, Joseph Gordon-Levitt regularly stole 3rd Rock from the Sun from veteran actor John Lithgow. Today he works that same nerdy charm in movies like (500) Days of Summer and Uncertainty. As talented as he is handsome, Gordon-Levitt has that bring-him-home-to-mom-then-sneak-down-to-the-living-room-couch-once-everyone’s-asleep quality down.