Everyone loves a good scary movie, and for some reason, there is always something terrifying about children in horror films. The Sixth Sense? Check. The Others? Check. Hereditary? Definitely check.
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With Halloween right around the corner, take a look at what some of the most famous child stars from spooky movies have been up to since scaring us all silly...
Kyra Collins from The Sixth Sense - Mischa Barton
In The Sixth Sense, Cole realises that the ghosts who have been haunting him all of his life really just want his help, and he starts lending a hand with the terrifying little girl who is being sick in his den, Kyra. It turns out that Kyra was being poisoned by her mother, and she wanted Cole to let her father know. Of course, Mischa went on to star as Marissa in the hugely popular teen drama, The OC.
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© Photo: Getty ImagesCharlie from Hereditary - Milly Shapiro
Milly was amazing as Charlie, an eccentric young teenager whose habit of clicking her tongue becomes one of the scariest things about the film, believe it or not. Before starring in Hereditary, the 17-year-old was best known for her appearance on Broadway as Matilda Wormwood in Matilda. Since then, she has starred in JJ Villard's Fairy Tales, and The Boulet Brothers' Dragula.
Samara Morgan from The Ring - Daveigh Chase
Was there anything quite as scary at the time as the girl with the hair over her face crawling out of the television? Fortunately Daveigh, 29, isn't nearly as scary in real life!
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Continuing to act since the horror, Daveigh has since starred in Big Love, S.Darko and voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch: The series. The star has also had a couple of brushes with the law, and was arrested for possession of illegal drugs in 2018.
Cole Sear from The Sixth Sense - Haley Joel Osment
Whatever happened to poor old Cole who could see all the ghosts and uttered the iconic line, 'I see dead people'? Haley is still a prolific actor, and has starred in plenty of TV shows including Amazon Prime Video's The Boys, What We Do in the Shadows, The X-Files, Drunk History and Teachers. He also starred opposite Zac Efron in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
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Speaking about how the film made very little impact on his life growing up, he told the Independent: "It intruded less on my personal life that I wasn’t in things that were being watched by my age rank. So going back to school, it wasn’t like I was on a show that everybody at school was watching at the same time, and I think it made the growing-up process a little bit easier. Even going back to sixth grade after The Sixth Sense, that was a movie that my classmates were too young to see."
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Regan MacNeil from The Exorcist - Linda Blair
Shudder. Linda's performance as a young girl possessed by a demon is one of the most disturbing and frightening performances of all time, but did Linda stay in the acting game? Of course! She has enjoyed a successful career, and starred in a series of horror films including Chained Heart, Hell Night and even made an appearance on the popular TV drama Supernatural.
Speaking about the effect the role had on her, Linda previously told Dread Central: "The amount of pressure that came down on me wasn't anything I was prepared for. Especially all the pressure the press put on me. They thought I had all the answers... It was probably the most awful thing you could imagine."
Anne from The Others - Alakina Mann
The Others followed a mother of two children (Nicole Kidman), who hires new help for her huge house during the war when all of her staff leave in the middle of the night. Since her children have a condition where they are allergic to the sunlight, they have to make sure they lock every door and make sure no light comes in whatsoever.
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Alakina played one of the two children who lives in this spooky situation, but what is she up to now? After starring in a couple of other films, including The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Alakina stopped acting, and according to her Instagram is now an artist, illustrator and PST intimacy coach.
Nicholas from The Others - James Bentley
James, who plays Anne's equally spooky brother, Nicholas, starred in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and The Defenders, but hasn't been acting since 2010. After winning two Nottingham New Theatre awards for Best Actor back in 2013 and 2014, he is now a backstage manager.
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