1 of 41Getty Images
2000s Child Actors: Then and Now
Hilary Duff. Brenda Song. Miley Cyrus. Romeo Miller. If you're a child of the 2000s, then you don't just recognize these names, you know them -- and their TV shows -- very well. Read on for a look at some of the biggest child stars of the decade that brought us the iPhone, Facebook, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. We'll get you caught up on what these idols from the Disney Channel, Nick, and more are up to today.
2 of 41Walt Disney Television
Hilary Duff Then
This star made her mark on Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire. The 2001-2004 series follows Hilary Duff's title character as she and her friends make their way through middle school.
3 of 41TV Land
Hilary Duff Now
The planned Lizzie McGuire reboot is on pause, but the Lizzie McGuire cast isn't: In May 2020, Duff and her costars gathered for a virtual reunion: a table read of an old Lizzie McGuire script.
Outside of Lizzie McGuire, Duff has racked up numerous movie and TV credits. Since 2015, she has starred as Kelsey Peters on TV Land's Younger (pictured).
4 of 41Mychal Watts/WireImage/Getty Images
Romeo Miller Then
The son of the Master P, Romeo Miller made a name for himself at age 11 as the hip-hop performer known as Lil' Romeo. In 2003, he became the star of his own Nickelodeon series, Romeo! The show ran for three seasons.
5 of 41Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
Romeo Miller Now
Along with acting and music, Miller went on to pursue basketball. He played two seasons of college ball with USC. Later, he competed on Dancing With the Stars. In 2019, Miller released the album, Hidden Treasure, which featured contributions from Decarlo and Crystal Tais.
He stopped being billed as Lil' Romeo in the mid-2000s.
6 of 41Walt Disney Television
Miley Cyrus Then
When Miley Cyrus debuted on the Disney Channel show, Hannah Montana, she was just 13. She worked alongside her country superstar dad, Billy Ray Cyrus. The show produced four seasons from 2006-2011, and inspired a theatrical concert movie (Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert) and a big-screen tale (Hannah Montana: The Movie).
7 of 41NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
Miley Cyrus Now
The hits didn't stop coming when Cyrus took off the Hannah Montana wig. She's produced more than a half-dozen gold- and platinum-selling non-Hannah hits, including "Malibu" and "Adore You."
In April 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Cyrus guested virtually on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (pictured). She promoted her Instagram talk show, Bright Sided.
8 of 41Walt Disney Television
Parker McKenna Posey Then
On the 2001-2004 ABC show, My Wife and Kids, Parker McKenna Posey played the part of Kady, the youngest member of the Kyle family.
9 of 41BET Awards 2020/Getty Images
Parker McKenna Posey Now
Since 2019, Posey has starred in the BET sports drama, Games People Play. "I could only imagine how weird it must be for the people that have seen me as a child actor to now seeing me as an adult, especially playing this progressive character," she told PopCulture.com in 2019.
Posey is seen here participating in the 2020 BET Awards Pre-Show, which was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
10 of 41John Sciulli/WireImage/Getty Images
Dylan Sprouse Then
As a child actor in the 2000s, Dylan Sprouse is best known for starring alongside his twin brother, Cole Sprouse, for three seasons on Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. (Dylan was Zack.) After the 2005-2008 show ended, the brothers moved onto the spin-off, The Suite Life on Deck (2008-2011) and the 2011 TV movie, The Suite Life Movie.
11 of 41Dia Dipasupil/WireImage/Getty Images
Dylan Sprouse Now
A graduate of New York University, Dylan Sprouse oversees the Brooklyn-based brewery, All-Wise Meadery, which specializes in mead, or honey wine.
12 of 41Paramount Home Entertainment
Tyler James Williams Then
Tyler James Williams' earliest credits include Sesame Street. He became a star via the 2005-2009 UPN-CW sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris, based on the life of comic Chris Rock. Williams played Rock's younger self.
13 of 41Warner Bros.
Tyler James Williams Now
Williams has continued his acting career over the years with roles in The Walking Dead, the 2019 movie, The Wedding Year, and Dear White People, both the big-screen film and the Netflix series. He was a series regular on CBS' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders and ABC's Whiskey Cavalier (pictured).
14 of 41Walt Disney Television
Raven-Symoné Then
Raven-Symoné made her first appearance on screen at the age of 4 on The Cosby Show. As a teen in the 2000s, she became a Disney Channel star. In That's So Raven (pictured), she played a fashionable psychic from San Francisco. She also starred in the Cheetah Girls movies.
15 of 41Getty Images
Raven-Symoné Now
After leaving The View, the daytime talk show that she co-hosted from 2015-2016, Symoné returned to the Disney Channel to star in Raven's Home (pictured), a spin-off of That's So Raven. She was unmasked as the Black Widow in Season 2 of Fox's The Masked Singer.
16 of 41J. Vespa/WireImage/Getty Images
Josh Peck Then
Josh Peck's first big regular television gig was Nickelodeon's sketch-comedy show, The Amanda Show. Then he went on to star as Josh Nichols on the Nick sitcom, Drake and Josh, which ran from 2004-2007.
17 of 41Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Josh Peck Now
Peck has continued to work steadily. He starred in the short-lived Fox sitcom, Grandfathered, opposite John Stamos.
Seen here at a 2019 event in Los Angeles, Peck is due to lead Turner & Hootch, a Disney+ series based on the 1980s Tom Hanks comedy.
18 of 41SGranitz/WireImage/Getty Images
Kyla Pratt Then
Though she got her start as a child actor in the 1990s, Kyla Pratt broke big as a teen in the 2000s. She had roles in two beloved shows: the Disney Channel animated series, The Proud Family (2001-2005); and, the UPN sitcom, One on One (2001-2006). She also starred in the Dr. Dolittle franchise.
19 of 41Lifetime
Kyla Pratt Now
Pratt has been in the news recently with Disney's announcement that it was reviving The Proud Family for Disney+. The new show, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, is due to feature the show's original voice cast, including Pratt as Penny Proud.
Pratt is seen here in the 2019 Lifetime holiday movie, No Time Like Christmas.
20 of 41Mark Mainz/Getty Images
Cole Sprouse Then
Cole Sprouse got his start sharing roles with his twin, Dylan Sprouse, in titles such as Grace Under Fire, Big Daddy, and Friends (as Ross's son, Ben). In the Suite Life franchise, Cole Sprouse made audiences laugh as Cody, the nerdy twin.
21 of 41Jack Rowand/The CW
Cole Sprouse Now
Since 2017, Cole Sprouse has played Jughead Jones on the CW's Riverdale. Like his twin Dylan Sprouse, Cole Sprouse is a graduate of New York University.
22 of 41Gerardo Mora/Getty Images
Kyle Massey Then
Kyle Massey got his big break via Disney Channel's That's So Raven, where he played the younger brother of Raven-Symoné's title character. In 2007, Massey got his own show, the White House-based spin-off, Cory in the House.
23 of 41Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
Kyle Massey Now
Kyle Massey was a runner-up on Season 11 of ABC's Dancing With the Stars. Of late, he's been heard in the Nick animated series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He's seen here at a Halloween-themed event in Long Beach, California, in 2019.
24 of 41Walt Disney Television
Emily Osment Then
Emily Osment, the younger sister of The Sixth Sense Oscar nominee Haley Joel Osment, found fame at age 14 with the premiere of Hannah Montana. On the Disney Channel comedy, Osment played Miley Stewart's best friend, Lilly Truscott.
25 of 41Fox
Emily Osment Now
Osment starred in the 2019-2020 Fox drama, Almost Family (pictured). She previously cooked up laughs on the 2014-2018 sitcom, Young & Hungry. A busy actor, she also has a recurring role on Netflix's The Kominsky Method.
26 of 41Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage/Getty Images
Daniel Curtis Lee Then
Daniel Curtis Lee is best known for his portrayal of Simon "Cookie" Nelson-Cook on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, which originally aired from 2004-2007 on Nickelodeon.
27 of 41GP/Star Max/GC Images
Daniel Curtis Lee Now
After Ned's Declassified, Lee continued to act. He had roles on Disney XD's Zeke and Luther, Fox's Glee, and other shows. In 2019, he appeared in a Season 3 episode of Fox's 9-1-1.
28 of 41Nickelodeon
Jamie Lynn Spears Then
Jamie Lynn Spears debuted as Zoey Brooks in Nickelodeon's Zoey 101 in 2005. The show follows Zoey's journey at a boarding school, Pacific Coast Academy, in Malibu, California. The show ran for four seasons, ending in 2008.
29 of 41Eliza Morse/Netflix
30 of 41Walt Disney Television
Brenda Song Then
Brenda Song played the role of London Tipton on Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and The Suite Life on Deck. She also starred in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, a Disney Channel movie that premiered in 2006.
31 of 41Tibrina Hobson/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Brenda Song Now
Of late, fans have been able to catch Song on screen in ABC's Station 19 and Hulu's Dollface. Her other credits include the Oscar-winning 2010 film, The Social Network.
32 of 41Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Steven Anthony Lawrence Then
Back in the day, Steven Anthony Lawrence was best known for his role as Beans Aranguren, the nosy neighbor kid on the 2000-2003 Disney Channel show, Even Stevens.
33 of 41Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
Steven Anthony Lawrence Now
After his time on Even Stevens, Lawrence had roles in Mike Myers' The Cat in the Hat and 2003's Cheaper by the Dozen. He's continued to work in TV and film. In 2020, he appeared in a music video for the band, Dear Blanca.
34 of 41Gary Livingston/Getty Images
Drake Bell Then
After loads of TV guest appearances in the 1990s, Drake Bell broke out as a teen star on Amanda Bynes' Nickelodeon sketch show, The Amanda Show (1999-2002). From 2004-2007, Bell played Drake Parker on the step-sibling Nick comedy, Drake and Josh.
35 of 41Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
Drake Bell Now
Since his Drake and Josh days, Bell has pursued a music career. In 2015, he reunited with Josh Peck for an episode of Peck's then-Fox sitcom, Grandfathered. The same year, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, and made transphobic remarks (which he later apologized for) about Caitlyn Jenner.
36 of 41Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images
Christy Carlson Romano Then
37 of 41Getty
Christy Carlson Romano Now
Carlson's more recent work includes the voice-over role of Trina on Disney Channel's animated Big Hero 6: The Series. She returned to her Kim Possible roots in the same-titled 2019 Disney Channel live-action movie; she played a pop star named Poppy Blu.
38 of 41Warner Home Video
39 of 41Desiree Stone/Getty Images
Angus T. Jones Now
After appearing in a video where he urged Two and a Half Men viewers to "stop filling your heads with filth," Jones was bumped from the show's regular cast just before the start of Season 11. (He would go on to make guest appearances.) In 2016, Jones partnered with Justin Combs, the son of mogul Diddy, and launched an entertainment company called Tonite.
40 of 41Walt Disney Television
Shia LaBeouf Then
In 2000, Shia LaBeouf found TV fame as Louis Stevens on Even Stevens, a Disney Channel family comedy that ran for three seasons. He also starred in 2003's Holes, a film about teenagers who get sent to a juvenile-detention facility where they have to dig, well, holes.
41 of 41Rich Fury/Getty Images
Shia LaBeouf Now
Post-Disney Channel, LeBeouf starred as Sam Witwicky in the first three Transformers movies. He spent a number of years in the news for run-ins with the law. Including two arrests for alleged disorderly conduct. In 2019, he depicted his troubled upbringing in the award-winning film, Honey Boy, which he wrote and starred in.