It’s hard to forget their debuts on the big screen in movies that defined our childhood. We remember their first guest spot on a Disney Channel show and the spin-off that became their own. Their first attempts to break into the music industry stuck in our heads, with bad lyrics and fast tempos. They’re a generation of child actors that went through the same awkward teenage years that we went through, just in the public eye. We also remember the first time they took their clothes off in the name of entertainment, the paparazzi pictures revealing their newfound maturity and the naughty lyrics in their further attempts to sell records. With Sex Week winding down, let’s look back at some of the sexual awakenings of memorable child-stars-turned-sex-symbols.
Miley Cyrus
Cyrus had the best of both worlds. On her Disney Channel television show Hannah Montana, she was the country girl with chocolate-brown locks of hair by day and a blonde pop sensation by night. Hordes of girls watched her show, and when Miley became a pop star, they rushed to stores to buy her CDs. Miley’s first dip into public sexuality was when she posed almost nude for Vanity Fair in April 2008. Although her more private parts were hidden by sheets wrapped around her, parents were still concerned about the young star’s position as a role model for her young fans. Since then, Miley has also been criticized for her pole dancing moves during the 2009 Teen Choice Awards and extremely sexualized music video for “Who Owns My Heart” where she appears in lingerie, rolling around in bed. It just seems that she can’t be tamed.
Selena Gomez
This Disney Channel star turned lead singer had a flawless record until she was recently seen without the purity ring she had been wearing since she was 12. Her dad gave her the ring before she exploded on Disney channel as Alex on Wizards of Waverly Place. However, she was seen at the end of December without her purity ring while snuggling with boyfriend Justin Bieber in the Caribbean. There aren’t exact details of what this means, but it’s pretty obvious that even wizards aren’t able to escape the Bieber fever.
Lindsay Lohan
She was supposed to be Disney’s next big thing. People loved her double dosage in The Parent Trap, and she played the part of a mother stuck in her daughter’s body splendidly in Freaky Friday. But Lohan soon strayed from the path of squeaky clean fun into the depths of Hollywood malice. Now with multiple DUIs and enough paparazzi photos to fill a scrapbook, it’s questionable if Lohan will be able to recover from her fall from grace. Her sexual awakening was somewhat gradual instead of one large event, beginning with her “regulation hottie” status in Mean Girls. And nobody can forget the infamous photos of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and her getting a bit cray cray in the car. Since then, she’s also produced a sexier image with her 2004 single “Rumors” and playing a stripper in the 2007 film I Know Who Killed Me.
Kiely Williams
Williams started off as a member of girl group 3LW and eventually found her way to becoming one of the Cheetah Girls. After this feline sisterhood left India in their last movie, it seemed as all the actresses hit a hiatus in their careers. However, Williams came back on the scene and stirred things up with her music video for her single “Spectacular.” The song chronicles Williams’ sexual encounter with a guy who looks like a cross between Predator and the lead singer of Counting Crows. All she can remember is that she was “face down, ass up, clothes off.” Oh, but at least the sex was “spectacular.” Williams probably felt that she needed this to define her career because the only thing memorable about her Cheetah Girl persona was that she was the sister who carried hot sauce around in her purse.
Taylor Lautner
The now stud muffin that every Twihard goes borderline werewolf for gained almost 30 pounds of muscle between the first and second installments of the Twilight saga. Before that, he was a scrawny, pubescent young lad in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D. Even with that flop on his resume, Lautner was able to foster a career thanks to the Stephenie Meyer powerhouse series. He spent nearly all of New Moon shirtless and also posed topless for GQ’s July 2010 issue to the enjoyment of many fans. The young star may have a solid career so far, but it will be interesting to see if he’ll have to rely on being shirtless to get all of his future roles.
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens stole viewers’ hearts after High School Musical. She was the new, nerdy girl with a heart of gold that just so happened to be the most gorgeous catch in the whole school. However, things went sour after naked photos of her, meant only for the eyes of her co-star and then-boyfriend Zac Efron, ended up on the Internet. Teenage boys’ dirty fantasies of the star became reality as Hudgens’ grooming habits became public. Since then, the photos have been taken off the Internet, but nobody can really forget about it. Pity that equivalent photos of Zac Efron weren’t leaked as well. That would’ve made a lot of other people happy.
The Harry Potter Cast
We’ve grown up with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and many of us share a connection to the young students turned powerful wizards by the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Each member of the main cast has also become heartthrobs. Heads turned when Rupert Grint showed up all manned up as Ron in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth movie of the series. Emma Watson revealed her darker sex appeal when she was the face of a 2009 Burberry campaign with sultry expressions and penetrating eyes. That same year, Daniel Radcliffe went full monty in the London and Broadway stagings of Equus, his edgiest role to date. All three have changed dramatically since their boarding of the Hogwarts Express and grown into their own sexualities.