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When we look at famous people, we sometimes forget that they aren't superhumans and that they actually stumbled through the awkwardness of childhood just like us at one point. Photos of our youth tell vivid stories of where we came from and provided a window into the styles and customs of a bygone era. Through these glimpses of young celebrities, we get an impression of how they lived and grew up before reaching the red carpet.
Funnily enough, they too did participate in awkward family photos and had the ugly duckling yearbook images taken at the gawky stages of puberty. Some of these now popular celebrities seem to have found the anti-aging elixir, while others changed almost beyond recognition. And we've gathered more than a hundred of these before and after celebrity photos, so proofs are aplenty.
Youth comes with its own unique beauty often depicted in awkward photos, but it's impossible to deny that just like a bottle of wine, some things (and people) genuinely do get better with age.
Try to spot your favorite famous celebrities, before they were famous below.
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#1
Adele
Tish Christian 8 years ago
Barely recognisable? How could she look more like her seven year old self !
RELATED:
#2
Ryan Gosling
LuckyPineapple 8 years ago
yup. that pic is from when he was on New Mickey Mouse Club!
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#3
Barack Obama
Nora H. 8 years ago
Black people get tanned too when being out in the sun a lot ;)
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Dawn Frank 8 years ago
I'm not even in the US but I can feel their pain in some wanting him over Trump
#4
Angelina Jolie
varwenea 8 years ago
I don't think anyone ever challenged that. Apparently, her lips are the most requested at plastic surgeons.
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Narcis Mihăilă 8 years ago
looking at her as a child, she look indeed as a Jon Voight daughter
#5
Leonardo DiCaprio
James Floyd 8 years ago
You can tell the ones who were child actors (Gosling, DiCaprio, etc) cause their kid photos are headshots.
Lorin Osborne 5 years ago
Childhood Trauma reflected in this pic. Sad and horrific what is done to children in hollywood. I doubt the fame is worth the price they pay.
Lorin Osborne 5 years ago
You can see trauma as a child in this photo. Narrow close set eyes, small mouth, smaller brow ridge and oval rather than squared jaw identifies female bone structure. Sad the price she paid for fame.
#6
Chloe Grace Moretz
Melissa Nunya 8 years ago
Google. This girl is a fabulous actress o highly recommend her movies
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#7
Neil Patrick Harris
Amanda Panda 8 years ago
Not much change here, just a few lines and wrinkles, otherwise same face.
#8
Benedict Cumberbatch
#9
George Clooney
#10
Freddie Mercury
Jewel Farmer 8 years ago
He said he never wanted to get his teeth 'fixed' because he was afraid it would change how he sings. Them teeth are perfect.
Kira Thesloth 8 years ago
Yeah he just needed to change up the smile a bit, lol (my teeth are pretty spectacular too, and I've learned how to smile to make them look better). Seems like he did.
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Dominique Boccalatte 8 years ago
He was so very talented and beautiful on the inside. Yeah he had big teeth and he was very self conscious about it but who cares? Wonderful man, taken too soon ❤️
Bear Trapp 8 years ago
Nobody will ever sing like Freddie Mercury. One of the greatest singers the world will ever see.
#11
Marilyn Monroe
Anna Wolf 8 years ago
To be honest I don't this grown-up photo of her, you can see the sadness in her eyes
#12
Jennifer Aniston
Agata Kopff 8 years ago
At her child photo she looks like she's saying "Calm down, I got this!" :D
Lorin Osborne 5 years ago
The child photos always give them away. Onscene what they do to children
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#13
Jackie Chan
Kaitlyn DSOUZA 8 years ago
his child photo looks like : WHY AM I HERE- guess what, your gonna be famous
Totally Magical Unicorn 8 years ago
Jackieeeee!!!!! I grew up binging on your movies!!!! I love you Jackieeee!!!!
#14
Elijah Wood
#15
Brooke Shields
Peta Hurley-Hill 8 years ago
Great actress,her mother wanted her to be a star,no matter what.She had some really inappropriate roles,photo shoots from a very young age.As an adult ,she had nothing to do with her mother for many years.
Raymond Lope 5 years ago
That is what BEAUTY LOOKS LIKE, HAVE ALWAYS LOVED HER, AND ALWAYS WILL.
Bored Trash Panda 1 year ago
Great actress and very beautiful, but Hollywood did her so wrong as a child. All of them need to be locked up. F*****g pedophiles.
#16
John Travolta
Tim Douglass 8 years ago
That shot on the right looks like post-mortem photography! I've literally seen corpses in coffins that looked more life-like!
Totally Magical Unicorn 8 years ago
Holy hell! Okay this article is just messing with us now. The first one is clearly a body snatcher, and the second one is from Madam Tussaud.
#17
Keira Knightley
Rafael Tiba 8 years ago
I sometimes have troubles trying to picture her in a 21st century setting.
varwenea 8 years ago
Or watch 'Never let me go". Warning that's a dystopian movie.
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#18
Amy Winehouse
Dave George 8 years ago
Amy in her childhood looks more like Travolta, compared to Travolta childhood picture.
#19
Russell Crowe
James Floyd 8 years ago
If you put facial hair on his child photo, that would be his face now. Wow, very little change!
#20
Anne Hathaway
#21
Hugh Grant
#22
David Bowie
#23
James Dean
#24
Julia Roberts
#25
Elizabeth Taylor
Aunt Messy 8 years ago
I'm assuming the early photo was from National Velvet. She didn't change a lot. Put makeup on her as a child, and they're virtually the same.
Merilyn Horton 8 years ago
I dont think Ive ever seen a more beautiful female, and I dont think it's the makeup either. She always was exquisite.
Barbara Hasslacher 5 years ago
A true stunner as an adult! Was a real star in her time as was one of her husbands: Richard Burton 😍
Jamison Frances 8 years ago
Definitely one of the great beauties of the world, and a great actress as well!
#26
Meryl Streep
Mark Santino 8 years ago
She's the only one I wouldn't have recognized lol but she was already an actress, you could tell
#27
Bjork
Edyta Złotucha 8 years ago
I love the fact that she always had that creepy-cute look, even as a child
Matleena Korhonen 8 years ago
I think she's more recognizable in the left photo than the right one :D
Kristi Zoebelein 8 years ago
Definitely! I recognized the child photo and then when to the adult and thought "Wait..who is that?"
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Stacey Weaver 8 years ago
You can actually see a hint of the psycho she would become in the first photo...
#28
Whoopi Goldberg
Robyn Denton 8 years ago
Wow! The little girl who played Delores as a child in Sister Act, REALLY resembled Whoopi as a child!
#29
Brad Pitt
#30
Blake Lively
#31
Harrison Ford
Barbara Hasslacher 5 years ago
Not handsome then. Got better with age. Especially the film 'Witness'
#32
Orlando Bloom
Totally Magical Unicorn 8 years ago
So he was one of those kids with the permanent sticky-up hair at the back eh.
#33
Elvis Presley
Lindsey Matta 8 years ago
He was depressed most of his life because he had a twin brother who didn't survive birth
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Kaeden Gonzales 4 years ago
Fun fact: He had blonde hair,just dyed it because ya know,People with Black Hair look cooler
Barbara Hasslacher 5 years ago
Wow. Not attractive as a kid but became a real stunner in his singing days.
Heidi Smith 8 years ago
my fist thought when I saw his childhood one I was like: yup, he's stoned. just like he will be for the rest of his life
#34
Robbie Williams
Imperfekt 8 years ago
Looks more to me like he already thinks he got away with it
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#35
Lady Gaga
Olivia Horner 8 years ago
If you look at her without makeup, she looks very similar to her child self.
Sofia Bellavista 8 years ago
She already had that "I'm gonna conquer the world" look in her eyes
Edyta Złotucha 8 years ago
This looks like she kinda changed herself into the doll she's holding in the first picture, haha :D
LuckyPineapple 8 years ago
I had that exact same mermaid. She and I are exactly 6 months apart so that's probably why
Lexie Demetroff 8 years ago
I had that doll she is holding. It was one of my favorites! She sang a beautiful mermaid song! Ha
#36
Maisie Williams
#37
Sandra Bullock
Melissa Nunya 8 years ago
I remember her talking about getting her first role. Try basically said you are meh but you will clean up real nice. Love potion 9 ;)
#38
Richard Hammond
Ricky Couture 8 years ago
It's funny that two people here thought "Will from Stranger Things", because my first thought (dead serious) was "Wynona Ryder?". Guess that casting agent nailed it!
Slim 864 GVG 3 years ago
I miss old Top Gear with Hammond, Clarkson, and James May. They have such great chemistry, like 3 brothers on a TV show.
#39
Justin Timberlake
Bunnies are better!! 8 years ago
Really? I think his hair was just too short to cut and the outfit was just some 80s weirdness
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Chris Pratt
Bunnies are better!! 8 years ago
Whoah!! Is it just the lighting or did his eyes change color?
Bunnies are better!! 8 years ago
My little brother's eyes used to be blue and now they're a greenish-hazel, so that's why I'm wondering
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Totally Magical Unicorn 8 years ago
Wow! A little overkill on the Hollywood beach makeup Chris!
#41
Zooey Deschanel
#42
Channing Tatum
Samantha 8 years ago
My 12 year old self would have had such a crush on him!
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#43
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Cariker 8 years ago
She looks like the little girl from "Smart house" when she was younger
#44
Scarlett Johansson
#45
Amy Schumer
#46
Rihanna
Kathy 2 weeks ago
I disagree. I think she's had some work done on her face.
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#47
Natalie Portman
#48
Jeremy Clarkson
Abril Reyes 8 years ago
OMG! It's true! I saw the left picture first and then I got confused when I saw the right picture. I thought it was a woman. Wtf...
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Totally Magical Unicorn 8 years ago
AHHH!! Contrary to what I said about Hugh Grant's pic, this is a solid argument against bringing back the turtleneck.
#49
Jack Nicholson
#50
Kate Winslet
Daisy Shillam 4 years ago
She’s so beautiful. Titanic is my favourite film (I don’t know if you can tell by my comment on Leo’s as well lol)
#51
Ashton Kutcher
#52
Eminem
jbingham 8 years ago
He looks like that kid in school that would eat bugs on a dare... and probably just for fun.
Anna Brandigi 8 years ago
m&m, the white wrapper=eminem, the white rapper Screen-Sho...17882b.png 
Abril Reyes 8 years ago
He looked like he was the awkward kid... now I get it with the anger issue...
CycloneMaster50 3 years ago
as soon as I saw this picture the song “Survival” by him turned on. coincidence, I think not.
CycloneMaster50 3 years ago
as soon as I got to this picture an the song “Survival” by him turned on
#53
Ben Stiller
#54
Lindsay Lohan
#55
Gigi Hadid
#56
Janis Joplin
#57
Jimmy Fallon
#58
Madonna
Mark Darnell 8 years ago
Her current eyes look like spiders. Don't be afraid of a little eye shadow, 'donna.
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#59
Katy Perry
#60
Jessica Alba
#61
Lily Collins
Blind Oracle 8 years ago
welp phil obviously came around at least twice ... once to make her, once to take this pic
#62
Demi Moore
MadamButterfly 8 years ago
She's had work done on top of work already done. :o
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#63
Lucille Ball
Peta Hurley-Hill 8 years ago
Brilliant woman,very ahead of her time.Absolutely beautiful child.
#64
Judy Garland
Barbara Hasslacher 5 years ago
Wow so different in her early years as a woman to later in life
#65
Mick Jagger
#66
John Lennon
Daisy Shillam 4 years ago
I think you need to change the a in your last name to an o mate
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#67
Jennifer Lopez
#68
David Beckham
#69
Jim Carrey
Kathy 2 weeks ago
I think that smile when he was a little boy looks forced.
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Anna Brandigi 8 years ago
little did he know that 30 years from now he would be climbing out of a rhino's a*s
Andrea Bergman 8 years ago
Really doubt that's even him... This is him at about that age... jc-58be87d29f741.jpg 
Jessica Tidwell 8 years ago
It's not him it's someone named "Jim Carey" not Jim Carrey. http://www.jimcarreyonline.com/info/biography_full.html http://busministryworks.com/jim-carey/
Jessica Tidwell 8 years ago
It's not him, some man named "Jim Carey" not Jim Carrey, obviously. http://busministryworks.com/jim-carey/ http://www.jimcarreyonline.com/info/biography_full.html
#70
Taylor Swift
Heather Keedy Bateman 8 years ago
And that,ladies and gentleman, is why you don't make fun of other kids growing up...
Aditya Bhosale 8 years ago
Taylor Swift was actually made fun of in her childhood for her dream to be a singer. In an interview Taylor said that she used to get sarcastic remarks like 'oh you want to be a singer , you are going to win the Grammy's.' And today Taylor Swift has 10 Grammys.
Load More Replies... Christina Lyons 8 years ago
She looks like she just came back from vacation and begged her mom to let her get braids for her school picture.
Jake Lutick 7 years ago
OMG, she looks just like a kid I saw at school! Anyway, I loooooooooove Taylor Swift!
#71
Selena Gomez
Rafael Tiba 8 years ago
no matter how hard they try to portray her as a grown-up woman, she'll always have that 12-years-old face
#72
David Schwimmer
#73
Beyonce
Christy Martin 8 years ago
What?! Her skin looks lighter in the baby pic.
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#74
Elton John
#75
Gwyneth Paltrow
Panpan 8 years ago
I just googled it. Apparently, it's an egg-shaped piece of jade that women shove up their va-JJ.
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#76
Avril Lavigne
#77
Paris Hilton
Christine Vogt Klimshuk 1 year ago
She reminds me of Hayden Panettiere as a child. I have been pegging unrelated look alike s lately. Not sure what’s up. Like a reverse stroke or something. An unstroke!
Peta Hurley-Hill 8 years ago
The first picture is about the same age (maybe a little older) than she was,when Trump said she was "Hot".
#78
Kristen Stewart
#79
Enrique Iglesias
#80
Billie Joe Armstrong
#81
Tom Cruise
Amy Hedges 8 years ago
But still.. you'd think they would've centered that smile, wouldn't you?
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Joe Dad 8 years ago
Go f**k yourself. That r-word should never, ever be used in such a demeaning way!
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#82
Celine Dion
#83
Sarah Jessica Parker
MadamButterfly 8 years ago
She's wearing contacts,she looks creepy with blue eyes and fake.
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Mark Santino 8 years ago
Are you people serious? Yes it's a wig and no she doesn't look conservative, those are promo pictures for when she played Annie on Broadway in 79. She was 14
Robyn Denton 8 years ago
I hope she was in costume for Annie, and that wasn't her usual look!! :)
#84
Ellie Goulding
Abril Reyes 8 years ago
Her eyes scare me a bit in her child picture. She looks a bit like a tiny elf...
#85
Katie Holmes
#86
Sam Smith
Ironcat_xox 8 years ago
He looks like that one penguin from penguins of Madagascar... u know what I mean
Convon Levontay 3 years ago
the child picture looks like he farted knowing the windows in the car don't row down
#87
Eva Mendes
#88
Cameron Diaz
Cat Meow 8 years ago
If not, we now now the inspiration to that hairstyle. Though I sure hope she used a different styling product.
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Nikolina 8 years ago
That's not her! Her mouth is a total giveaway! young-came...oto-u1.jpg 
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHRHPlgU_Tg/UaCV1cYiThI/AAAAAAAAJRo/IGO72tvcbyE/s1600/rare-childhood-pictures-of-cameron-diaz-childhood-images.blogspot.com(2).jpg
#89
Alice Cooper
#90
Miley Cyrus
KaileighDark05 8 years ago
R.I.P Innocent Miley We Shall Remember Your Good Side
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#91
James May
#92
Chace Crawford
Michalina Wasielewska 8 years ago
He starred Nathaniel Archibald in Gossip girl series.
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#93
Catherine Deneuve
#94
Emma Roberts
#95
Russell Brand
Gordon Johnson 8 years ago
Once a scum junkie big mouth piece of s**t, always a scum junkie big mouth piece of s**t.
#96
Will.I.Am
#97
Christina Aguilera
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
Why the surgeries..... She looked like a good looking girl with a natural face... I feel bad that so many celebrities feel so insecure they want to do this to themselves. The worse part is they are just making themselves look unreal, they aren’t making themselves look better.
Oliver Casasola 8 years ago
looks like money, hollywood and a plastic surgery can fix everyone, jesus!
#98
Cheryl Cole
Daisy Shillam 4 years ago
She was in girls allowed and then an X factor judge. She was also named the most beautiful English woman a few years ago
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Kristen Taylor 5 years ago
it is so creepy how much she looks like Shania Twain. They could be twins
#99
Kate Hudson
#100
Victoria Beckham
#101
Ariana Grande
Lilya 8 years ago
Dude! Why does your rude comment get 11 upvotes and my nice comment gets downvotes? Why?
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#102
Miranda Kerr
MaggieThompson 4 years ago
very rude remark....how's your face? perfect, one would guess
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Lea Michele
#104
Britney Spears
Chaimae Mesbahi 8 years ago
Big difference between her child smile and her smile now ...now she just seems fake
LuckyPineapple 8 years ago
she seems more vacant to me. I think she's very empty inside
Load More Replies... Amanda Codlin 8 years ago
Ever since her break down she never looks right. Always messy even when all dolled up. I feel like she needs a good scrub and a hairdresser
Bewarethere@gmail.com 2 years ago
Because her family forced her 2 smile the ever lasting torment. It was drilled into her psyche
#105
Emily Ratajkowski
#106
Rachel Bilson
#107
Harry Styles
Tadashi Hamada 6 years ago
B***h . He is harry freqkin styles ! 😃 u have any idea whom u are talking about? Member of the biggest boyband in history called "one direction" and he is defininely the most beautiful human in the world
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Amy Force 2 weeks ago
much more probable than *YOUR* learning how to SPELL...
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John Wayne
Kiki 6 years ago
Eyes sometimes do change. My eyes were blue as a little girl and now they are more greenish-brown.
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Kenneth Sr. 8 years ago
Clothing wrong year for young John Wayne, appear more late '30's into the '40's
Joseph Wagnon 8 years ago
Nope. John Wayne is a lot older than that child photo. He was born in 1907.
Gregory Fox 5 months ago
No way is this John Wayne.(Marion Morrison) This kid is dressed in 1950's clothes. A picture of John Wayne at this age would be taken about 1912 and they didn't wear clothes like this then.
Slim 864 GVG 3 years ago
That can't be John Wayne. Maybe it's his son as that picture looks to be taken in the 50's. He was born in the early 1900s and would not have been dressed like that.
#110
Nick Jonas
#111
Heather Morris
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
One of the few celebrities on this list who hasn’t gotten much plastic surgery! (If any) She actually looks like an older version of the picture on the left! 😔
#112
Lena Dunham
Christine Vogt Klimshuk 1 year ago
You may want to read this article before assuming anything. https://www.vox.com/2014/11/8/7157065/dunham-child-abuse
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#114
Justin Bieber
Blind Oracle 8 years ago
he had probably already started growing that stache back then, and look where it got to!
Elizabeth Goodwin 6 years ago
Someone go back in time and kill the-- nevermind poor kid growing up to be that...
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Brigitte 8 years ago
Barely recognizable? In most of these pics you can tell right away who it is.
Sreejith 8 years ago
Here is the proof that you can't tell how much beautiful a kid can become.
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
Most of these people got plastic surgery. This is not what they actually look like. They got surgery to look like a plastic doll to impress everyone with how Barbie someone can make themselves look.
Load More Replies... Tish Christian 8 years ago
This is rubbish!!!!! They all look like themselves ... why use the title barely recognisable !?
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
It’s sad that some of the people on this list got plastic surgery so they can look like an anime character. We need to embrace who we are and have natural beauty. These people looked better before the surgeries. Never do this. It’s not good and your only making things even worse. Why do they want to look fake?
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
This is sad..... This just proves how many celebrities get plastic surgery. Half of these people clearly got surgery when they were good looking from the start! It’s so sad to see so many people feel the need to do this.
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
This is sad. Many of the people on this list have clearly gotten plastic surgery when they were already good looking before.....
manoochehr karimi 4 years ago
What is common in most of these child pictures of celebrities is the interesting innocence on their faces
Brigitte 8 years ago
Barely recognizable? In most of these pics you can tell right away who it is.
Sreejith 8 years ago
Here is the proof that you can't tell how much beautiful a kid can become.
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
Most of these people got plastic surgery. This is not what they actually look like. They got surgery to look like a plastic doll to impress everyone with how Barbie someone can make themselves look.
Load More Replies... Tish Christian 8 years ago
This is rubbish!!!!! They all look like themselves ... why use the title barely recognisable !?
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
It’s sad that some of the people on this list got plastic surgery so they can look like an anime character. We need to embrace who we are and have natural beauty. These people looked better before the surgeries. Never do this. It’s not good and your only making things even worse. Why do they want to look fake?
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
This is sad..... This just proves how many celebrities get plastic surgery. Half of these people clearly got surgery when they were good looking from the start! It’s so sad to see so many people feel the need to do this.
Lunamoon 23 4 years ago
This is sad. Many of the people on this list have clearly gotten plastic surgery when they were already good looking before.....
manoochehr karimi 4 years ago
What is common in most of these child pictures of celebrities is the interesting innocence on their faces
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