Logan Lerman

In terms of chosen material, actor Logan Lerman scored points at an early age for tackling some of the most difficult parts imaginable for a preteenager. His first major role was that of Jason, the put-upon young son of a harried single mother (Drew Barrymore) and a heroin addict (Steve Zahn) in Penny Marshall's coming-of-age period picture Riding in Cars with Boys (2001). Not long after, Lerman signed to portray the eight-year-old version of the central character in the controversial (and critically reviled) sci-fi melodrama The Butterfly Effect (2004) — a part that found his character strangled, beaten, sexually abused, and fallen prey to a host of other atrocities. Then, after these arresting and emotionally challenging debuts, Lerman dropped down a few notches as far as the intensity of the material he sought out. From 2004-2005, Lerman co-starred in the short-lived drama series Jack & Bobby, playing Bobby, who was destined to one day become President of the United States. He also played an average young boy determined to band together with his buddies and save some rare owls in the family-friendly picture Hoot and portrayed the son of Christian Bale in James Mangold's Western remake 3:10 to Yuma. In the Joel Schumacher thriller The Number 23 (2007), Lerman played Robin Sparrow, the son of a seemingly normal man (Jim Carrey) driven around the bend by a numerical mystery.

by Nathan Southern, AMG