Remember This Little Girl From ‘Matilda?’ Well, Here’s How She Looks Today.
Some child stars go on to have long and diverse careers in film, continued from when they're kids and spanning into adulthood -- think Dakota Fanning, Lindsay Lohan, and others like them. Then there are child stars who remain a memory in our heads, but that we ultimately forget about over time: If you show us a picture of their character, we recognize them immediately, but have absolutely no clue about what's going on with them today.
This is one of the latter. She was definitely a memorable character in one of the most memorable movies of your childhood, but she kind of disappeared into the Hollywood ether. Now, we've seen some photos of her 19 years later, and it's clear that this formerly precocious and adorable kid has turned into a beautiful, successful young woman. Find out who we're talking about below -- you'll be surprised how quickly you remember her character.
#1 Remember this childhood fave?
For some of us, this was a staple of our childhood afternoons. Just seeing this movie poster brings back memories.
#2 The film was based on a book by the legendary Roald Dahl.
The children's author created some of the most iconic stories in the children's literature lexicon, and Matilda was one of the most successful.
#3 It was also made into a very successful movie.
The story was about a very misunderstood little girl, whose family didn't appreciate just how smart she actually was.
#4 She taught herself to read, and eventually, her brain started doing strange things.
But this story isn't about Matilda -- she's cool, but there was another character that often gets overlooked.
#5 It was Matilda's best friend.
Her name was Lavender, and she seemed to instantly understand what made Matilda so special. She becomes one of her strongest allies throughout the story.
#6 The character of Lavender was played by actress Kiami Davael.
At the time she took the role, she may have been one of the cutest kids on the planet.
#7 And Davaels fun scenes with Mara Wilson (who played Matilda) were some of the best in the film.
Together, they took on the terrifying Miss Trunchbull.
#8 But check out Lavender now.
She's 29 years old, and she's almost unrecognizable.
#9 So what has she been doing all this time?
As it turns out, she had a pretty lucrative career as a child actor.
#10 She was in Matilda when she was ten.
And afterwards, she got a number of roles -- though none as memorable as Lavender.
#11 Check out the cast, all reunited.
Can you spot Danny DeVito? He was in the film as Matilda's dad, and he's actually responsible for getting it made in the first place.
#12 Her and Mara Wilson are still buddies.
They've come a long way from their Matilda day, but they're still hanging. Davael captioned the picture, "Lunch date shenanigans with my sis from another miss, Mara."
#13 Now, Davael is working as a singer-songwriter.
The fact that 19 years have passed since Matilda makes some of us feel older than others.
#14 It seems like she's had a pretty cool life since then.
Davael is still working, and she's got plenty of great experience under her belt.
#15 One has to wonder if she gets recognized.
Only the true Matilda fans would probably spot 29-year-old Lavender in a crowd.
#16 Do you think she looks like she did back then?
Mentally add a pair of Lavender's glasses, and you can definitely tell.
#17 There's a bit of an interesting story about how she got cast, too.
Apparently, Lavender wasn't supposed to look like Davael.
#18 Here's what she had to say about the film.
"Originally the character wasn't quite what I look like. I think she was more supposed to be white but I'm not 100% sure. She wasn't black, I know that much."
#19 It was actually her personality and energy that got her the part.
"But we thought we'd go for it anyway because she was a precocious, smart child but also very intuitive and curious. And that was me."
#20 Now that we know how good old Lavender is doing, Matilda fans just have one more question.
Whatever happened to this actress who played Amanda Thripp, the girl who got launched into the sky by her pigtails. Stay tuned to the Internet for the inevitable update. We just hope her head doesn't still hurt.
