Scarlett Johansson — Home Alone 3 to $75M Avenger

Scarlett Johansson transformed from a forgettable kid in Home Alone 3 (1997) to a $75 million Avenger, redefining child stardom through sheer force of talent and legal strategy. At 19, she earned critical acclaim in Lost in Translation and Girl with a Pearl Earring. By 25, she became Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in 10 films that grossed over $1 billion globally at the box office. Johansson was the highest-grossing actress from 2018 to 2023, outperforming #2 on this list, Millie Bobby Brown, in both earnings and industry impact. She then sued Disney for $40 million over Black Widow's streaming release and took on OpenAI over AI voice cloning. Her journey from a forgotten Home Alone 3 actor to a billion-dollar franchise star and corporate adversary is 50% more dramatic than the typical child star career arc.