Child’s play?

Posted by marieClairvoyant on Sep 8, 2010 in celebrity | 1 comment

I’m kind of a fence-sitter when it gets to child stars and how fame at a young age can influence and affect the course of their lives – is it good or is it bad? I can’t decide. Some child stars (ala Britney Spears and Macaulay Culkin) turn out “weird” when all grown up while others seem to be more than okay (like, Scarlett Johansson, Justin Timberlake and Leonardo DiCaprio).

Which brings me to the actual reason for this post: Willow Smith – the nine-year-old daughter of Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith. Not only is her 12-year-old brother, Jaden Smith, the star of the new Karate Kid movie (he also played Will’s son in The Pursuit of Happyness and is the rapper on Justin Bieber’s ‘Never say Never’ song), but little Willow is a making her mark in the entertainment industry too: she made her film debut next to dad Will in I Am Legend (seems that all the Smith kids make their big screen debuts next to poppa Smith?) at age six; and now, at nine, appears to be more sought after on the red carpet than her famous parents, is considered a style icon/trendsetter to tweens and, with a few more film roles in the pipeline, is about to release her debut album .

Take a listen to the first single of the album, “Whip My Hair” which was “accidently” leaked on the internet yesterday:

I really like it (okay, so I’m a self-confessing rap/hip-hop/pop fan…). But, listening to the track, it is hard to believe that the girl behind the song is just nine years old. It makes me wonder what will she be like at 16? Or 21? Or 30?

It can only go one of two ways: a brilliant success or a true disaster. I can’t deny that little Willow is talented, very cute and right on trend (so, yes, I like her!) – and I’m holding thumbs that little Willow grows up to be a brilliant, but grounded, success.

* Eulogi Rheeder *