What an excellent article about Jarman and his life. What a hard road for child actors it is. They frequently cannot survive the professional transition to adult actor as their appeal either fades as they mature, or worse yet, the audience resents them for the loss of innocence. In some, it can result in them taking some extreme roles to try to shake the juvenile image audiences have of them, resulting in even contempt from the viewers. Daniel Radcliffe comes to mind, among others.
My favorite bits from the MSN article:
[Referring to the filming of
"The Yearling"]
[Reflecting on the bad reviews for "The Sun Comes Up"]
[On his career change from acting]
How sad that the promotional group had him do such an unnatural thing. His instincts were right. Telling, when a boy is wiser than the men.
Classic Gregory Peck dryness, and charm. He had a distinctively masculine aura, including his humor.
[And this poignant anecdote]
I think the audience can recognize the roles in which that happens with actors, although it is by no means the only time they are great.