What to do if the main character of the picture is a broken child with a difficult fate, experiencing far from childish emotions. He has to grow up equally. And how can it be played by a small actor who has no education and does not yet have life experience to apply his experiences to his character. 
But often pictures with a similar plot are quite cruel and sometimes bloody. For example, during the filming of The Shining, Kubrick designed the schedule and filming method in such a way that actor Danny Lloyd did not even suspect that he was starring in a frightening horror film and saw the picture only when he was already quite an adult.
By law, children cannot work on the set for more than a certain number of hours; a special tutor is hired for them so that the actor does not fall behind in his studies. Sometimes they even hire a special psychologist to monitor whether the child is psychologically traumatized on the set. But this is now. 
Previously, there was no such attentive attitude towards small actors and they were often used not entirely honestly and in violation of their rights. There is a story about how, on the set of Ivan’s Childhood, Tarkovsky, known for his severity and cruelty on set, behaved with Kolya Burlyaev. The scene where he had to hatefully attack the enemy’s overcoat was not easy for the 14-year-old actor; the director demanded more authenticity from him.
One day Burlyaev came to the set before the rest of the group and walked in circles, getting excited and psyching himself up for filming this scene. The technicians had already arrived, set up the lights and camera, and Tarkovsky had also arrived, silently observing the increase in Kolya’s fortune. And suddenly, at the most necessary moment, quietly giving a command to the operator, he approached Kolya and in a soft voice, hugging him by the shoulders, said: “okay, don’t worry so much, if you want, we won’t film it if it’s so hard for you.” Of course, at this very moment, excited to the limit, Kolya broke into hysterics, which ended up in the frame.
The goal was achieved. But the price for this was not so trifling. 
There are also child actors who play characters with adult destinies. Yes, often much older actors and actresses are cast in the roles of children, but many directors don’t like this, in the struggle for authenticity. But in a number of scenarios, you simply cannot do without a child.
Jodie Foster 
When 12-year-old Foster arrived on the set of Taxi Driver, she was closely watched by representatives of the Los Angeles Department of Social Security.
She was interviewed by a child psychologist for four hours to determine whether Jodie was ready for the role of an underage sex worker. Throughout Foster's work, a social worker was present on camera, off-screen, and Foster's 20-year-old sister was featured in intimate scenes.
“I was very uncomfortable on the set. No one knew what to advise me, where to direct me. Scorsese would say something like “unzip his fly” and immediately laugh awkwardly. In the end, everything was entrusted to Robert De Niro, he was the one knew what to recommend to me."
Natalie Portman 
The debut of 11-year-old Natalie took place with Luc Besson himself, who unmistakably discerned the girl’s talent. In the film, as you remember, her character smokes, the actress had to be present during a number of cruel scenes, and these double scenes where Matilda acts as a nymphet in relation to Leon.
They can be interpreted in different ways, but the situation was seriously saved by the fact that Jean Reno’s character eventually turned into a certain person with an autism spectrum disorder who felt not a sexual attraction to the little girl, but an affection more like something paternal.
Brooke Shields 
Mother Brooke did not have strong parental feelings towards her own daughter. Brooke was very beautiful even as a child, and in the crazy 70s she took part in a candid photo shoot by Gary Gross: the 10-year-old child in the frame was completely naked, and her makeup was as garish as possible.
And just two years later, Louis Malle invited Shields to star in his film “Lovely Child” and play there a young courtesan selling her innocence to a rich client. The charming girl starred in scenes that were not at all suitable for her age, but few people cared.
Well, the famous "Blue Lagoon". During filming, Brooke was 15 years old and during very nude scenes, she was replaced in the frame by a stunt double. However, the public was still outraged by the excessive naturalness of what was happening between the teenagers.
Dakota Fanning 
The girl made her film debut at a very early age. In the film “Hounded,” she had to play a baby from an antisocial family, ready to do anything just to be at an Elvis Presley concert. An acquaintance rapes her under a fictitious pretext. In other scenes, the heroine of 12-year-old Fanning smokes and drinks alcohol.
When critics tried to express their “fuck” to Dakota (for some reason not to the director and producers of the film, but oh well), the intelligent girl replied: “This is not real! This is called acting.”
Kristina Orbakaite 
"Scarecrow, forgive us!"
The cruel and honest film by Rolan Bykov was a real explosion. How indignant the teachers were, how indignant the district committees were, they say, how can this not happen in a Soviet school, ban the screenings, cancel Bykov forever!
But first, the story “Scarecrow” by Vladimir Zheleznikov, and after it the film of the same name, revealed that same hushed up abscess. Bykov himself, having read it, threw the book away from him, remembering his own childhood, where he was an outcast. There was no word “bullying” then, but bullying itself existed at all times. Children can be very cruel.
A film about Lena Bessoltseva, played by little Kristina Orbakaite (17 thousand girls across the country had to be auditioned for the role of Scarecrow). Despite the cruel scenes in which she and the other children had to participate, despite the bitter and painful emotions that Lena Bessoltseva experienced, Rolan Bykov was able to build a unique atmosphere on the site. It is to his credit that the guys playing not-so-childish roles had fun outside the frame, eating ice cream and joking.
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