‘NeverEnding Story’ Actress Recalls Disturbing Aftermath of Film’s Success as a Preteen

When she was only 10 years old, Tami Stronach landed the role of the Childlike Empress in The NeverEnding Story accidentally, the now-48-year-old actress told Vice in a new profile, when a casting agent noticed her during theater classes at a San Francisco acting school. However, the disturbing aftermath of her brief role in the 1984 blockbuster hit would cause her to leave Hollywood for decades.

Resuming her normal life as an 11-year-old when the film based on the Michael Ende book came out, Stronach and her parents were appalled to see the reaction to her role as the child ruler of the fantasy world. Adult men tracked down their home address to camp outside, while others proposed marriage, with one German man even mailing her an expensive engagement ring. Then there were professional violations, such as inappropriate offers from producers asking her to perform nude. “They came to our house and pitched it, and I’m like, I’m not doing a nude film,” Stronach recalled to Vice. “I’m not Lolita.”

Stronach shared how deeply upsetting all the inappropriate attention was for her at such a young age: “I took everything way too seriously and really to heart. I wonder if there could have been a way to not be as freaked out.” Her parents, who were both archeologists with little idea of handling Hollywood, decided to pull their 11-year-old daughter back from the public eye, including declining to sign for a possible NeverEnding Story sequel.

“The bottom line is my parents just weren’t equipped to be managers,” she said. “We weren’t in it for the money, and we certainly weren’t in it for the fame. I think if I had moved to L.A. and they had decided to help me hunt for projects, we could have found those. But that was just not a step we as a family were going to take.” Walking away from potential stardom was fine for Stronach, who wanted to act more than she wanted to be a star. She concentrated on being a normal teenager and even declined to put her Childlike Empress role on her resume when moving to New York City to become a professional dancer.

“You asked me if I wanted to be a star as a kid. I’m such a complicated case because I really love doing the work, but I really don’t like the lifestyle,” she said of her return to the entertainment business in another capacity. “I had to navigate this alternate path, and I just feel so lucky.”