Why child actor in iconic film quit acting after receiving creepy proposals from men

The NeverEnding Story proved to be a surprising hit back in the 80s but one of its stars had to take a step away from Hollywood due to a chilling reason.

Tami Stronach, now 52, captivated audiences when she was just 10 years old as she played the 'Childlike Empress' in the 1984 film, The NeverEnding Story.

The fantasy flick has become a cult classic over the years, but despite being a favored film by many, Stronach stepped away from Hollywood not long after.

Back in 2024 she spoke about returning to the big screen for the film Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps, written by her husband Greg Steinbruner.

Stronach also detailed the unwanted attention she got when she returned to California following filming The NeverEnding Story in Germany.

People on social media were stunned by the news the young actress had to step away (kpa/United Archives via Getty Images)

She said that despite only being a child, men camped outside her home and that she even received marriage proposals and nude film role offers.

Following this, she and her family made the decision to stop her career, just as it was taking off.

Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, she said: “Here’s the door you could walk through — and you'll have to navigate a lot of that — or you wait until you're 18 and see what you feel like doing.

“It seemed like a no-brainer to be honest with you. I really threw myself into dance and continued to act [in theater] so I didn't necessarily feel that I had been cut off from my creativity. It was just like: If you want to pursue film, you would do that as an adult.”

For many fans of the film, this disturbing story was news to them and a thread discussing it has recently featured on Reddit.

On the TodayIlearned board, people remarked just how creepy this would have been for the young actress and her family.

Tami Stronach spoke about why she decided to leave acting on the big screen(Rob Kim/Getty Images)

One user wrote: “Incredibly disturbing. She doesn't even look like a teenager in that movie she is so young. Ugh.”

Another said: “What a terrible reason for an acting career to stall. Though based on some of the other comments here, it sounds like her parents did the right thing. Keeping your daughter safe is more important than capitalizing on an acting career.”

A third wrote: “Maybe instead of calling her character the “childlike princess” they should’ve called it “literally a child princess. No seriously, she’s only 11 you creeps. An actual child.”

With another simply adding: “damnn...humans can really suck.”