What happened to the 'Boyhood' child actor, and what is he doing now?

Seeing Ellar Coltrane trending — he was the kid in that movie 'Boyhood' that was filmed over 12 years. What's he up to these days?

Ellar Coltrane, now 31, spoke to Variety in early August 2026 about life since "Boyhood" — Richard Linklater's 2014 film that famously followed Coltrane's character from age 6 to 18, filmed intermittently over the actual 12 years from 2002 to 2014. He said he now lives "in the middle of nowhere," is "pretty far away from film," and has taken up manual labor work; he's also a volunteer firefighter currently working toward his EMT certification, occasionally appearing in independent films but largely staying out of the spotlight. He credits not becoming famous until the film's release, when he was already 18, with helping him avoid some of the difficulties that can come with child stardom, saying he has "a lot of compassion for people who really struggle with fame early in life." The renewed interest ties to the film's 12th-anniversary theatrical re-release, which brought Coltrane back together with co-stars Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, along with Linklater, for reunion Q&As in Austin and elsewhere.