In the fantasy film “The Neverending Story”, Barrett Oliver, Noah Hathaway and Tami Stronach were big revelations, although in time they joined the list of child actors who disappeared from Hollywood after shining on the screen.
At just 11 years old, Tami Stronach managed to make audiences fall in love with her role as the Empress’s child, even though she only appeared for a few minutes in the plot.
Unfortunately, the Iranian actress suffered greatly from the fame she gained so quickly when she was just a child, so she soon disappeared from the limelight and Hollywood.
What happened to Tami Stronach, the empress in ‘The Neverending Story’?
Tami Stronach was ten years old when she was cast as the Empress. In an interview with “Vice” in April 2021, he said he got the role by mistake.
Stronach was taking drama classes at an acting school in San Francisco, where a casting agent from “The Neverending Story” (who was visiting her teacher) saw her and invited her to an audition.
The little girl was chosen for the role, and she and her family traveled to Germany for three months to shoot the film, which at the time was considered the most expensive film outside the US and the Soviet Union.
Stronach worked with director Wolfgang Petersen to achieve the perfect look and feel for The Empress as they wanted to do a proper adaptation of the Michael Ende book on which the film is based.
By the time the film was released, Stronach had already returned to the United States and resumed his school life, but then his problems with fame began.
The public loved her role, but some old men liked it in an annoying way, as some found out where she lived and camped outside her house just to catch a glimpse of her.
In interviews, the actress said she received unpleasant proposals, including from a German man who sent her an engagement ring and from a producer who offered to appear naked in a film.
The molestation and sexualization she experienced at the age of 11 made the actress unwilling to stay in the middle of the show, and as her parents did not know how to get her roles, her career was cut short.
Since then, Stronach has spent decades away from Hollywood, not even mentioning to friends that she had appeared in “The Neverending Story” or recorded famous songs in Germany in 1984.