Darla From The Little Rascals Grew Up To Be Seriously Stunning

Most of us remember 1994's The Little Rascals as a pivotal moment in our childhoods. The adaptation of the beloved Our Gang TV shorts was a major moment for its diminutive cast, too, most of whom were making their on-screen debut. Bug Hall, in particular, who played the lovable Alfalfa, has gone on to career success with consistent roles across the board. What about Alfalfa's love interest, Darla? She's the focus of the entire story when you consider that Alfalfa just wants to prove his love to her but can't manage it with his mischievous friends around. Also making her feature debut, actress Brittany Ashton Holmes certainly left an impression both on those watching and on Hollywood. She was poised for a huge career. Did Holmes hit the mainstream, or was she content to let that one great performance speak for her? According to The Things, Brittany Ashton Holmes nabbed the role of Darla when she was just 5 years old. Her subsequent acting career was fitful, with a part in a McDonald's commercial in 1995, as well as parts in the drama series Red Shoe Diaries and several movies. Holmes reportedly retired formally at age 7. According to her old MySpace page, taking a step back from acting was purposeful. She wrote, "I was [an] actress when I was little and did this movie called The Little Rascals. It's, like, really embarrassing to watch and I don't want to act anymore." There's a Twitter account tied to her name, which makes specific reference in the Twitter bio to the fact that Holmes is most well known for The Little Rascals. However, it is not clear if it is indeed the former child star, and the account hasn't tweeted anything yet. Elsewhere online, Holmes doesn't appear to have a presence which, in this day and age, is likely by design. According to E! News, Holmes is now married and lives with her husband in Los Angeles. There are plenty of reports floating around about her pursuing a political science degree but, considering how long they have been circulating, it seems likely Holmes has completed her studies and is maybe even working in her chosen field by now. As Movie Web notes, when Holmes was asked to take part in the 20th anniversary photo shoot for The Little Rascals, she was initially hesitant. Brian Pocrass, founder of production company 22 Vision, who organized it, spoke to HuffPost about it, saying, "Like a lot of child actors, she was guarded, but after we spoke on the phone for a while, she trusted me. [...] This wasn't about the tabloid. It was more about the film. It all stems from the fact that they just wanted to see each other." Holmes expressed a desire on her Myspace page to reunite with Bug Hall again someday, and the former actress got her wish in 2014, when the cast came back together for the aforementioned anniversary photo shoot. During the shoot, they recreated iconic moments from The Little Rascals, even recreating the film's iconic poster. Holmes might have been hesitant to do it at first, but she certainly got into the swing of things after laying eyes on Alfalfa, Spanky, Waldo, Buckwheat, and the rest of the gang all grown up. In a behind-the-scenes video from the reunion shoot, shared on the 22 Vision YouTube page, Holmes seemed like she was enjoying the reunion. Hall, standing next to her in a throwback to their onscreen relationship of Darla and Alfalfa, admitted, quote,"it feels like no time has passed" since they shot the movie. Dressed up in a fashionably prim outfit and rocking some funky streaks in her hair, Holmes spoke briefly about her experience on The Little Rascals, noting, "The whole movie was a dream." The general feeling throughout the shoot is of old friends reconnecting after years apart, as though nothing has changed, because their first film experience was so wonderful. Perhaps, then, Holmes simply had such a great time during her first acting job that it spoiled her for life. And who could blame her? #LittleRascals #Actors #Movies