Why You Don't Hear Much From AnnaSophia Robb Anymore

More often than not, child stars follow one of two trajectories. Either they continue to ride the coattails of their early fame and fortune to build a successful career, or they fall into oblivion after their short stints on the big screen. AnnaSophia Robb is a bit of an outlier because while she's garnered notoriety for her roles as a child star in films like "Bridge to Terabithia" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and continues to act as an adult, she tends to live life off-the-radar.

Robb made it clear she wasn't just a one-hit wonder when she went on to portray Bethany Hamilton in the 2011 film "Soul Surfer," playing the role of a professional athlete whose career was put on pause due to a freak shark attack. She then landed her breakout role as the lead in the CW television series "The Carrie Diaries," which premiered in 2013 and ran for two seasons, taking on the character of Carrie Bradshaw in a prequel to "Sex and the City." 

Despite her fame, AnnaSophia Robb went the nontraditional route after her roles as a child actor and decided to pursue a college education and a relatively normal life. While she continued acting while studying at New York University, fans noticed they hadn't seen as much of Robb as they did early on in her career. Rest assured, she has no plans of quitting the big screen anytime soon. So, why don't you hear much from AnnaSophia Robb anymore, and what's next for the star's career?

AnnaSophia Robb came off a major high playing Carrie Bradshaw in 2014, but she decided to take a step back from the spotlight after the show wrapped. Despite establishing a successful career and likely having more money than most adolescents at that age know what to do with, Robb decided she wanted to pursue a college education. In the fall of 2014, the "Dr. Death" star began her first semester at New York University. While she was accustomed to attending movie screenings and red-carpet premieres, the actor admitted she had no trouble trading in her A-list life for some library time. "My education has always been really important to me," she told CBS News at the time. "It's something I get really excited about. I love going to class, reading articles. I know I can do that by myself, but there's something special about a classroom."

Robb admitted that her acting roles also helped her in the classroom, especially when the characters she played aided in her school research. "I did the show 'Mercy Street' on PBS, which took place during the Civil War and I wrote an entire paper on women during that time period," she shared with Rose & Ivy. Robb graduated from NYU in 2018, though before enrolling, she moved to New York City in 2012 for "The Carrie Diaries." "You can really feel the history," the Colorado native said to V Magazine. "I love the little cracks [in the sidewalks] and the people who have lived there for absolutely ever."

Part of the reason AnnaSophia Robb has been flying under the radar in recent years could be due to her marrying her longtime boyfriend, Trevor Paul. The couple first crossed paths in 2016, when a chance encounter at a communal table in a Brooklyn coffee shop marked the beginning of their relationship. Robb told Vogue she had looked up from her novel and noticed Paul reading a famous children's book before she decided to initiate a conversation. "I asked if it was his first time reading 'Harry Potter,' and he replied that he was taking a study break from his—much less exciting—law school case books," she revealed. While the two didn't exchange numbers after meeting, they ran into each other the following day at a subway station when they both had to take cover from the rain. As luck would have it, Paul finally asked for her digits. "It was one of those kismet New York moments," Robb shared. 

The newlyweds tied the knot in the fall of 2022 in their home state of New York. Robb and Paul exchanged vows in a picturesque ceremony nestled between the Catskill and Shawangunk Mountains in front of 175 guests. Robb recalled the special day in an interview with People, saying, "Seeing everybody's faces and then seeing Trevor, I didn't know if I would be nervous or emotional or what I would feel, and I just felt very confident," adding, "I was like, 'This is a great decision. The decision of my life.'"

AnnaSophia Robb is cautious about what roles she takes on as an actor — a key reason fans may wonder what the "Winn-Dixie" star has been up to. Following a smaller role in the 2019 Hulu series "Little Fires Everywhere," the actor offered her voice to the podcast series "Marvels." She also took on the darker role of Emma in the television series "The Expecting," which required her to shave her head and tap into the mind of a pregnant woman fighting for her life.

While Robbs' fans may not see her in back-to-back lead roles and box-office hits all the time, the actor has clarified there's a reason behind her choice of projects. "Being a lead in something is fantastic but for me I like to be part of really good projects, of course I want to star in something, but it's also about working with a great group of people," she told Rose & Ivy. "When I was younger, I was a lead in many projects and that isn't a goal for me now. I ask, who are the other people, even if it's just a scene, I want to work with them and learn from them." The "Act" actor also might be leaning towards taking on roles in projects based on real-life events, like her part in the television series "Mercy Street" and "Dr. Death" as well as the "Soul Surfer" film. "I love playing real people, it's such an honor and I take it very seriously," she admitted. 

AnnaSophia Robb has kept herself busy, and not just in the acting world. The Colorado native is heavily involved in sustainability in her community, and she's even teamed up with non-profit organizations to help promote urban farming. According to an interview with Wild Elements, Robb teamed up with the Urban Growers Collective, which seeks to build more gardening communities in underprivileged areas and provide people living in larger cities with fresh produce.

The actor started working with Urban Growers Collective in Chicago after growing up in a family of gardeners. "They make food, but they also create bonds between neighbors, and soil nutrients, and educational opportunities," Robb said of the non-profit organization. "I just loved this idea of going back to the basics, learning how to cultivate vegetables at your own home," she added. 

In addition to working to turn urban areas greener, Robb also partnered up with General Mills and DoSomething on their Feeding Better Futures initiative. As shared by Innovation & Tech Today, the "Dr. Death" star works as an ambassador to help combat food waste worldwide and teach younger individuals how to better manage human consumption. "I think my generation is starting to become a lot more aware, but food scarcity is a real thing," said Robb. "We have to think about the way that we look at food and our relationship to food, and where food is first, and where is there healthy food, and where is there not such healthy food."