Child actors: Rachel Fox, Tyler James Williams and Sofia Vassilieva

CHILD actors, like tiny Rodney Dangerfields, have a hard time getting respect. Often viewed as puppets of stage-struck parents or grown fodder for where-are-they- now stories, it's easy to overlook the work they do. But family shows require kids as much as moms and dads, and some of those shows need the kids to carry a heavy load. Three young actors -- from the comedy "Everybody Hates Chris," the drama "Medium" and the hybrid that is "Desperate Housewives" -- make it all look easy. Here, and on Page 26, they take a moment out of their workdays to talk about their approach to the craft, and how to keep it real in this business of make-believe.

Rachel Fox, 'Desperate Housewives'

On the last few episodes of this season's "Housewives," the devil wears pigtails. Rachel Fox played Kayla, briefly ensconced in the home of her father Tom Scavo (Doug Savant) and stepmother Lynette (Felicity Huffman). Kayla, who resents Lynette and wants her dad to herself, cajoled her stepbrothers to set fire to a building and got one of them to jump off the roof. When Lynette became wise to her wicked ways, Kayla managed to frame her for child abuse. She watched from her window during Lynette's handcuffed perp walk. She was finally caught in her own web of deceit, but not before thoroughly creeping out anyone watching her at work. Fox, 11, has been acting since she was 7, but the recurring Kayla role has been her largest part to date.

If "The Bad Seed" came to mind while watching her at work, that wasn't a coincidence. The 1956 film, starring Patty McCormack, was mentioned at Fox's first table read. Fox rented the movie as research. "I didn't copy her exactly," she says, "but I kind of used some of the stuff, like the evilness in the eyes, and you could tell by looking at her she was evil." Fox decided that Kayla's was a case of nature rather than nurture. "It was inherited, because Kayla's mother was very evil," she explains. "I played her as completely manipulative." Even her final shot, crying for her father as she's driven away by her grandparents, is a manipulation; "I played that I can't believe I lost the battle against Lynette."

Although the "Housewives" season finale precludes any recurrences of Fox's Kayla, she thoroughly enjoys the recognition she's already received from people on the street. "They do come up to me and say, 'Oh, my God, you're so evil, I hate you!' " she says delightedly. In fact, she welcomes any and all attention -- from interviewers, the red carpet and even future paparazzi. "Absolutely, I like being treated like a star!" she says. "It's part of being an entity and I love that."

NEXT: TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS, 'EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS'»