Former child star Jonathan Lipnicki is speaking out on what he’s doing these days, following his early success in films like Jerry Maguire and Stuart Little.
“I had some really good things that happened when I was younger,” Lipnicki, 34, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, May 7. “It’s totally fine to say I’m not where I want to be career-wise.”
Lipnicki was only 5 years old at the time of his Hollywood breakthrough opposite Tom Cruise and Renée Zellweger in 1995’s Oscar-winning blockbuster Jerry Maguire. He became one of Hollywood’s most recognizable child actors, with memorable performances in the Stuart Little series, 2000 kids movie The Little Vampire and sports comedy Like Mike in 2002.
The actor said he deliberately took less roles during high school and then spent time attending acting classes to hone his craft. As he got older, he took part in reality shows like Celebs Go Dating in the U.K. and Worst Cooks in America in the U.S. while continuing to act in independent films.
In his latest interview, Lipnicki said he’s “all right” with his recent credits not stacking up to the same standard as his childhood work.
“Everything we’re doing in this life is nearly impossible,” he said. “This is the thing I want to do for the rest of my life, and I think you just have to believe it’s going to happen and do everything in your power to take action in the right direction.”
Lipnicki judged his adult career as being “half-and-half” successful, with many projects he felt were “really good [but] nobody saw them” and others he’s less proud of.
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“To be quite honest, I said no to about five movies in the last year. I just really want to turn this ship around,” he said. “And I pray every night for clarity on where I need to go, and I’m confident the best is yet to come for me.”
In the past, Lipnicki has acknowledged the bullying and bouts of depression he endured as he tried to bridge the gap between his childhood and adult careers.
“As a kid/teen I was made fun of relentlessly by some people who are now even my friends on FB,” he wrote via Instagram in 2017. “I was told I was a has-been and would never book a job again. I was made to feel like garbage every day of middle school to the point where I had a panic attack every night before school, because I wondered how I would get through the next day. In high school a certain kid called me a has-been in front of my Econ class. (Tempted to tag him). It was humiliating.”
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Lipnicki insisted that the bullying of his youth taught him how important it is to “chase your dreams” no matter what anyone else thinks.
“It’s amazing how mean people peak in their teens,” he added. “Thank you to everyone who has supported and continues to support me. I love you and I hope that sharing this can shed a little light in a positive way.”
Lipnicki returned to the small screen early this year to play a fictionalized version of himself in TBS reality competition The Joe Schmo Show: The GOAT, where real contestants compete with fake ones to win a grand prize. The Joe Schmo Show originally aired in 2003 and was revived after 22 years in January.
Aside from The Joe Schmo Show, Lipnicki starred with The Office’s Angela Kinsey and Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney cohost Richard Kind in the romantic comedy Andover and appeared in the slasher movie Camp Pleasant Lake in recent years.
