‘Jerry Maguire’ and ‘Stuart Little’ Child Star Jonathan Lipnicki Says ‘I’m Not Where I Want to Be Career-Wise’ as an Adult: ‘I Want to Turn This Ship Around’

Jonathan Lipnicki said in a recent interview with People magazine that he is trying to turn his acting career around after it more or less sputtered following his iconic run as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s. With roles in “Jerry Maguire” (1996), the “Stuart Little” movies (1999-2002), “The Little Vampire” (2000) and “Like Mike” (2002), Lipnicki was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable young performers. He cut back on acting to attend high school and says that he’s since struggled to match the professional highs of his youth.

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“I had some really good things that happened when I was younger. It’s totally fine to say I’m not where I want to be career-wise,” Lipnicki said, adding that he’s “all right” with that for now. “Everything we’re doing in this life is nearly impossible.”

“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,” he added. “I’ve had half-and-half in my adult career where there are some things that were really good and nobody saw them.”

The actor, now 34 years old, has no “regrets” about taking time off from acting for school and is now extra “careful” when picking projects, explaining: “To be quite honest, I said no to about five movies in the last year. I just really want to turn this ship around. I pray every night for clarity on where I need to go, and I’m confident the best is yet to come for me. nd I think you just have to believe that. If you’re going to pursue this, you’re doing yourself a disservice not to dream big.”

Lipnicki most recently appeared in an episode of TBS’ revival of “The Joe Schmo Show,” a prank show where contestants think they are competing on a reality show but it’s actually fake and the host and fellow competitors are actors. Lipnicki played a fictionalized version of himself, which he told People was a step “outside my comfort zone.”

“As an actor growing up in this industry, you want to be on your best behavior, and I got to be on my worst,” Lipnicki said. “There was something empowering about that in a weird way.”

Lipnicki’s other recent acting credits include leading the 2024 slasher movie “Camp Pleasant Lake.”