Jonathan Lipnicki is reflecting on the transition from child stardom to acting as an adult.
The former child actor discussed his career in a new interview with PEOPLE, and acknowledged that his early projects like Jerry Maguire hit a level of mainstream success that he hasn’t matched as an adult.
“I had some really good things that happened when I was younger,” Lipnicki said. “It’s totally fine to say I’m not where I want to be career-wise.”
The actor, who played Renée Zellweger’s young son in Cameron Crowe’s hit dramedy opposite Tom Cruise’s titular sports agent, said that he’s “all right” with his current career position despite its difficulties. “Everything we’re doing in this life is nearly impossible,” he said.
Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett
Jonathan Lipnicki as George Little in ‘Stuart Little’
Lipnicki went on to star as George Little in 1999’s Stuart Little and its 2002 sequel, and also played key roles in Like Mike, The Little Vampire, and When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. He took a seven-year break from big-screen acting after 2005’s The L.A. Riot Spectacular, and eventually returned with 2012’s For the Love of Money, which also starred James Caan, Edward Furlong, Jeffrey Tambor, and Paul Sorvino.
“I’ve had half-and-half in my adult career where there are some things that were really good and nobody saw them,” Lipnicki said of his more recent projects, noting that the lesser half of his filmography has inspired him to be more “careful” in selecting roles going forward. “To be quite honest, I said no to about five movies in the last year,” he said. “I just really want to turn this ship around.”
Although few of his projects have received wide theatrical releases since he reached adulthood, Lipnicki has starred in films alongside Danny Glover, Danny Trejo, Dolph Lundgren, Denise Richards, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Richard Kind.
Lipnicki said that he’s still finding his path forward in Hollywood, and believes that a bright future awaits. “I pray every night for clarity on where I need to go, and I’m confident the best is yet to come for me,” he said. “And 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 continued, “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.”
Michael Loccisano/Getty
Jonathan Lipnicki at the 2nd Jewish Media Awards in New York City on Nov. 12, 2024
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The actor previously reflected on his career in a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly — and said that Cruise has helped him navigate Hollywood. “Whenever I reach out, he’s amazing. He’s such a great guy,” Lipnicki said of the Mission: Impossible star. “I feel it’s a delicate thing, making a transition from a child actor known for certain roles to trying to just do this for the rest of your life. And he was very valuable to talk to about that.”
Lipnicki also told EW that he doesn’t expect every project to reach audiences as wide as his early hits’. “My biggest decision was to really focus on being a good actor, so I’ve been taking classes for quite a few years now and doing theater,” he said. “Not every movie you’re going to do is going to be Jerry Maguire or a $100 million franchise like Stuart Little, so people are like, “Oh, where has this person been?” But often times you look at people like that, that you think just disappeared, and they’re on a TV show or they are working consistently. It’s just not everything you do is going to happen to be that big or widespread.”
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