With his memorable round glasses, spiky hair, and the legendary Tom Cruise opposite him, child actor Jonathan Lipnicki captured the hearts of America with his portrayal of little Ray Boyd in the 1996 classic, “Jerry Maguire.”
“It was crazy. It was very much overnight. My life was just different,” he shared of his first role while appearing on the podcast, “Brotherly Love,” with Joey, Matthew and Andrew Lawrence, all actors and brothers. “It was a blur for the next five, six years. Just moving through time really fast.”
The Los Angeles native secured iconic roles in projects such as “Stuart Little” and “Like Mike” before his career plateaued.
‘JERRY MAGUIRE’ STAR TALKS BEING BULLIED, STRUGGLING WITH ANXIETY
Jonathan Lipnicki starred as Ray Boyd in the 1996 film “Jerry Maguire.” He says the role changed his life overnight. (TriStar/Getty Images)
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“I feel very lucky. You hear a lot of negative stories. There’s nothing I would take back. There’s nothing I would take back at all. You know, I love it and I found out what I want[ed] to do for the rest of my life when I was 5 years old,” he said of his experience.
Over the years, Lipnicki has made multiple guest appearances on television shows and been featured in independent films. “I’ve always loved it,” he shared of acting. “I want to do this forever. Through thick and thin. Sometimes things go your way. Sometimes they do not, for a long time. But it’s the greatest job in the world.”
Jonathan Lipnicki and Tom Cruise starred alongside one another in “Jerry Maguire.” It was Lipnicki’s first film. (TriStar/Getty Images)
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Despite Lipnicki’s optimistic outlook, he cautioned that acting isn’t for the faint of heart.
“If you have anything else in your life that makes you just as happy, do that. Because this is very, very, very painful. It can be awful if it isn’t the thing you really want to dedicate your life to,” he said of the profession. “Getting a job is the hardest part… Life is stress, right? What are you willing to stress over? I’m willing to stress over this forever.”
Lipnicki, born and raised outside Los Angeles, is still acting, but has chosen to take his creative energy outside the sunny state.
Jonathan Lipnicki appeared in both “Stuart Little” and “Stuart Little 2” as George Little. (SGranitz/WireImage/Getty Images)
“I left LA around a year ago. I’ve been there my whole life,” he told the Lawrence brothers. “I just hit a point where I realized I’m self-taping for everything… I want to see what it’s like to live somewhere else and I just got rid of everything I owned except for what could fit in my Jeep Wrangler,” he revealed.
“I wanted to just see what was out there and see, you know, a different quality of life and a slower pace, and it’s been amazing. I drove around for quite a bit and then I ended up in Oklahoma – had a few friends out here from high school… There’s a growing film community… I teach also locally out here,” Lipnicki, 33, said of new opportunities. “It’s so peaceful for me.”
Jonathan Lipnicki on the red carpet in 2021. (Rich Fury/Getty Images)
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Lipnicki continued, “I realize it’s increasingly becoming harder and harder to just be an actor. You have to do other creative outlets to really be able to leverage different things,” he said. Now Lipnicki works as a producer at a production company in addition to teaching acting. “I do a bunch of different things, all around the thing I love. Which is telling stories. But it is so hard now to just be an actor. You have to be a multi-hyphenate in one area or another.”
