Former child actor Jonathan Lipnicki’s career didn’t go in the direction he wanted.
Lipnicki rose to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s for his film roles in “Jerry Maguire,” “Like Mike,” “Stuart Little” and its sequel, and his TV role in “Dawson’s Creek.”
But in a new interview with People, Lipnicki revealed his career has taken a devastating career in adulthood.
“It’s totally fine to say I’m not where I want to be career-wise,” Lipnicki said, which he’s “all right” with for now.
“Everything we’re doing in this life is nearly impossible,” he 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.”
The “Little Vampire” star acknowledged that his adult career has been “half-and-half where there are some things that were really good and nobody saw them.”
He said that while he’s had no “regrets” he’s much more “careful” about the roles he chooses today.
“To be quite honest, I said no to about five movies in the last year,” Lipnicki shared. “I just really want to turn this ship around.”
The actor added, “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. 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.”
In the last few years, Lipnicki has been in several short films that weren’t popular. He also starred in the 2024 slasher film “Camp Pleasant Lake” which has a 20% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
His latest gig on the prank series “The Joe Schmo Show” was “outside his comfort zone” and “a step in the right direction,” Lipnicki told People.
“As an actor growing up in this industry, you want to be on your best behavior, and I got to be on my worst,” he shared.
Lipnicki famously played Renée Zellweger’s son in 1996’s “Jerry Maguire,” starring alongside Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Kelly Preston, Jay Mohr, Bonnie Hunt and Regina King.
He also starred as the eldest Little son in the 1999 “Stuart Little” movie and the 2002 sequel.
On “Dawson’s Creek,” Lipnicki played Buzz Thompson, a 9-year-old who is abandoned by his father and becomes mentored by Pacey (Joshua Jackson).
