Jonathan Lipnicki, who melted hearts onscreen in 1996's Jerry Maguire opposite Tom Cruise and Renée Zellweger, has opened up about wanting more from his career in a candid new interview.
The 34-year-old was one of the premier child stars of the '90s and '00s, starring in Stuart Little, The Little Vampire and Like Mike, to name a few.
Breaking into the industry
© Photo: RexIn the heartbreaking interview, Jonathan shared that his career was not where he dreamed it would be after taking time away from the industry to go to acting school.
"I had some really good things that happened when I was younger," he told People. "It's totally fine to say I'm not where I want to be career-wise."
"Everything we're doing in this life is nearly impossible," he added, sharing that he is "all right" with his lot for now.
© Getty Images"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 said.
Jonathan left Hollywood to complete high school and followed that up with acting classes, which were the "best thing" for his future, according to the star.
Changing fortunes
© Disney General Entertainment ConSince then, he has gone on to act in a slew of indie films and nab several stage roles, proving himself a prolific actor with a high output.
"I've had half-and-half in my adult career where there are some things that were really good and nobody saw them," he told the publication. He explained that while he had no "regrets" about his acting, some roles taught him to be "careful" in his career choices. "To be quite honest, I said no to about five movies in the last year," he admitted. "I just really want to turn this ship around."
"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," Jonathan continued. "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."
Reality show ready
© WireImageThe actor, who is also a talented MMA fighter, added that his latest roles in TBS' The Joe Schmo Show was "a step in the right direction." He admitted that the reality show's format of pranking regular people was "outside [his] comfort zone" which made him "proud".
"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 said of the new project. "There was something empowering about that in a weird way."
Jonathan still has MMA to fall back on, with his family owning a company that promotes the sport. He has also tried his hand at producing film projects.
