‘Jerry Maguire’ Child Star Talks Full-Frontal Scene in ‘Primetime’
What To Know
- Jonathan Lipnicki, known for his childhood role in Jerry Maguire, made a rare red carpet appearance at the Los Angeles premiere of Primetime.
- In Primetime, Lipnicki takes on a challenging role as a child predator, including a full-frontal nude scene, and described the experience as an opportunity to embrace more courageous and complex material as an actor.
- Lipnicki shared that accepting this role helped him let go of the pressures of his child star past and stop worrying about others’ opinions.
Jerry Maguire child star Jonathan Lipnicki made a rare red carpet appearance 30 years after the iconic film — right before unveiling a full-frontal nudity scene in Primetime.
On September 23, Lipnicki, 35, attended the Los Angeles premiere of Primetime, starring Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Phoebe Bridgers, Skyler Gisondo, Matthew Maher, Bokeem Woodbine, Anna Faris, and others. Lipnicki plays a child predator in the movie.
At the premiere, held at The Directors Village in Westwood, Lipnicki wore a light emerald suit over a black button-up shirt. Folks who knew him from his ’90s heyday likely didn’t even recognize him in photos from the event.
The last time Lipnicki was spotted on a red carpet was in 2024, at the Jewish Media Awards. Before that, he attended Film Threat’s Award This! in 2021.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Lipnicki opened up about taking on the Primetime role, which features a nude scene of him that leaves nothing to the imagination.
“As actors, we pray for dark material and for things we can really sink our teeth into,” he explained. “At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, ‘Am I as courageous an artist as I say I am?’ I had to answer that question, and I was courageous enough to take the plunge.”
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Additionally, Lipnicki admitted, “Growing up, there was a lot of pressure not to become a train wreck.”
He explained, of Primetime, “For me, taking this role felt like letting go of that pressure. I’ve always been concerned about making mistakes and worried about what other people think of me. This role was part of saying, ‘I have no control over what people are going to think, and I’m not going to concern myself with that anymore.'”
After making his acting debut at age 5 in Jerry Maguire, Lipnicki went on to star in Stuart Little (1999) and Stuart Little 2 (2002) alongside Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, and Michael J. Fox.
Primetime hit theaters on September 25. The psychological crime thriller is based on the making of the NBC reality TV series To Catch a Predator.
Primetime, now in theaters
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