At the age of five, Jonathan Lipnicki made his first feature film debut in the box office hit "Jerry Maguire", then followed that with "Stuart Little". We quiz the young actor about returning to star alongside Hollywood's most well-loved mouse.
How did you get into acting?
My sister was in an acting workshop, so I decided it might be fun and gave it a go. I liked it so much that I started auditioning for stuff, and I got into commercials which led me to auditioning for "Jerry Maguire". Another kid actually had the role before me, but he didn't like it and left. They then offered it to me. I was so excited!
How was it coming back for the second time, and did you give any tips to Hugh [Laurie] about his American accent?
Well, we're working on the word 'tomato'...[laughs] But no, he doesn't need any tips. When we did the first one I thought he was American. It was great fun coming back to do the sequel. It was more of a bigger adventure this time as Stuart gets to go out of the house and face the big city, and this time he gets to share my room.
What do you enjoy most about acting?
I like that you can be somebody else and not just yourself every day. If you're not an actor, you're yourself, day in day out, but when I'm acting I can be someone completely different. That's what I love the most.
How does school affect your filming?
When I'm filming I have a tutor on set and I do three hours a day. But it's pretty hard fitting in six hours - which is what I do when I'm not acting - into three, but I guess you can do it because I'm working on a one-to-one basis so there's no interruptions. I do miss my friends, though.
What do your friends make of the films you've done so far?
A lot of my friends I still have from before I started acting, so they're used to it now, they think it pretty cool.
What's next?
I've got a film coming out this summer called "Like Mike", about an orphan who becomes an NBA superstar. And I'm doing a film in the autumn called "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town", which is based on the novel by Kimberly Willis Hott. I've read the book, and it's great.
