LOS ANGELES -- What's with this kid? I'm trying to ply him with junk food, and all he can think about are nickels.
Jonathan Lipnicki, the adorable 9-year-old actor with the big glasses and spiky blond hair who stole your hearts in "Jerry Maguire" and now steals the heart of an animated mouse in the family film "Stuart Little," is climbing on top of the table to get a better vantage point from which to read the selections on a jukebox.We're in a Johnny Rockets restaurant near his family's home in a rural area north of Los Angeles. We were supposed to have a serious interview over a power lunch of burgers, fries and shakes, and he is not paying attention. He is becoming obsessed with finding nickels to pump into the jukebox.
Finally, he secures a few nickels from his mom, picks the songs "La Bamba," "YMCA" and "Bennie and the Jets," and settles down long enough to order a cheeseburger and a milkshake.
"Stuart Little," a big-budget movie that stars Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie as a couple who adopt an animated mouse (voice by Michael J. Fox), is Jonathan's third film to be released.
After his auspicious debut in "Jerry Maguire," he provided one of the voices in Eddie Murphy's hit "Dr. Dolittle," and he has already completed work on his fourth film, "The Little Vampire." The busy actor also found time to be a regular on two TV series, "Meego" and "The Jeff Foxworthy Show." Here is the interview, as it happened over heaping plates of yummy junk food:
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: How has your life changed since 'Jerry Maguire?'
JONATHAN LIPNICKI: Well, I've gotten more movies and stuff.
OCR: How did you get into acting?
KID: I asked my mom if I could do it.
OCR: Why did you want to do it?
KID: I thought it would be fun to do.
OCR: And was it?
KID: Yeah.
OCR: Was 'Jerry Maguire' your first professional acting job?
KID: No, I had a commercial where I washed a bulldog, which is funny because now I have a pit bull named Edgar. We got him at the pound, which is better than getting them (dogs) at the pet shop. If you get them at the pound, you save them from being shot.
OCR: Do you find acting easy?
KID: Yeah.
OCR: Did you enjoy TV work?
KID: Not as much as I like movies.
OCR: Why?
KID: Because movies are longer.
OCR: Who is your favorite actor?
KID: Hmmmm, that's a hard question. I guess Harrison Ford, Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Cruise, Renee Zellwegger, Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and, oh, yeah, Bruce Willis. I keep forgetting his name.
OCR: So you like Bruce Willis a lot?
KID: Yeah.
OCR: Why?
KID: Because he's an action hero.
OCR: Which movies of his do you like?
KID: 'Die Hard' and 'Die Harder.'
OCR: Would you like to make a movie with Bruce Willis someday?
KID: Yeah.
OCR: What kind of a movie?
KID: 'Die Hard 4.'
OCR: Are there any younger actors you admire?
KID: I don't like it when directors use kids as puppets, but there are kids who are good actors. I really like kids like Haley Joel Osment ("Sixth Sense"), who have talent. He's not like those kids on bad TV shows who are always way over the top.
OCR: Didn't you work with Haley on one of your TV shows? What did he teach you?
KID: Oh, lots of stuff. I forget.
OCR: What's the most important thing you ever learned about acting?
KID: Probably not to look at the camera.
OCR: Tell me about 'The Little Vampire.'
KID: I'm an American boy who moves to Scotland. I don't have any friends, but then I meet a vampire who becomes my friend.
OCR: So you don't become a vampire?
KID: Maybe in the sequel.
OCR: Do you expect to have a long acting career?
KID: As long as I live.
OCR: How do the kids at your school treat you?
KID: Some are weird, and some are good.
OCR: Who's weird, and who's good?
KID: The weird ones are the ones who are always begging me for something or acting funny around me. They treat me like the Great Jonathan. The good ones are the smart kids who don't treat me special. They treat me like I want to be treated. I want to be treated like a regular kid.
OCR: What's the worst thing about being famous?
KID: Signing autographs. My hand still hurts from last night's premiere.
OCR: What's the best thing about acting?
KID: You get to be somebody that you can't be in real life.
OCR: Do you hate it when people recognize you on the street?
KID: No, I like being recognized.
OCR: Do you have any plans to get married soon?
KID: No, no, no, no, no.
OCR: Do you have a girlfriend?
KID: I'm not into girls. I'm going to wait until I'm 12.
OCR: Do you think you're a pretty normal kid?
KID: Yeah,
OCR: How's your burger?
KID: Good. How's yours?
OCR: Good. Want some of my fries?
KID: OK.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.