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Beloved child star Jonathan Lipnicki is now a ripped animal

Twenty-five years on from hits like Jerry Maguire and Stuart Little, former child star Jonathan Lipnicki is all grown up.

Jonathan Lipnicki all grown up

He shot to fame as Renée Zellweger‘s adorable son who won the heart of Tom Cruise in 1996 film Jerry Maguire, before going on to star in the Stuart Little movies.

Now all grown up, Jonathan Lipnicki, 31, is barely recognisable, The Sun reports.

A young Lipnicki with Renée Zellweger in Jerry Maguire.
A young Lipnicki with Renée Zellweger in Jerry Maguire.

In Jerry Maguire, the young actor delivered a performance that helped make the 1996 movie a box office hit, garnering a string of Oscar nominations and a best supporting actor win for Cuba Gooding Jr.

Fast forward 25 years and the tattooed hunk is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, producer and actor.

Jonathan Lipnicki is all grown up.
Jonathan Lipnicki is all grown up.

Lipnicki now shows off his toned physique and passion for martial arts to his 145,000 followers on Instagram.

Among the charities and causes close to his heart, the Jewish star supports movements that oppose anti-Semitism as well as cancer charities.

Lipnicki (centre) with friends in a recent Instagram post.
Lipnicki (centre) with friends in a recent Instagram post.
He’s made headlines in recent years for his buff transformation.
He’s made headlines in recent years for his buff transformation.

Jonathan was catapulted into the limelight playing Ray Boyd, but that was only the beginning for him.

After Jerry Maguire, he won roles in The Single Guy, The Jeff Foxworthy Show as well as episodes of Dawson‘s Creek and the sitcom, Meego.

His next big break came in 1999, when he starred in the film Stuart Little, playing a boy whose family adopts a talking mouse – who was voiced by fellow former child star Michael J. Fox.

Starring in Stuart Little in 2000.
Starring in Stuart Little in 2000.

Jonathan was soon snapped up to reprise the role in the film’s sequel in 2002.

He also played the lead, Tony Thompson, in the 2000 film, The Little Vampire and co-starred with hip-hop rapper Bow Wow in the 2002 sports film, Like Mike.

Lipnicki’s Jerry Maguire near-miss

In a recent Instagram post.
In a recent Instagram post.
He turned to martial arts and bodybuilding as he got older.
He turned to martial arts and bodybuilding as he got older.

Lipnicki is one of the most recognisable child stars ever – but the movie part that made him famous nearly didn’t happen. In 2016, he revealed on Today Extra that he originally wasn’t cast in the role.

“I actually read for [the part of Ray] then they cast someone else,” he told the hosts.

“They shot two weeks with the other kid and it wasn’t working out so they went to recast it … and my agent begged them to see me again.

“That day, when I went in for my audition, they flew me out to Arizona where they were shooting a bunch of football scenes with Cuba [Gooding Jr], and I read for Tom [Cruise] and Cameron [Crowe] … and I got the part.”

The actor said while he had been “really excited” and had known who Cruise was, he’d had no idea how much that movie would change his life.

“I didn’t really understand the magnitude of what it was to be in a movie … and then to end up being in a movie like Jerry Maguire! I definitely didn’t understand that.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-photos/jerry-maguire-child-star-jonathan-lipnicki-now-unrecognisable/news-story/0bc6425255ceae2b5026697a59627429