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Jonathan Lipnicki became an overnight star at six years old with his role as the adorable chatterbox Ray Boyd in Jerry Maguire.
The 1996 sports rom-com starred Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger as a couple that have major trouble with their romance, and the young Lipnicki famously stole a scene with the unscripted line, 'The human head weighs eight pounds.'
Lipnicki's performance won him the Critics' Choice Award for Best Child Performance and a Young Artist Award from the Young Artist Foundation.
Now 35, the actor turned heads as he made a rare red carpet appearance for the premiere of A24's film Primetime, a psychological crime thriller and media satire in which he makes a brief yet impressive cameo as an accused child predator.
Lipnicki looked sporty and classy in a sage-green suit, black button-up shirt and purple pocket square as he posed with a brunette who appeared to be his date.
The famous glasses he wore in Jerry Maguire were gone – Lipnicki did wear glasses as a kid before getting LASIK eye surgery at 18, and he had a close-cropped beard, but the engaging smile was still there.
Jerry Maguire star Jonathan Lipnicki, 35, made a rare red carpet appearance with a date at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film Primetime - 30 years after he charmed audiences in the 1996 sports romantic comedy starring Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger
Playing the adorable and quirky Ray Boyd in the film, the young Lipnicki famously stole a scene with the unscripted line, 'The human head weighs eight pounds'
Primetime dramatizes the behind-the-scenes drama of the NBC reality series To Catch a Predator, with Robert Pattinson in the starring role as host Chris Hansen, who takes increasingly unhinged and over-the-top measures to capture high-profile targets to boost ratings.
Singer Phoebe Bridgers makes her feature film debut as Del, who acts as a decoy on the surveillance/sting crew working with Hansen.
Lipnicki's most famous role remains Ray in Jerry Maguire, a role he almost didn't get.
'I auditioned for Jerry Maguire, and I didn't get it. They went with another kid. They shot two weeks with him,' he told People in February.
'And they wouldn't see me when they were recasting it, because I was on a list of people who'd already been seen. But I had been seen by an associate, not the casting director.'
But his agent went to bat for him and got him an audition with Cruise and the film's director, Cameron Crowe.
'I had an agent at the time, wonderful guy, and he was the head of the children's talent division at this agency,' Lipnicki recalled. 'And he said, "Don't see any of my other kids. I stake my reputation in the industry on this. I have Ray Boyd sitting in my chair right now. Please see him."
Cruise helped Lipnicki to get the role, and working with his Top Gun idol was a thrill for him. Above, Lipnicki and Cruise in 1998 at the Artists Rights Foundation event honoring Cruise
Lipnicki ad-libbed his interaction with Cruise in the movie
In the psychological crime thriller Primetime, Lipnicki plays an accused child predator. Above, Lipnicki on Wednesday with director Lance Oppenheim (center) and co-star Alex Winter at the movie's Los Angeles premiere
From left, Winter, Oppenheim, Creed Bratton and Lipinicki at the Los Angeles premiere
'I was seen by the casting director, and they're like, "How would you like to fly out to Arizona tomorrow and meet Tom Cruise and read for him and Cameron Crowe?"
'And I went to Arizona, where they're doing the football scenes. Read for Tom and Cameron. My parents were there, of course. In Tom's trailer, we had really good chemistry, and he's like, "You know, I think my decision here is clear. I'll leave it up to Cameron." And that was it.'
Lipnicki previously told ABC News that he had been a 'big fan' of Cruise after his parents showed him Top Gun.
Working with Zellweger and his Top Gun idol was a thrill for Lipnicki.
'They were like real parents,' he said. 'They were really, really kind to me and showed me the ropes. I felt at home. Everything felt really right — and I’ve never lost that feeling.'
He added: 'It changed the trajectory of my life. It's what made me realize what I wanted to spend the rest of my life pursuing. It's full of very happy memories.'
After Jerry Maguire, Lipnicki then starred in Meego, Stuart Little and Like Mike.
He appeared in episodes of The Single Guy, Dawson's Creek and The Jeff Foxworthy Show.
After Jerry Maguire, Lipnicki starred in the CBS comedy Meego with, from left, Bronson Pinchot, Erik von Detten, Michelle Trachtenberg, Ed Begley Jr and Barkley the dog
Lipnicki scored another hit movie with 1999's Stuart Little starring Hugh Laurie, Geena Davis and a talking mouse
By the time high school rolled around, sports took priority over acting.
He played baseball and basketball and was on the water polo team.
But Lipnicki passed on college and returned to acting full time.
When a producer took a cursory look at the then-19-year-old and said, 'You used to be cute. What happened?' Lipnicki cried on the way home.
But the young actor ended up using the line in a witty, four-minute YouTube video he made in 2014 titled You Used to Be Cute.
Since then, he's pursued acting with a thicker skin.
Besides Primetime, Lipnicki's recent roles include the dark thriller Anywhere, released earlier this year; the 2025 feature film Sarah’s Oil; the 2025 thriller Cottonmouth; and Camp Pleasant Lake, another horror flick that came out in 2024.
English (US) ·