After growing up in Canada, Jonathan's father moved to California in the 1960's in response to the French Canadian separation. It was here in California that Joseph Lipnicki met Rhonda Rosen.
Jonathan William Lipnicki was born on October 22 1990, in California, the second child of Joseph and Rhonda Lipnicki. The couple already had a three-year-old daughter called Alexis Gabrielle, born October 1 1987.
Jonathan began acting at a very early age, after following his sister's example and attending weekend drama classes.
Stints
in commercials were pretty immediate for both of the Lipnicki children
and it was not long before the big screen beckoned. Jonny was cast
beside Tom Cruise in sporting comedy
Jerry Maguire.At the age of five, for this first movie alone, Jonathan received two highly acclaimed awards, amongst other nominations. Jerry Maguire was a massive hit, and despite being only five, Jonathan held his own beside stars such as Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., and respected director Cameron Crowe. Jonathan's compelling portrayal as Renée Zellweger's son in the movie is what really started his career, bringing him into the spotlight and onto US television alongside Haley Joel Osment in The Jeff Foxworthy Show. Although The Jeff Foxworthy Show was very much focused on the stand up comedy of Foxworthy himself, and much less on the acting of his
co-stars, Lipnicki and Osment both stood out as talented child actors. At this point Jonathan was also a series regular in sci-fi sit-com Meego.
Unfortunately Meego was fairly short lived, but Jonathan was busy being your average six-year-old, while still enjoying small jobs such as being the voice of the baby tiger in Dr. Dolittle, and making guest appearances on various television shows.
Jonathan's next big feature film was Stuart Little, where he appeared as the character George, alongside Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, and a very small fury Michael J. Fox!
The
part of George had actually been written for someone much older than
Jonathan, but casting directors were so impressed by Jonathan's
abilities that they had the part re-written specifically for him. The
movie was a huge success, and Jonathan was called back for a sequel.
Sceptical eyebrows were raised as so often sequels are not deemed half
as good as their original, however
Stuart Little 2 proved to be different, and was hailed as being
even better than the first. Although the story line had been altered for
the first film, and an entirely new plot written for the second, the
book's original author, E. B. White, was twice honored by the cast and crew by
bench dedications in Central Park, New York City. A
third, entirely animated, Stuart Little
movie was later made for straight-to-video release, but contrary to
various supposedly reliable sources, Jonathan and the rest of the human
cast were not involved with the movie, not even as voices.Because of the amount of computer animation that went into the creation of Stuart Little, prior to promotional junkets Jonathan had time to work on a film very different to anything he had tried before: The Little Vampire, and to continue his television work with three appearances on teen drama Dawson's Creek. The Little Vampire took Jonathan to various different countries, including England,
Scotland and Germany.
Jonathan worked alongside British actor Richard E. Grant, and child
actress Anna Popplewell who later went on to star in The Chronicles
Of Narnia.Unlike so many of his peers who get stuck in young roles, Jonathan is maturing and adapting with every new project. Over recent years Jonathan has been focusing on independent films with story lines that are important to him and challenge his abilities as an actor, particularly impressing critics with his role in coming-of-age drama When Zachary Beaver Came To Town. As well as starring in this film, Jonathan was very influential in the production side of things. Having read, and loved, the original story by Kimberly Willis Holt, Jonathan applied for rights to get the film produced. Director John Schultz had already bought the rights with producer Amy Robinson but asked Jonathan to be in the film as one of the main roles. Jonathan was, at the time, too young to be cast so he worked with Schultz on sporting comedy Like Mike in the meantime. The pair then set about making Zachary Beaver with an independent team that included Jonathan's mother Rhonda as co-producer.
Independent movies continue to be of great importance to Jonathan. He feels it is integral that these films, which are often full of previously unseen talent, are shown at prestigious film festivals.
As
with Zachary Beaver,
Jonathan travelled to various parts of America for film festivals with
Marc Klasfeld's
The LA Riot Spectacular.
The LA Riot Spectacular takes a satirical look at the Los
Angeles riots that followed the Rodney King beating in the early 90's, and features hip-hop
star Snoop Dogg, as well as Jonathan as a young fascist. The film
received mixed reviews due to its very direct approach to such a serious
subject, but was nonetheless picked up for distribution by VisionBox
Media.Jonathan has always had an interest, not only in acting, but in the making of films. At a fairly early age Jonathan began creating his own short films at home, casting his friends and family. In 2006 Jonathan was to take on his first professional role as producer, on a documentary about student-teacher affairs, called After School. The documentary was also to include a short film, in which Jonathan was to play the role of a student who was being seduced by his teacher. As the project developed, it was decided that the short film would no longer feature. Despite being asked to stay on as co-producer, Jonny declined the offer due to other commitments.
In the same year another of Jonathan's projects, the Warner Bros. production Knights of Impossingworth Park, which was to star Sir Ben Kingsley, was cancelled due to lack of funding. Jonathan met Kingsley, and the pair were looking forward to working on the movie together in England and Vietnam. However, Jonathan
is
now scheduled to begin shooting a new movie in the fall of 2008 called
E-Bride.Jonathan is proving to be a fantastic role model to other young people due to his huge charitable contributions. Jonathan has appeared, and often spoken, at various events for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Starlight Children's Foundation, NBA's Read To Achieve, and many many more. He has played in charity baseball, basketball, and volleyball games, and donated various items, including personal possessions, to fundraising auctions. Jonathan is the international spokesperson for Pediatric Chiropractic and Kids Day America / International, and was titled one of the heroes of 2001 by JDRF for his help and support toward the charity. Jonathan is also concerned for animal welfare, having attended various animal charity events, such as Paws For Style, Pets And Their Stars and, for several consecutive years, the Nut For Mutts dog show where he is accompanied by Edgar, one of his three pet dogs.
Jonathan attends a public high school in California, where he enjoys being treated in the same manner as his class mates. Outside of school, and when he isn't working, Jonathan practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and until recently played water polo for his high school team. Jonathan is also a keen drummer, and in 2005 he was in the band Thanx Mr. and, in early 2006, Warfrog. Although Jonathan continues to enjoy music, he no longer has time to be in a band, and in the long run feels he has more to contribute to film.