"Born to be Mild" Seventeen Magazine (August, 1997)

Seventeen Magazine August 1997 | Vol 56 Iss 8

Jonathan Taylor Thomas is a nice guy—not that there’s anything wrong with that. But this summer, he’ll be exhibiting a Wild streak.

By April P. Bernard

Born to be Mild

Jonathan Taylor Thomas is built to laugh. Even at his most earnest, he seems just nanoseconds away from flashing that blinding grin and those tremendous dimples. But then, he’s got a low threshold for laughter. Consider his favorite joke:

Knock-knock. Who’s there?

Interrupting cow. Interrupting cow who—

Moo.

The 15-year-old Home Improvement star is about as dark and disdainful as a Teenie Beanie Baby. He raves about Charles Dickens, plans to eventually settle in Wyoming or Montanna, and when told poolside at a trendy L.A. hotel that there’s classical music playing underwater, responds with an oh-so-jaded “Get out!” He even cops to being a “solid” driver (“You may get a different story from my mom,” he says with a smile).

About the only time you’ll utter “Jonathan” and “wild” in the same breath is when you’re talking about his summer flick, Wild America. Based on a true story, Wild follows the young Stouffer brothers (Jonathan, Devon Sawa and Scott Bairstow) on a summer-of-’67 trek to film every beast they can get their lens on. “At a time when it wasn’t so popular to break free and do your own thing, they did it,” Jonathan says.

In the process, they cross paths with stampeding wild horses, an 11-foot alligator and more. How did the actors deal with their less-than-civil-costars? “No one tried to upstage a grizzly,” offers Jonathan, an animal lover. “They were so intimidating, with so much strength. You honored what they wanted.”

Belligerent beasts weren’t the only tough customers on location, he says. When filming shifted from Georgia to Alberta, Canada, Mother Nature made her presence known, too.

“Savannah was 90 degrees with 100 percent humidity. When we got to Calgary, it was 5 degrees—they’d just had a blizzard the day before,” says the Pennsylvania-born actor. “I had, like, one pair of Converse shoes, and my feet were frozen.”

Of course, Jonathan is no tantrum-thrower. He jokes, “I’m not one to toss my weight around—I’m only 110 pounds.” From his years on camera as HI’s Randy, the aspiring writer/director/producer has become a pro—despite the fact that millions witnessed his growing pains. “It’s bizarre,” he observes, “like having really well-made home movies.”

By the way, he’s not too keen on being called JTT. “Taylor is my middle name, and because I like it, I use it. I think people got tired of writing JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS,” he says.

“I’m Jon or Jonathan. I don’t need any funny call signs.”

But people must be whispering about more than how cute or how cool “that JTT” is. “I hope they’re saying, ‘He’s a really nice, grounded guy,” says Jonathan, with grin and dimples at full strength. Not to worry—that’s what we’re saying.

Photography by Sean Shroff. Grooming by Kerry Malouf. Styling by Constance Wick. Shirt by 26Red. T-Shirt by Diesel. Jeans by X-Large Mini.

"The Adventures of Pinocchio" Premiere / Los Angeles Magazine (September, 1996)

Jonathan Taylor Thomas featured in the September 1996 issue of Los Angeles Magazine.

Jonathan is photographed at the World premiere of “The Adventures of Pinocchio” in Santa Monica, CA, on July 21, 1996.

“The hot ticket for Hollywood’s under-five-foot crowd was The Adventures of Pinocchio premiere, which benefited the Amie Karen Cancer Fund for Children, the Leukemia Society of America and the National Tuberous Sclerosis Association. Film and TV star Jonathan Taylor Thomas played the anti-Macaulay Culkin, patiently signing autographs and chatting with fans despite feeling about ten feet under the weather.”

Photography: David R. Bjerke via Los Angeles Magazine / Albert Ortega/Online USA/Getty Images

Nickelodeon Magazine (January/February, 1996)

“Needs No Improvement”

Jonathan Taylor Thomas plays Randy on Home Improvement.

He also was the voice of Simba the cub in The Lion King. Now he plays Tom Sawyer in the new movie, Tom & Huck. NICKELODEON MAGAZINE talked to Jonathan on the Movie Couch.

Nickelodeon Magazine: What was it like to be young Simba’s voice in The Lion King?

Jonathan Taylor Thomas: It was a blast. When you do voice-over, you aren’t working with other actors. You’re alone, and you have to use your imagination.

NM: Did you watch the movie while you were recording your voice-over?

JTT: No, I just read from the script. I was videotaped recording my lines. Then those videotapes were sent to the animators so they could see my expressions. It helps them animate the character. It’s an amazing process, and it took me about a year and a half.

NM: When you saw The Lion King in the theater, was it strange to hear your voice coming out of Simba’s mouth?

JTT: Yes. My mom said Simba the cub had a lot of my facial expressions. Years from now I’ll watch it with my grandkids, and they’ll see how I was when I was young.

NM: Did you like making Tom & Huck?

JTT: Yes. Mark Twain is the best author in American literature. I went to Mark Twain’s house before I did the movie. Huck Finn is loosely based on an actual person from his childhood. Tom Sawyer is a combination of three people from his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri.

NM: Did you film the movie in Missouri?

JTT: No, we filmed it in Mooresville, Alabama. We had a tornado go through our set while we were filming.

NM: Did it do any damage?

JTT: It took down some of the trees on the set. Luckily, we got out of there before that happened.

NM: Did any other odd things happen down there?

JTT: The weather was very hot and humid. I took my final exams in the back of a cave because it was 50 degrees in there. I had to take my final exams with a flashlight. There were also a lot of bugs. Big bugs. The bugs were tough to deal with.

NM: You’re going to star in Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio this summer. In a fight between Pinocchio and Simba, who would win?

JTT: Well, Simba has claws and Pinocchio is made out of wood, so Simba would probably win.

NM: How did “JTT” start?

JTT: I have no clue. I think it came from people not wanting to write “Jonathan Taylor Thomas” each time the name was written in print. I don’t mind it.

NM: Do you go online?

JTT: No, but there are people who go online and pretend to be me. A lot of wrong information has been put out about me online by people saying they are me.

NM: Is there someone famous you really want to meet?

JTT: Ron Howard. He’s my idol. It’s hard to be a kid in this business. He defied all the odds as a child actor and became a successful director.

NM: On Home Improvement, what is the biggest difference between you and your character, Randy?

JTT: Randy gets into a lot more trouble than I do.

NM: Are you handy around the house?

JTT: I am not Mr. Handy. I can fix some stuff. I work with my fishing stuff all the time, taking it apart.

NM: You like to fish. Why did you start?

JTT: It was some bug that bit me when I was a kid. I like getting outdoors in the mountains where there aren’t a lot of people.

NM: What is the biggest fish you’ve ever caught?

JTT: A 70-pound halibut in Alaska.

NM: What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever caught?

JTT: A 20-pound orange starfish in Alaska. This thing had 16 arms and it caught onto my hook. I threw it back. I throw most of my fish back.

NM: What’s the best part of being famous?

JTT: I get to travel and meet people. You learn a lot by meeting different people from different cultures.

NM: What’s the worst part?

JTT: It’s difficult when you want to go out somewhere. It makes it tough on the family.

NM: Do you have a good luck charm?

JTT: My family. I have a great mom. She gives so much of herself to others. I couldn’t do anything without her. My brother is also incredibly supportive. They are the whole reason why I am here.

P.S.

Birthday: September 8, 1981

Pets: Two cats, Simba and Sami, and a dog, Mac

Favorite snack: Green olives

Favorite sock color: White

Favorite dessert: Apple pie á la mode

Innie or outie? Innie

Crunchy or smooth peanut butter? Smooth

Favorite cheese: Feta

"Dichotic" Smallville Podcast

Actors Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum talk about Jonathan Taylor Thomas on their podcast series in which they co-host “Talk Ville” established in 2022, they focus on the Superman interpretation television program “Smallville” that aired from 2001 to 2011.

Welling and Rosenbaum both acted on the TV series, Welling playing "Clark Kent" and Rosenbaum playing "Lex Luthor."

In this podcast Episode 30, Welling and Rosenbaum revisit the Season 2, Episode 9 episode “Dichotic” (2002) in which Jonathan guest appeared as the over-achieving student "Ian Randall."

Welling talks about his experience working with Jonathan.

Jonathan would appear again as Ian in Season 3, Episode 9’s “Asylum” in 2004.

Copyright: Talk Ville Podcast 2022 via YouTube / Photo stills: The WB (Warner Bros. Entertainment) now known as The CW

Transcript:

Tom Welling: By the way, I just love what JTT [Jonathan Taylor Thomas] did there. He just was calm, cool, wasn’t afraid—

Michael Rosenbaum: —Good actor.

Tom: I think I kind of remember that scene being very awkward for Clark, obviously… it would be so easy to play so jealous, ‘wait, wait, wait, what’s going on?’ and interrupt. But no. You got to let it breathe, bro. You got to let it breathe.

Michael: Ryan, what’s JTT doing now? Look him up.

Ryan: I looked it up… he’s not doing much at the moment—

Michael: He should, he’s a good actor!

Ryan: He got back on, Tim Allen had another sitcom—

Michael: —So he did that one?

Ryan: —He was a guest star and he did a little bit of directing.

Tom: I think one of the things, and I don’t mean to put words in JTT’s mouth, but one of the things that he probably liked about this role was that this was a high school kid…wanting to live his own life outside of a small world… wanting to break out. Because, I don’t know if anybody knows this but, I learnt back then when he was on the show… he wanted to go to college and be like a normal kid, after his success. And I don’t know if it was hard or not for him but I’d have to imagine when the script came in front of him, it was, something to it for him, you know what I mean? To tap into that part of it.

Left to right: Clark Kent (Tom Welling) & Ian Randall (Jonathan Taylor Thomas)

(Copyright: Warner Bros. Entertainment)

(Video excerpt: Talk Ville Podcast 2022/YouTube)

Ian Randall (Jonathan Taylor Thomas)

Clark Kent (Tom Welling)

Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk)

Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack)

1998 Nickelodeon KCA Backstage

Jonathan Taylor Thomas photographed with actors Billy Zane & Tom Arnold at the Paisley Pavilion arena at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA, on April 4, 1998 during the 11th Annual Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.

Photography by Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images

Entertainment Weekly Interview (October 7, 2011)

While partaking in a “Home Improvement” 20th anniversary reunion alongside his former co-stars in the October 7, 2011 issue of Entertainment Weekly, 30-year-old Jonathan Taylor Thomas opens up about life after the big screen.

Photography by Chris McPherson for Entertainment Weekly.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was it like seeing the cast at the reunion shoot?

JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS: It was great, it obviously had been a number of years and it was really remarkable how easily everyone slipped back into our old banter and behavior with each other. It was though as nothing had changed, and we had literally stepped back onto the set. It really felt comfortable, the way we were joking with each other. It was like a family reunion, like old times.

You fell off the radar after the show ended and many of the castmembers haven’t seen you since then. What have you been up to?

I’ve been going to school, and traveling quite a bit, getting to read a lot of books I’ve wanted to for quite some time. I think at this point, I’d eventually like to work behind the camera. That’s not to say I would never act again, I’m not quite sure to be honest. I still have a passion for TV and film could see myself working in it.

Fans were thrilled to see the cast back together again and to especially see you.

That actually sort of surprises me. I didn’t know there would be that kind of response.

You single-handedly gave the teen fan magazines a reason to stay in business back in the 90s. Were you on the cover every week?

I guess so, yeah.

Did the cast tease you about your idol status?

Oh yeah, every once in a while, it was always in good humor. It was too tempting not to be brought up on occasion. There are too many things you could make fun of.

What do you think about Tim Allen doing another family comedy?

One of the things Tim does very well — besides being downright hilarious — is how he is able to present the complexities of relationships with children and spouses in a deeply humane way. Your instinct is to root for this guy and connect with him.

Has he asked you to guest star on Last Man Standing?

[Laughs] That has not come up yet. We’ll see about that. I’m sure they have a lot of stories they want to get to.

(Photo: Chris McPherson via EW)

Bradford & Brower on "Speedway Junky" The Advocate (June 5, 2001)

Actors Jesse Bradford & Jordan Brower talk about working with Jonathan Taylor Thomas on “Speedway Junky” in 1999

Via the June 5, 2001 issue of The Advocate magazine.

Bradford: “He was in Hawaii, I heard at the time, and they sent him a script. He cut his vacation short to come out to do the movie.”

Did you have a good time with JTT?

Bradford: “It’s not that he wasn’t open to talking, but mostly—“

Brower: “—he kept to himself.”

But was it fun on the set, watching the guy from Home Improvement talking about sex and drugs?

Bradford: “I liked watching him smoke a bowl. That was my favorite part. I think he pulled it off.”

1998 Nick Kids' Choice Awards Clips

Videos featuring Jonathan Taylor Thomas from the 11th Annual Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 1998, held on April 4, 1998 at Pauley Pavilion at UCLA in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by Rosie O’Donnell.

Jonathan was voted and won the award for “Favorite TV Actor” for his role as Randy Taylor on “Home Improvement.”

Videos sourced from Internet Archive. Nickelodeon is owned by Paramount Medias. Solely for archival purposes. No copyright intended.

(All material is by Nickelodeon/Paramount Medias.)

1998 "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died" Photos

Jonathan Taylor Thomas in 1998’s “I Woke Up Early the Day I Died.”

Directed by Aris Iliopulos. Based on an unproduced screenplay written by Ed Wood in 1974.

© 1998 Cinequanon Pictures International, Inc. 

"I Woke Up Early the Day I Died" (1998)

Jonathan Taylor Thomas briefly appears in the 1998 film “I Woke Up Early the Day I Died.” 

Jonathan plays “Boy at Beach” who, alongside Summer Phoenix “Girl at Beach,” discovers the murdered body of a woman (Tippi Hedren)

Directed by Aris Iliopulos & based on an unproduced screenplay written by Ed Wood in 1974, the synopsis reads: 

a mental patient (Billy Zane) escapes from an asylum and then robs a bank. The money is soon presumed stolen when it’s lost at an unrelated funeral. The escapee tracks down everyone that attended the funeral and goes on a murderous spree in order to retrieve the stolen money.

Other stars who featured include: Ron Perlman, Christina Ricci, Maila Nurmi (a.k.a. Vampira), Eartha Kitt, Tara Reid, etc…

(1998 Muse Productions/Entertainment) 

1997 Leighanne Littrell "Wild America"

Jonathan Taylor Thomas & Devon Sawa photographed with actress Leighanne Littrell who played “Tanna” on set of “Wild America” in Canada in 1997

Photography sourced from @/leighanne_littrell via Instagram 

1995 Courtland Mead "Tom and Huck"

Jonathan Taylor Thomas photographed with young actor Courtland Mead who played half-brother "Sid Sawyer" to Jonathan’s "Tom Sawyer" in Disney’s 1995 “Tom and Huck” filmed in Alabama, US.

Photography sourced from "Denise Mead" via Facebook