"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.