Jonathan Taylor Thomas and co-star Devon Sawa pose and sign autographs for fans at the New York premiere of “Wild America” held at the Sony IMAX Theatre in New York City in July 1997, in partnership with the Annual M&M's Minis Hollywood for Children Family Film Festival. Fans got to “win a date” with the Wild’ actors as part of a contest.
In this special bonus episode of Dear Danielle from June 3, 2013, actress Danielle Fishel shares exclusive photos from her personal collection, including shots with Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Rider Strong, Zachery Ty Bryan, and more throughout the 1990s .
Growing Up On-and Offscreen
By Steve Parks
Newsday TV PLUS
In “Mr. Roberts,” set in the ‘70s and written by Terrence McNally, Tony-winning author of “Kiss of the Spiderwoman,” “Master Class,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and “Ragtime,” Jonathan Taylor Thomas’ character is struggling to come to terms with the likelihood that he is gay. He turns to his French teacher for advice. But Mr. Roberts — who insists on being call Mr. Ro-BEAR—is reluctant to come out to himself because he is in line to become principal of the school. It’s a very different role for the young actor who grew up on network sitcom TV. “I started on ‘Home Improvement’ when I was 9-years-old,” said Thomas, “and I worked on the show for eight years. So that’s a large chunk of my acting experience so far.
“It was a great launching pad, but,” he added, “my goal lately has been to challenge myself and broaden as an actor by playing some characters, like Toby, who are not only very different from myself, but different from those I’ve played in the past.”
Though Toby is the first overtly gay role for Thomas, he said he did not try to play him with the character’s homosexuality in mind. “I think what the project is all about is right there in the title — ‘Common Ground.’ We were trying to stress the fact that gays aren’t so different from the rest of us. And what differences we do have are trivial against the big picture.
“What I tried to play with Toby is the isolation he felt,” says Thomas, “and how scary that can be for any of us. I think we’ve all felt isolated in some way. That’s applicable to any sort of minority or any kind of discrimination — whether you wear glasses or you’re short. Whatever”
In tying together the three playlets at the end, each of the central characters shows up at Amos and Andy’s wedding.
“It’s fairly upbeat,” says Thomas. “The other two incidents in the film are kind of traumatic. And I think there was some intention here to end on a more optimistic note because we really have come a long way.”
For Thomas, the most gratifying moment came at the conclusion of the shooting for “Mr. Roberts,” when he got to meet the author. “When someone hands you a script by Terrence McNally, you have these really high expectations,” said Thomas. “And it was so great to have those expectations met.”
Tiger Beat magazine attends the New York premiere of “Wild America” held at the Sony IMAX Theatre in New York City in July 1997, in partnership with the Annual M&M's Minis Hollywood for Children Family Film Festival.
Featuring Wild's Jonathan Taylor Thomas & Devon Sawa, with actress Thora Birch, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Casey Keegan.
STAMPEDE!
By Judy Brennan
The Los Angeles Times
Published July 13, 1997 12 AM PT
Oh, the perils of being a teen heartthrob.
After a recent New York premiere of “Wild America,” a film targeted primarily to preteens and young teens, Devon Sawa got a taste of what it’s like to be an idol.
He stood waiting on the curb for his limo, girlfriend Alessia Lancia in tow, figuring his co-star Jonathan Taylor Thomas would distract the squealing masses and that he would be safe. He figured wrong. About 200 kids--mostly girls between the ages of 8 and 16--bounded forth, pulling at his clothes, touching and grabbing his hair, his arms, his shoulders and begging for an autograph when a taxi finally came to the rescue. Hey Elvis, Paul, John, Ringo and George: Devon feels your pain.
You laugh. But this shy 17-year-old native of Vancouver has been the cover boy of just about every teen magazine, from Big Bopper and Tiger Beat to SuperTeen and 16, when what he really wants to do is express his acting craft.
“Wild America” had the misfortune of opening over the Fourth of July weekend opposite the phenomenally successful “Men in Black,” which captured much of “Wild America’s” audience. “Wild America” took in only $2.8 million that weekend, but those involved with the picture still expect that kids will discover it and tell their friends. “Sure ‘Men in Black’ is going to be huge,” says Gary Barber, Morgan Creek’s vice chairman and executive producer on “Wild America.” “But word-of-mouth will drive this movie. It’s a true story driven by great characters with heart, and it will appeal to a varied audience.”
“This is a project picture for us,” says Barry Reardon, Warner Bros.’ distribution chief. “We’ve got 12,000 T-shirts, 8,000 hats, 10,000 CD soundtracks, 5,000 [disposable] cameras, 100,000 buttons and 500,000 tattoos. It’s the girls that will be grabbing for these. These young guys are hot as a pistol.”
Aside from seizing the opportunity of casting the studs-of- the-moment for the preteen set to play the lead roles, the picture is filled with wild animals and their cuddly babies to indulge the American public’s craze for critters.
Set in a rural Arkansas town in the ‘60s, it is based on the true story of the three Stouffer brothers, Marty (Scott Bairstow), Mark (Sawa) and Marshall (Thomas). (The real Mark Stouffer, who appears in a cameo shot with his real brothers, is a producer on the film, directed by William Dear.)
Told through the eyes of Marshall, who must endure his older brothers’ pranks throughout, the film depicts the trio’s journey to capture on film what’s left of American wildlife.
“I’m banking on my gut instincts on this one,” says Robinson, who describes the film as a ‘90s “Stand by Me” with a dash of “Indiana Jones” adventure thrown in. “I can’t talk about [the recent family-oriented disappointment] ‘Buddy’ or the other movies. I just know how that crowd in New York reacted to these boys. The girls were trying to rip Devon’s clothes off. There were 200 kids out there, screaming and squealing. It was like Beatlemania in ’62 or Elvis. I’m betting on those fans. Those are the ones that are forgotten this summer. We just decided to give them something they wanted to see.”
Those audiences want to see more of Sawa playing roles like Mark, says Hedy End, editorial director of SuperTeen and superstars teen magazines. In fact, competitor 16 magazine describes his role as the “the hotheaded, girl-crazy and majorly sexy” one. How sexy? Says 16: “Call the bod squad: He’s shirtless in many, many scenes--as opposed to [Thomas] who’s shirt-challenged never in this movie.”
Notes End: “Devon first became popular as the real life ‘Casper’ at the end of that movie. Jonathan zoomed to top of the list over the last couple of years, because of ‘Home Improvement.’ When we heard these two were doing a movie together, we were thrilled. These kids [the magazine’s readership] have grown up with Jonathan, who is seen as blond, blue-eyed and adorable. But Devon is blond, blue-eyed, a little bit older and a little more dangerous but in a nonthreatening way.”
So what does Sawa think about his fame, especially with the younger set?
“It’s great, ego-boosting and overwhelming. It all came so quickly but it’s impossible for me to go to a mall in the Valley,” says Sawa, who divides his time between Los Angeles and his Canadian hometown. “You think it’s safe and then some girl will see you and I’ll hear her say to a friend, ‘Hey, isn’t that him.’ And I’ll try to quietly leave.”
Once they realize it is Sawa, they flock around and “it starts,” he continues. “My girlfriend doesn’t really know what to think about it. When that happened at the premiere in New York . . . well, she wasn’t crazy about it. I’m still trying to get over that experience.”
Sawa, like his co-stars, wants to be taken seriously as a young actor. He started in the business at age 12, primarily in local theater in Vancouver. His first break in the movies was a role in “Little Gi- ants” that led to his part in “Casper.”
While being a heartthrob has its positives, he hopes his fans will follow him as he grows into more dramatic roles. “My fans made me.But sometimes there’s some weird stories about me, my favorite color, the kind of girls I like, all of that stuff that’s just not true and I never said it. All I ask is that my fans don’t believe everything they read,” Sawa cautions.
The young star says his next film is a small role in “A Cool, Dry Place” opposite “Swingers” star Vince Vaughn. He plays the troubled younger brother of Vaughn’s girlfriend. “I took the part just to be in a film with Vince. I loved ‘Swingers’ and the script. But it’s very different from ‘Wild America,’ ” he says.
“I loved ‘Wild America’ because I got to do a lot of action stuff and ‘Stand by Me’ is one of my favorite films. It reminded me of that. I’m a little like my character Mark in that, yeah, OK, I like girls a lot and I was always the class clown. But I liked the way this character grew and changed in the film.”
And what about the third star of “Wild America”?
Character transformation is what drew Bairstow to the role of Marty. Now starring opposite Kevin Costner in the upcoming “The Postman,” Bairstow, 27, is a bit reluctant to be pegged as a heartthrob to the younger crowd. Married with a 2-year-old son named Casey, he starred in TV’s “Lonesome Dove” and turned up on an “X-Files” episode. Bairstow believes he hasn’t “broken through” yet but expects the latest film could help.
“You know, I’m like Jonathan and Devon. I’m thankful for fans whatever their ages,” he says. “But Devon and Jonathan . . . they’re the heartthrobs. They’re the ones the girls will come to see.”
16 Magazine Presents: “25 Cutest Guys EVER” (APRIL 1998)
JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS
Birthday: September 8, 1981—he’s sweet 16!
Family Matters: Mom is Claudine—she’s also his manager. JTT’s got one older brother, Joel who’s 20.
The Basics: JTT’s 5’4,” with bright blue eyes and sandy dark-blond hair.
Starting’ Out: As a little tike, JTT modeled for print ads, then graduated to TV commercials and a small role on a Brady Bunch special. He hit pay dirt with the role of Randy on Home Improvement.
The Flicks: Jonathan’s video library includes: Man Of The House, Tom & Huck, The Adventures Of Pinocchio and Wild America. Plus, you can hear him as the voice of young Simba in The Lion King.
Love Status: This busy babe began dating this past year—most notably, he squired Dr. Quinn’s Jessica Bowman and had Nicki Hale on his arm at the Cableace Awards in November. But he’s definitely not in the settling down mode yet! “I’m just a normal teenage guy when it comes to dating,” he confesses. “It’s something I enjoy doing, but it’s something that kind of gets pushed to the side, because I’m so busy with other stuff.”
JTT: Rockin’ Around The Clock
Written by Liz Smith
Volume 05 Number 02 | December 1994
D.A.. thinks Jonathan Taylor Thomas is the busiest 13-year-old we’ve ever met. Besides roaring as Simba’s voice in The Lion King, he has just finished his first live-action movie, Pals Forever (out in February), and is working on “Home Improvement.” But since JTT always has time for some kickin’ air-guitar, he can’t be that busy, can he? He dared us to hang with him for a day. We took his dare, tied on our cross-trainers, and whoosh, off we went!
6:30 a.m.
Brrrrring. Jonathan crawls out of bed, showers, feeds his two Himalayan cats, Sammy and Simba— “That’s his name, no joke” —and his Lhasa apso, Mac. “Mac’s a short guy,” he says. “He just thinks he’s a big German Shepherd. He’s real ornery, but he’s a great dog.”
7:45 a.m.
JTT’s mom drives him to the Disney Studios, where “H.I.” is taped. On the commute, Jonathan reads the newspaper. “I read the sports section, but I also read the classifieds.” Why? “I’m looking for a job,” Jonathan jokes. “No, I love old cars, so I like to see what’s for sale. I like the ’65 Mustang, the ’54 Porsche Speedster, the ’58 and ’61 Chevy Impalas—yeah, they’re big boats, but they’re cool.
“Then I read the out-of-state real estate ads. I eventually want to move out of L.A. I wouldn’t mind going back to the East Coast. I’m from Pennsylvania. I don’t know if I could take the winters.”
8:45 a.m.
JTT arrives at Stage 4 on the Disney Studios lot and snags a snack. “I eat fruit or a bagel,” he says. “They get this fresh watermelon on the stage that’s great. I love honeydew and cantaloupe. And I drink a lot of milk.”
9 a.m.
Jonathan, who’s in seventh grade, goes to school in a trailer with co-stars Zachery Ty Bryan and Taran Noah Smith. “I love geography and history,” JTT says. “My least favorite subject is math.”
11 a.m.
He reports to rehearsal. What happens to Randy this season? “Randy mysteriously grows into this big 6-foot-tall guy, and he goes off to college!” He says. “No, they never tell us until that week what’s going to happen.”
Jonathan deepens his voice to sound like a director and jokes, “This episode, we have to sever your head. That’s OK, right?” Back to his own voice: “No problem. A little bit of makeup, I’ll be fine.”
1 p.m.
Lunch break! Yahoo! ‘I scarf down my food,” JTT admits. “I like a lot of pasta and salads. I’m vegetarian, so I don’t eat meat.”
Then he hits a basketball court/rec area (built for the “H.I.” boys) and jams in a football or b-ball game with the guys, or kids from other shows on the lot, like “Boy Meets World,” “Thunder Alley” and “All-American Girl.” Or he’ll play his newest sports love: roller hockey.
2 to 6 p.m.
More school and “H.I.” rehearsals until the end of the day.
6 p.m.
Back in the car for the hour drive home, Jonathan does homework, reads auto and fishing magazines and swaps stories with his mom.
7 p.m.
He does the chore-thing at home. “I’ve gotta make sure the litter boxes are clean and that my cats and dog have fresh food and water,” JTT says. “And I take the trash out.”
7:30 p.m.
Chow down. Sometimes, Jonathan helps mom make dinner. “I enjoy cooking. Macaroni, that’s my specialty! And, I’m an excellent pizza orderer. Domino’s Pizza, they love me! I like to make pasta, Caesar salad and Greek salad—I love feta cheese,” he says.
“Let’s see…my mouth’s watering. I love a baked potato with nonfat sour cream and this stuff called lemon-pepper—I love it, I put it on everything!”
8 p.m.
He does some homework or watches his brother, Joel, 17, do his homework. “Joel’s really, really smart, not a nerd, though,” JTT says. “He’s always writing these lab reports for Honors Biology, and I have no clue what he’s saying. He’s an incredible basketball player, also. Sometimes, we’ll play a game of b-ball. Joel kills me. He just dunks over me every time.”
9 p.m.
Tube time for Jonathan. “I like ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,’ ‘Fraiser,’ ‘Roseanne’ and ‘Grace Under Fire,’” he says.
“I catch C-SPAN before I go to bed. I gotta keep up on daily events.
“I’m a night person, which drives everybody nuts ‘cause I like to stay up late,” he says. “I’m not too horrible when I don’t get a lot of sleep. I mean, I always get plenty of sleep. My mom makes sure of that.”
10:30 p.m.
Mom comes to tell Jonathan it’s bedtime. Lights out! And not a moment too soon—we’re whipped!
The Real Roar: Behind The Lion King
By H. Brooke Primero & Liz Smith
July 30, 1994 | Volume 04 Number 10
Think of making movies and you probably imagine a big set with a director yelling “Action!” But in animated movies, there isn’t a movie camera in sight. The “set” is a drawing table or computer, and the “actors” sit in a recording studio to tape the voices for the characters you see on screen. What’s it like “acting” in an animated movie? D.A. got the scoop from the people behind the voices.
YOUNG SIMBA — JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS
D.A.: Did you go to the zoo to learn to roar?
Jonathan: Yes, I spent years with animals [laughing].
D.A.: We thought so.
Jonathan: Actually, they recorded some real lions’ roars, but the roars were too strong, ‘cause Simba’s little. So they had me come in with my wimpy roar, thank you very much.
D.A.: Any other weird noises?
Jonathan: There’s this one part where I’m in an elephant graveyard, and I’m sliding down an elephant’s backbone. My back bumps against all the vertebrae, so the studio guys beat on my back [to make the noise].
D.A.: Did that hurt?
Jonathan: Yes, I took some abuse. The studio guys, who are the nicest guys in the world, had to shake me up. It was a lot of fun.
D.A.: Do you get into mischief like Simba?
Jonathan: Yeah, but I quickly backpedal and say I didn’t do it. I like to have a good time and sometimes I’ll get into mischief. I think I’m a lot like Simba—active, always wanting to explore, curious.
D.A.: Anything funny happen while recording?
Jonathan: There’s the tragedy scene where I had to yell, “Dad!” The people directing me wanted me to reach deeper and get a real “Dad!” Scream. So, my mom’s sitting across the room, and they tell me to pretend that my mom’s falling to her death…I was so into my mom falling, I got ready to record and I screamed, “Mom!” Oops! That was pretty embarrassing. I was laughing so hard, I fell off my chair!
Jonathan Taylor Thomas attends the book party for 1998’s retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” on October 15, 1998.
Photographed with Jay Leno, Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, and Nathan Lane, twenty-three celebrities alongside twenty-three illustrators retold Andersen's classic fairy tale in an audio exclusive assembled by The Starbright Foundation, a charitable organisation committed to improving the lives of seriously ill children. All royalties from the sale of the book, published by Harcourt Brace, were to be donated to The Starbright Foundation (The New York Times, 1998).
The book featured Liam Neeson, Harrison Ford, Nathan Lane, Jason Alexander, Madonna, Carrie Fisher, Melissa Joan Hart, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jeff Goldblum, Robin Williams, Rosie O'Donnell, Fran Drescher, Joan Rivers, Steven Spielberg, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, John Lithgow, and more.
Jonathan played ‘The Imperial Prince,’ as written and performed by the newly 17-year-old actor.
JUMPING FOR JTT
By Marilyn W. Thompson
The Washington Post
Published May 25, 1997
We are waiting near the corner of 68th and Broadway -- waiting and waiting for JTT.
JTT, as America's foremost juvenile heartthrob is known to his fans, is Jonathan Taylor Thomas, teen star of television's "Home Improvement," and on this sleepy Saturday, he is 30 minutes late for an early morning "fan event" in the packed lobby of Manhattan's Sony Imax Theatre. My son Cory, 8, and his best friend are among the throng of kids snaking through the theater entrance, some patiently holding their mothers' hands, others clutching color pinups of the 15-year-old sensation from glossy teen magazines.
Andrew, my 6-year-old, and I are stationed outside for JTT's belated grand entrance. Andrew wants a hot dog for breakfast but none can be had on this final morning of the Hollywood for Children film festival, a week-long charitable event that has brought together dozens of child stars to raise money for the Audrey Hepburn Foundation. Within this young galaxy of talent, none compares with the headline attraction, the absolutely sizzling JTT.
Already rated one of Hollywood's hottest young stars, Thomas stars in a new action-packed movie, "Wild America," that premiered to raves before the friendly crowd at the festival's grand finale. JTT had beamed from the VIP seats as girls jockeyed for autographs. This morning, even the street vendor has abandoned his hot dog cart -- leaving Andrew and others waiting -- while he scrambled to get JTT's signature on his daughter's slightly mauled copy of Teen Beat magazine.
Not that JTT exactly relishes the attention, particularly from magazines with names like Bop and 16 that sell thousands of extra copies a month just by plastering his mug all over every issue. In a snit, his mother has evicted all press from this event, and the juvenile paparazzi have sulked onto the sidewalk. A theater flack frets that JTTs mom will cancel EVERYTHING because of an unfortunate "scene" the night before. JTT showed up -- late, of course -- for a party in his honor at the Explorers' Club, and overeager kids swarmed him.
Now, security guards shrug their shoulders, impatiently checking their watches. It is 10:15 a.m. -- JTT's anticipated departure time from the "fan event" -- and his long black limo has yet to show up. His time will be brief, the guards explain, since JTT is to appear at a children's celebrity fashion show at 11.
Finally, a limo approaches. Squeals erupt from the theater lobby, where a poster advertises a chance to "Win a Date" with JTT or one of his "Wild America" co-stars. Cameras snap. "Jonathan, Jonathan . . . this way, Jonathan," the exiled press corps demands.
The gloriously tanned teenager, just back from a jungle adventure with his mom in Costa Rica, climbs slowly out of the limo, tugs at his thick open-necked sweater, brushes fingers through shaggy sun-bleached hair. Then he turns to face the cameras while his forbidding mother and beefy bodyguards wait in the background.
But the face is not that of the adorable Randy on "Home Improvement," not the warm, inviting kid who created young Simba's voice in the Disney hit "The Lion King." Not even the face of huggable JTT, pint-size magazine pinup.
The face that stares back is sour and filled with attitude, like a 15-year-old just ordered to take out the garbage. Even an admiring wave from little Andrew does nothing to charm him.
And all of it leaves me wondering -- what would possess a 44-year-old mother of reasonable intelligence to plunk down $20 per kid for this ugly celebrity spectacle? And who does this JTT think he is, anyway?
JTT mania started in our Takoma Park home in February when I noticed a brief mention of the upcoming second annual Hollywood for Children festival in my American Express billing. Cory is a film maniac who reads movie listings obsessively and has committed to memory the ratings and running times of almost every recent feature film. This April festival -- which was to include several premieres and screenings structured around themes like Children in War and Shakespeare -- seemed custom-designed for kids like Cory. And the proceeds were to help needy children.
I ended up buying tickets to two pricey events that promised unusual celebrity access -- a kids' fashion show, featuring favorite stars of television and movies in designer threads, and a session originally described as a "fan breakfast" with Jonathan Taylor Thomas, an unfamiliar name to me at the time. The kids gasped when I told them.
"Jonathan Taylor Thomas? You mean, the star of Man of the House' (97 minutes), Adventures of Pinocchio' (96 minutes) and Tom and Huck' (97 minutes)?" Cory gasped.
Within days, our weekend trip to New York was set, with the girl next door, Lily, 11, enthusiastically joining us. Cory and Lily began elaborate planning on two fronts -- what to wear that would be "cool enough" to hang out with child celebrities and what to ask JTT should they get a chance to pose a question.
Cory, in a lifetime first, actually asked for new shoes, insisted on a mall trip to buy them and settled on a pair of plain white Adidas. "Mom, do you think Jonathan will like them?" he wondered. "Oh yes, I'm sure," I said.
Finding the right question for JTT proved a trickier business. Cory and Lily sat for hours under an umbrella on our lawn, poring over the "Jonathan Taylor Thomas Handbook" borrowed from the school library. From that and other fan materials, they learned the basics -- JTT's eating habits (vegetarian); his pastimes (killing time on the "Home Improvement" set with co-star Zachery Ty Bryan); name of his sibling (Joel, who likes to play basketball).
Compiled on several sheets of note paper, their "Questions for JTT" ranged from simple unknowns (What is your favorite sport?) to more complex queries (What was your favorite movie to make? And why?).
Suddenly I had a brainstorm. Why risk getting in a single question at a crowded fan breakfast? Why not try to schedule an actual interview?
The festival's organizers were more than accommodating, even when I asked if Cory, Lily and Andrew could ask the questions. Kid stars are receptive to interviews by kid reporters, they said. (Especially if their mother happens to work for The Washington Post.)
They scheduled a Friday noon session in the regal Louis XIV meeting room at the Plaza Hotel and warned us not to be late since Jonathan had a crowded schedule. When I announced this development, the interview team grew faint.
"The Plaza?" gushed Cory. "That's the setting for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' (running time 120 minutes in the U.S. but cut to 116 minutes in the United Kingdom)!"
There was a flurry of practice sessions. And then we were off on Amtrak, three kids and a Swedish au pair, lugging tape recorders, cameras, notepads and six bags jampacked with the coolest clothing Takoma Park could offer.
Tension was thick in the Louis XIV room as we waited that Friday morning for JTT, who was 15 minutes late and unaccounted for at the Plaza registration desk, causing considerable squirming in the posh red velvet chairs around the interview table. Under elegant chandeliers, Cory and Lily were nervously sipping water from crystal glasses and studying their questions; Andrew was turning somersaults in a room big enough for a senior prom.
Finally, two teenagers strolled in -- Shay Astar, a confident 15-year-old breaking into the big time on TV's "3rd Rock From the Sun," and Devon Sawa, 17, a cool Canadian who had a brief flasher scene in Cory's favorite coming-of-age film, "Now and Then." Devon, who has his own devoted teen fan club, is JTT's lesser-billed co-star in "Wild America."
"We're substituting for Jonathan," the two casually announced. Faces around the table fell. When you're a kid who's spent hours dreaming up questions for JTT, it's hard to just throw out the list and improvise. But Shay and Devon sat patiently for almost an hour while the frazzled interviewers regrouped, answering questions about set tutors and favorite films and how to overcome stage fright.
Once Cory got up his courage, he grilled them on specifics. "How long is Wild America'?" Cory finally asked Devon.
"What do you mean?" Devon asked, puzzled. "How long did it take to film it?"
"No, how long is it?" Cory said. "What's its running time?"
Devon could not begin to answer. But some sort of peculiar bond was formed as Cory recited the running times of every feature film in which the young star has appeared. Cory even knew an approximate time for "Ernest Scared Stupid," Shay Astor's highly forgettable 95-minute feature film debut.
The kids reacted well, considering they had just been royally dissed by JTT, and only later did the real story come out. It turned out that JTT's mother, irritated over luggage lost at La Guardia, had canceled all interviews so Jonathan could rest and find properly cool clothing for the "Wild America" premiere that evening.
And of course, Devon and Shay and the young stars of "Matilda" and "Harriet the Spy" and dozens of other kid stars and would-be stars waited patiently. JTT was late for that event, too.
"What's with this kid?" I finally asked my young companions.
"Don't blame him," Cory snapped. "JTT is really nice. It's that bossy mother of his that's the problem."
The kids finally got their chance to meet JTT at the Saturday morning "fan event," which turned out to be nothing even close to a "breakfast." It was free to all except the few poor souls like me who had shelled out $20 per ticket through American Express.
While the press fumed and JTT's mother hovered protectively, JTT posed for individual photos with dozens of fans, beaming that familiar lovable smile that has been his secret to stardom.
He posed for so long that he was annoyingly late for the celebrity kids' fashion show (another $15 a child) near Times Square, finally appearing onstage in a classy Ralph Lauren sport coat to accept a donation for needy kids from a group of clothing manufacturers. A pre-teen beside me swooned, dropping into her girlfriends' arms. "Jonathan, I want to MAAAARRY YOU," she yelled. JTT held up the check and beamed as a thousand flashbulbs illuminated the room. He stayed only a few minutes, waved to his fans and exited to wild applause.
By the time we headed home, a weekend of exposure to children's Hollywood had convinced Cory and Lily that they only had more work to do from their Maryland home base.
"If we are going to be stars, we have to find an agent," they announced somberly. "Devon and Shay said it was the only way to break in." (A few weeks later, I discovered several unauthorized calls from the secluded basement telephone to strange numbers in Beverly Hills.)
The JTT mania continues. The kids have plugged into a JTT Web site on the Internet, pinned up his photo and only recently discovered other fascinating JTT facts from a 16 magazine piece on JTT's "Dating Do's and Don'ts."
Turns out that JTT has a pet peeve. Cory read it aloud. "True to his Virgo star sign, JTT gets a little impatient when others are tardy. Don't be late for this date!"
"Oh," Cory went on. "And he loves spending time with his mother, too."
‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’ featuring Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Pinocchio), Martin Landau (Geppetto), and others… released July 26, 1996 by ...
