If you grew up in the '90s, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was pretty much the ultimate heartthrob, until he decided to say goodbye to Hollywood. So what happened to him?
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00:00If you grew up in the 90s, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was pretty much the ultimate heartthrob.
00:06In addition to starring on the hugely popular sitcom Home Improvement, he headlined films
00:10like I'll Be Home for Christmas and Tom and Huck, and voiced young Simba in The Lion King.
00:15So where is he today? Well, he's not in the spotlight, and when it comes to his private
00:20life and current career, that's a bit of a mystery. He's also rarely photographed, though
00:25it does make the news when he is. In 2023, he was spotted stopping by a convenience store
00:30near his Southern California home.
00:32And if we look back at some of the things he's said in the past, it's really no surprise
00:36that he keeps to himself nowadays. Back in 1996, for example, he told Premier magazine,
00:41"...you can't be trapped in this bubble called the acting industry. The industry is neurotic
00:46and weird. And so when I go home and I play basketball with my friends, I'm not Jonathan
00:51Taylor Thomas. I'm just Jonathan. I don't like hanging out with other actors and actresses."
00:57Thomas was just 8 years old when he made his live-action TV debut in 1990 on the short-lived
01:02Brady Bunch spinoff The Bradys. And it wasn't long afterwards that he became a superstar.
01:07He had caught the acting bug after booking a Burger King commercial, telling People magazine,
01:11"...I just thought the whole idea of being on TV, being recognized and having a good
01:16time was interesting."
01:17But it appears that Thomas feels differently now that he's in his 40s. He told People in
01:212013,
01:22"...I never took the fame too seriously. It was a great period in my life, but it doesn't
01:27define me. When I think back on the time, I look at it with a wink. I focus on the good
01:32moments I had, not that I was on a lot of magazine covers."
01:35It was already clear back in the late 90s that Thomas was drifting away from showbiz,
01:40as he left home improvement during the sitcom's last season to go to college. As he explained,
01:45"...I'd been going nonstop since I was eight years old. I wanted to go to school, to travel,
01:50and have a bit of a break."
01:51"...Well, I'm gonna miss you. I'm gonna miss you, too. Nah, but you're gonna be just fine.
01:58You're gonna do well. You think so? Yeah."
02:01Thomas ended up attending Harvard University, Columbia University, and Scotland's University
02:05of St. Andrews, studying history and philosophy. He called the experience of sitting in a big
02:10library amongst books and students,
02:13"...novel."
02:14And while it doesn't look like Thomas has any plans to return to acting anytime soon,
02:17that doesn't necessarily mean that he's ditching showbiz entirely. During his 2013 interview
02:22with People, he revealed that he was shifting his focus to screenwriting and directing.
02:27Back when Thomas was in the glare of limelight, plenty of fans were curious about his romantic
02:31life. There were even some rumors that he might be gay. But that talk didn't really
02:35bother him.
02:36"...You're not anyone until it's rumored that you're gay. So, you know, I wasn't that upset
02:41about it."
02:42"...And not that there's anything wrong with that."
02:44Quite a bit of time has passed since then, and the public still really doesn't know much
02:48of anything about Thomas' private life. Prior to his 2023 outing, the last time he was photographed
02:54publicly was two years earlier, when he was walking his two small dogs in Hollywood. It
02:59wasn't clear in the latter instance if he had a romantic partner or anything like that,
03:03but he nevertheless looks pretty good in his beanie, comfy sweater, and sensible shoes.