Jonathan Taylor Thomas' Experience As A Child Star Caused Him To Quit Acting

Summary

• Jonathan Taylor Thomas became famous for playing Tim on Home Improvement.
• Jonathan Taylor Thomas chose to quit acting.
• Taylor felt conflicted as a child star.

While many people might've wished to trade places with their favorite child actors, for young Disney stars like Jonathan Taylor Thomas, it's possible that he would've welcomed the idea.

As fast as Jonathan Taylor Thomas stepped into the spotlight, he withdrew from acting altogether. Here's how experience as a child star caused him to quit Home Improvement and give up his career as an actor...

What Jonathan Taylor Thomas Said About Being A Child Star

There's a plethora of successful child actors just like Jonathan Taylor Thomas who left the entertainment business and are living very normal lives today, such as Mara Wilson the lead actress in Matilda, who gave up acting to pursue writing and journalism.

There's also Angus T. Jones who abandoned his role as Jake Harper on the CBS sitcom Two And A Half Men because of his Christian faith. However, in the case of Taylor, he felt conflicted as an actor, and wanted to stay true to who he was outside the entertainment business.

According to Us Weekly, Jonathan Taylor Thomas told Premiere magazine that, "The industry is neurotic and weird, and so when I go home, and I play basketball with my friends, I'm not Jonathan Taylor Thomas. I'm just Jonathan. I don't like hanging out with other actors and actresses."

Clearly, The Lion King actor didn't seem interested in wild and epic celebrity parties, opting for a lot less dramatic, private lifestyle.

• Jonathan Taylor Thomas' first role was in the Brady Bunch spin-off, The Brady's.
• Jonathan Taylor Thomas was born on September 8th, 1981.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas' first major role was when he voiced the part of young Simba in the 1994 animated film, The Lion King. Then in 1996, he voiced the role of Pinocchio in The Adventures of Pinocchio when he was around fourteen years old.

But at his tender age, Taylor was preparing for a life outside of acting, because he was aware of the fate of many child stars who don't have a smooth transition into adulthood as actors.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas said this about his plans to pursue other things besides acting, "I think most [fallen child stars] weren't prepared for the end... You can't base your life around on thing. So that's why I focus on school, I play sports, I learn the technical side of [filmmaking]. Because sometimes it'll change, and I'll have my education to fall back on."

Why Did Jonathan Taylor Thomas Leave Home Improvement?

After his brief appearance on the TV series The Brady's, and the sketch comedy TV series In Living Color, Jonathan Taylor Thomas teamed up with actor and comedian Tim Allen where he played the role of Randy Taylor in Home Improvement. He began appearing on the show in 1991, and quickly became a teen idol.

However, according to Screen Rant, Jonathan Taylor Thomas left the Home Improvement series in 1998, refusing to return for the series finale. His reasons for doing so may seem unorthodox: "I'd been going non-stop since I was eight years old. I wanted to go to school, to travel, and to have a bit of a break." It seems that the famous JTT, as he was called on the series, didn't want to commit to being overworked at such a young age, and wanted to experience school as a normal person.

While he finished high school, Jonathan Taylor Thomas still did some acting on the side. Then, in 2000, he went to Harvard University to study philosophy and history before attending the University of St. Andrews in Scotland two years later. During that time, he made brief appearances as Ian Randall in the cast of Smallville and Ally McBeal episodes.

What Did Tim Allen Think Of Jonathan Taylor Thomas Leaving Home Improvement?

When Jonathan Taylor Thomas left Home Improvement just before the show's finale, it obviously ruffled the feathers of some of the other cast members.

Initially, the teen heartthrob said that he wanted to leave the show to focus on college. However, Patricia Richardson, who played Thomas' TV mom, said that there were bad feelings lingering on set all along.

But according to the New York Post, other sources claimed to Jonathan Taylor Thomas refused to show up for the finale of the sitcom because he was angry at Tim Allen, who played his TV dad on the show, because he questioned Thomas about not wanting to finish the finale that year. Allen said that he was confused about Thomas' reasons behind wanting to leave the show, "He said it was about going to school, but then he did some films. Did he want to do films? Did he want to go to school?"

In actuality, Jonathan Taylor Thomas did both - he did a few films post-Home Improvement, and then went off to college. The actor even said this at the 1999 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards about being confident in his decision, "I made such a good decision because had I stayed at the show and tried to do academically what I'm doing now, I would've, you know, put myself in an early grave."

Did Jonathan Taylor Thomas Ever Return To Acting?

When Jonathan Taylor Thomas left the acting spotlight, he made it clear that he could do acting forever because it can take you places, but there were other pursuits that he had in mind. He returned to acting in 2013 after graduating from Columbia University when he reunited with Tim Allen for a season 2 episode of Last Man Standing. He played the role of a restaurant owner named John Baker for a total of four episodes until 2015, which was his last known acting credit to date.

While no one knows for sure if Jonathan Taylor Thomas has retired from doing television and film altogether, he remains a member of the actor's union SAG-AFTRA. At 42 years old, whether he returns to acting or not, Thomas maintained an opulent yet reserved lifestyle.