Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Sleepless in Seattle and The Pelican Brief are some of the films that were most successful from the year 1993. In among these heavy hitters, was the comedy-drama, Mrs. Doubtfire.
Despite having a comparatively meager budget of $25 million, the Chris Columbus picture managed to gross a mammoth $441.2 million at the box office. Effectively, that made it the second most commercially successful film of the year, only beaten to the top spot by Jurassic Park.
The cast of Mrs. Doubtfire was led by the legendary Robin Williams, who also served as producer. The famous comedian played a character who had three children, roles that were taken by young actors Mara Wilson, Matthew Lawrence and Lisa Jakub.
The three have in more recent years spoken about their fond memories with Williams on set, revealing that he did in fact live up to his reputation of being one of the nicest people in Hollywood.
Lawrence and Wilson have gone on to enjoy relatively impressive careers as actors, but Jakub made the decision to walk away from the craft not too long after Mrs. Doubtfire.
Lisa Jakub Struggled With Anxiety And Depression
Although mental health challenges are not only unique to people who live their lives in the public arena, they can be made even more acute by all the pitfalls that come with fame. Things could get even much worse if the person experiencing these challenges is still a child.
This certainly appears to have been the case with Lisa Jakub, who had to battle anxiety and depression during her heyday as a young actor in Hollywood. When she featured in Mrs. Doubtfire, she was 15.
Despite the success that she was enjoying in her career, she was facing crippling anxiety and depression, at a time when she was very ill-equipped to deal with it. In a book about mental health that she came to write years later, Jakub described that young version of herself as ‘sensitive, emotional and introverted.’
‘What else would you expect from a former child actor turned writer?’ she continued. ‘But the issue wasn’t just an artistic temperament; Lisa was constantly trying to hide her debilitating anxiety and depression.’
For Jakub, this is a battle she continues to fight to date.
Lisa Jakub Retired From Acting At The Age Of 22
After nearly two decades working in Hollywood, Lisa Jakub decided that the best thing for her mental health would be to walk away from acting altogether. Her final film roles were both in 2000.
In the crime drama Double Frame, she played a character simply called Tara. She was complementing a cast line-up that also included Daniel Baldwin, Leslie Hope, and James Remar, among others.
In the same year, Jakub also appeared in a period family drama film titled The Royal Diaries: Isabel - Jewel of Castilla. Made for TV, the movie featured the actress in the leading role of Isabel, Queen of Spain.
In 2013, she spoke – as a writer – about the reason why she made the decision to quit acting. “After an 18-year career, I left the film industry, not wanting to become one of those child-actor cautionary tales,” she said in an interview with Parade.
At the time of the interview, Jakub was working on her memoir – titled You Look Like That Girl, which she described as a story of her ‘time in film and the decision to leave Hollywood, grow up, and stop pretending.’
What Other Movies And TV Shows Did Lisa Jakub Star In?
The fact that Lisa Jakub chose to stop acting professionally does not mean that she never enjoyed the work. She particularly has a lot of good memories from her time on the set of Mrs. Doubtfire.
She also seems to have the highest opinion of her co-stars in the movie, especially her on-screen siblings, Matthew Lawrence and Mara Wilson.
While being the most memorable project of her career, Mrs. Doubtfire is not the only big or small screen production that Jakub featured in. The Toronto-born star began acting in the mid-’80s, with cameos in movies like Eleni, The Right of the People and Christmas Eve.
The latter two were made-for-TV films. She also featured in an episode of CBS’ medical drama series Kay O'Brien in 1986.
In the late stages of her acting career, Jakub got the chance to work with Will Smith in his sci-fi action smash hit of 1996, Independence Day. The actress can also boast credits in Picture Perfect, Painted Angels, and The Beautician and the Beast.
