'Liar Liar' child star says he couldn't go anywhere without getting recognized after hit film
Former child actor Justin Cooper, best known for his role as the birthday boy who wishes his lawyer father couldn't tell a lie in the 1997 hit comedy Liar Liar, is opening up about how the film's wild success changed his life overnight.
Speaking in a rare interview with The Not So Little Rascals podcast to mark the 29th anniversary era of the film, Cooper recalled the surreal experience of becoming a household face at just eight years old.
Opposite comedy titan Jim Carrey, Cooper played Max Reede—the sweet young boy whose blow-out birthday candle wish magically forces his smooth-talking attorney dad (Carrey) to tell the absolute truth for 24 hours.
(After the movie came out) “That’s when I realized it was big was after [Liar Liar] came out and, you know, I couldn’t really go anywhere in public," he shared.
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Cooper, who was 8 at the time the film's release said he thought fame was 'cool' at first, but acknowledged 'it probably annoyed my family a little bit more.'
When he and his family would go to dinner, Cooper said, “there would just be a line at my table of people wanting to get my autograph. And, you know, my family is like trying to eat dinner."
While some moments of fame could easily have turned 'scary', Cooper credited his mom for keeping him sane.
“My mom did a really good job of kind of like shielding me from from stuff, you know, like she would tell me later on about prison mail that I would get that she never showed me," he explained.
When asked to elaborate on what exactly he meant, he added: “letters from people in jail talking about — dudes in jail — talking about how they’re big fans of me or how I’m such a cute kid.”
Justin Cooper looks worlds away from his on screen role (The Not So Little Rascals/Youtube)
Working With Jim Carrey
While fame may have been a difficult beast to wrangle, working with Jim Carrery on the global box office sensation, was far from a chore.
Despite Carrey's high-energy, wild antics on set, Cooper fondly remembered his co-star as incredibly warm, protective, and supportive of a young actor making his major feature film debut.
“It was fun (working with Carrey.) It was a great experience uh as far as, you know, being with him, watching him work.And he was goofy all the time!"
In particular, he recalled one emotional scene in which his character needed to cry, only for Cooper to have Carrey just out of shot pulling silly faces and sending the cast and crew into hysterics!
"I'm shocked that nobody knew this but that he kind of did the cameo of the Fire Marshall," he recalled. "In the background of one of the more emotional scenes of the entire movie."
"When he's trying to chase us on the plane and he flies off the the stairs and he's on the stretcher and I'm talking to him and this is like one of the first times in my acting career that I tried to make myself cry."
"And behind like when the shots on me behind me he's in the background as Fire Marshall Bill doing faces. If I remember correctly he didn't tell many people at all on the set in the crew that he was going to do that.”
Following Liar Liar, Cooper continued acting through his early teens, appearing in popular television series including Boy Meets World, ER, The Practice, and the 1998 comedy film Dennis the Menace Strikes Again.
A New Chapter Behind the Mic
As he grew older, however, Cooper realized his true passion lay outside the spotlight. He officially stepped away from professional acting in the early 2000s to pursue an interest in sports media and broadcasting.
Today, the 37-year-old works successfully behind the camera as a executive sports producer and radio personality for Fox Sports Radio, producing major national shows.
Looking back on his early chapter in Hollywood, Cooper says he holds nothing but gratitude for the legacy of Liar Liar and the joy it continues to bring comedy fans across generations.
Topics: Celebrity, Jim Carrey
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