Liar Liar star Justin Cooper reveals the bizarre letters prisoners sent him as a kid
Justin Cooper received letters from inmates when he was a child, but didn't find out until years later.
The Liar, Liar star, now 37, sky rocketed to fame when he starred alongside Jim Carrey in the hit in the 1997 comedy when he was just eight years old.
"My mom did a really good job of kind of shielding me from stuff," Cooper said during a recent interview on The Not So Little Rascals podcast when asked whether he recalled any 'scary' aspects of being a child star.
However, when he became old enough to understand, Cooper's mom told him about the letters, and what was in them.
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“She would tell me later on about, like, prison mail that I would get that she never showed me,” he added.
Explaining what was inside, Cooper continued: "Dudes in jail talking about how they’re such big fans of me and, like, I’m such a cute kid," leaving podcast hosts Jordan Warkol and Blake Collins in utter shock.
Aside from shielding him from prison letters, Cooper also praised his mother for never leaving him alone on film sets.
"You know, there's a lot of acting parents that you hear of back in the day that are just like, 'OK, go. Do whatever they tell you to do. Bye!' and my mom was not like that," he explained.
Despite 'not being able to go out much' Cooper had nothing bad to say about his experience.
In fact, he said his fame was more annoying for his family than it was him, recalling how there would be a line of people requesting his autograph when they were out for dinner.
“And, you know, my family is like trying to eat dinner,” he added.
Following his role as Max Reede in Liar Liar, Cooper went on to star in TV series including ER and The Bold and the Beautiful.
However, Cooper's Hollywood career was cut relatively short when he stopped acting in the early 2000s, later pursing a career outside of the spotlight.
He revealed that the decision to step back came when 'auditions started to feel like work.'
Cooper was balancing auditions at the same time as going to school, recalling how he'd have to come home and do his homework.
After a while, his mother, who was extremely supportive throughout his whole career, told him that he could stop if he wanted to.
Child actors who left fame behind
Cooper isn't the only star to have walked away from fame at a young age. Here are a list of others who can relate:
- Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen - Despite still being household names, the Olsen twins officially retired from acting in 2011 in hopes to 'work on other things.'
- Peter Ostrum - Ostrum rose to fame in the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in 1971, playing the main role of Charlie. However, he went on to pursue a doctor of veterinary medicine degree.
- Danny Lloyd - Although you may not recognize the name, you'll definitely recognize the face. Lloyd in Stephen King's The Shining. However, scaring millions of people wasn't fun for him, as he The Guardian in 2017 that he found the audition process for films 'boring,' leading him to pursue a career as a college professor.
Kiesha Dosanjh