Stuart Little star Jonathan Lipnicki looks completely unrecognizable as he makes rare red carpet appearance 27 years after film

Beloved former child star Jonathan Lipnicki made a rare public step-out this week, walking his first red carpet in two years to celebrate the release of the buzzy crime thriller Primetime.

The 35-year-old actor, who stole hearts in the late 1990s as Ray Boyd in Jerry Maguire and George Little in Stuart Little, was all smiles on Sept. 23 as he attended the star-studded Los Angeles premiere of the Robert Pattinson-led film.

Lipnicki turned heads in a tailored emerald green suit paired with a classic black button-down shirt, looking sharp and relaxed as he posed for cameras outside the venue.

The outing marked his first public industry event in over two years, having largely stepped away from Hollywood red carpets in recent seasons.

Taking to Instagram following the screening, Lipnicki shared a snapshot alongside Primetime director Lance Oppenheim, referencing the film's premise with a cheeky caption: “Have a 🪑 @primetimemovie is out TOMORROW!”

While Lipnicki stepped back from the relentless spotlight that followed his childhood success to attend normal high school, he has consistently maintained a passion for the craft, balancing auditions and independent projects over the years.

“Acting is this thing that I’ve always loved, and sometimes it just doesn’t love you back,” Lipnicki candidly reflected in an interview with E! News last year.

“And there was a span where I didn’t work for a while and I was pursuing it.”

His appearance in Primetime represents a stark departure from the sweet, family-friendly roles that launched his career.

Directed by Lance Oppenheim, the gritty film is loosely based on the chaotic production of NBC's controversial reality show To Catch a Predator, which ran from 2004 to 2007, drawing heavy inspiration from the 2007 Esquire exposé “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die.”

In the film, Pattinson portrays an intense television host modeled after Chris Hansen, with Lipnicki appearing among the ensemble cast as one of the targets caught on camera during a sting operation.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly ahead of the film's theatrical debut, Oppenheim revealed that convincing Pattinson to sign on for the provocative role required an unorthodox late-night pitch session fueled by junk food and novelty drinks.

“There was one meeting we had about the script, and [screenwriter] Ajon [Singh] and I had stayed at his house until 2:00 in the morning, and we had brought Four Lokos and gummies and some other stuff that kind of reminded us of the show on the way over,” Oppenheim recalled. “Then, he sort of got it, and we all sat around... I was like, ‘I have this opportunity now. I can’t blow it, and I need to rise to the occasion.’”

Primetime is currently playing in theaters nationwide.