From Home Improvement to The Lion King, what happened to Jonathan Taylor Thomas and what is he doing now? | Explainer

Jonathan Taylor Thomas was the teen heartthrob who won every young girl’s heart in the 1990s and became affectionately known as JTT.

The actor was best known for his starring role in Home Improvement for eight seasons between 1991 and 1998, and for voicing young Simba in the original The Lion King movie in 1994.

He continued to work a little until the mid-2000s, but then took a step back from Hollywood. So what has he been up to since then?

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What’s Jonathan Taylor Thomas doing now?

Like many child stars before him, Thomas simply just wanted a break from the spotlight.

After Home Improvement he starred in the Christmas film I’ll Be Home for Christmas and guest starred in hit series 8 Simple Rules, Veronica Mars and Smallville between 2002 and 2005.

But in 2013 JTT made a surprise return to TV in a three-episode guest role on TV dad Tim Allen’s sitcom Last Man Standing and directed one episode of the show.

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But according to IMDB he hasn’t acted in anything since.

However, the 43-year-old made headlines in December 2023, simply for being spotted going for a walk, such is the rarity of his appearances.

While it isn’t clear what he is up to work-wise these days, he is listed as a member of SAG-AFTRA’s National Board for 2023 to 2025. So being an active member of the actor’s union hints that he is still part of the Hollywood community.

Home Improvement cast: Then and now

His Home Improvement TV mum Patricia Richardson shed some light on JTT’s current career aspirations in an interview in March 2024. Her comments came after Allen suggested the cast was keen for a Home Improvement reboot.

“It was so weird, I would hear he was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about everyone was on board to do a Home Improvement reunion, but he never asked me and he never asked Jonathan [Taylor Thomas],” Richardson said on the Back to the Best podcast, per People, revealing she called JTT when she heard Allen’s comments.

“I mean, Zach is now a felon, Taran (Noah Smith) hasn’t acted since he left the show; he’s not an actor anymore and Jonathan’s not really interested in acting – he wants to direct and write and we don’t have Wilson.”

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Why did Jonathan Taylor Thomas quit acting?

All signs point to the fact that Thomas simply needed a life outside of performing.

Thomas worked 10-hour days on the set of Home Improvement and his summer breaks were spent on movie sets.

“You have school, friends, learning your lines and making sure your performance is up to speed. I can’t tell you how many shows I’ve done with full-blown migraine headaches,” Thomas told People in 1994.

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After stepping back from acting, he went to Harvard and studied history and philosophy. In 2010, he graduated from the Columbia University School of General Studies.

“I’d been going nonstop since I was eight years old. I wanted to go to school, to travel and have a bit of a break,” he told People in 2013.

“To sit in a big library amongst books and students, that was pretty cool. It was a novel experience for me.”

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How old is Jonathan Taylor Thomas now?

Thomas, who was born in 1981, is now 43 years old.

Does Jonathan Taylor Thomas have a wife?

Thomas’ personal life has been mostly kept under wraps. His current relationship status is unknown.

What is the net worth of Jonathan Taylor Thomas?

According to celebritynetworth.com, Thomas is reportedly worth $US12 million (approx. $19 million).

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Why did Home Improvement get cancelled?

Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson were both offered big money to return for a ninth season of Home Improvement but turned it down.

Richardson was reportedly offered $US1 million per episode while Allen was offered $US2 million per episode and an executive producer credit. Allen took the deal but his TV wife asked to be paid the same and also have an executive producer credit.

Richardson was keen to leave in 1999 after season eight following a divorce to spend time with her family and her request was a way out.

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“I knew that Disney would in no way pay me that much. That was my way to say ‘no’ and was a little bit of a flip-off to Disney. I’d been there all this time, and they never even paid me a third of what Tim was making, and I was working my ass off. I was a big reason why women were watching,” Richardson told the Los Angeles Times.

Without Richardson’s character Jill everyone agreed the show wouldn’t work so it ended with a three-part finale.

Has the Home Improvement cast reunited since the show ended?

Despite any frustration between Allen and Richardson over pay or Allen and Thomas over the then-teenager’s decision to leave Home Improvement, the trio did come together on screen in an episode of Last Man Standing.

In 2015, Richardson played Helen, a neighbour of Allen’s character Mike. At the end of one episode just as the credits start rolling, Helen tells Mike she realises she needs to go meet her son.

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Then the camera cuts to the fence where Helen opens the gate and lets her son – played by Taylor – in.

He says “Mum” and they hug before Mike walks over to shake his hand and says “I don’t think we’ve met.”

Helen introduces her son as “Randy” (also the name of Taylor’s Home Improvement character) who tells Mike “You look familiar”.

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Will Jonathan Taylor Thomas appear in Tim Allen’s new sitcom?

In March 2024 it was announced that Tim Allen would return to TV with a new family sitcom Shifting Gears.

Allen plays Matt the widowed owner of a car restoration shop who gets the chance to reconnect with his estranged daughter Riley (played by Kat Dennings) and her kids.

Ahead of the show’s premiere in the US on January 8 little has been announced apart from the main cast and some recurring roles.

But given that Allen’s previous sitcom brought Taylor back to TV for multiple episodes and a directing role, it’s reasonable to think that we may see him pop up on Shifting Gears at some point if the show is a success.

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