Jonathan Lipnicki Cried After Playing a Predator in A24's 'Primetime'

Jonathan Lipnicki went home and cried after finishing A24's "Primetime," in which he plays a pedophile caught by Robert Pattinson's Chris Hansen during a staged "Catch a Predator" sting. The 36-year-old actor broke down again on Nov. 5, recalling the experience at a Variety-moderated conversation at the Coronado Island Film Festival.

Lipnicki, who made his screen debut at age 6 in "Jerry Maguire," described the part as "psychologically harrowing." The physical exposure — he goes full frontal in the film — wasn't what frightened him. Getting inside the character's head was.

How the casting happened

Director Lance Oppenheim reached out after Lipnicki read for the role. Before accepting, Lipnicki asked to speak with him directly.

"It's a role that can easily be dismissed for shock value or for stunt casting. And I wanted to talk to him and just see how much care this would be handled with, and he made me feel from the beginning that I was involved in the creative process," Lipnicki said. "He sent me mood boards. He sent me that test footage [of Robert Pattinson] that they just released."

Oppenheim explained his reasoning. He had seen an interview with Lipnicki years earlier, liked who he was as a person, and saved the note in his iPhone. Then a crew screening of "Jerry Maguire" clicked something into place. "There's a bit of Rob that's kind of like Tom Cruise in 'Jerry Maguire,' they said," Lipnicki recounted. Watching it, Oppenheim asked: "What's Jonathan up to?"

Why the role hit close to home

The material connected uncomfortably to Lipnicki's own life as a child actor. "Growing up being a child actor, there are threats of predators. I had amazing parents, and they shielded me from a lot, but you see that. You get maybe fan mail from prison. There were times and circumstances where I had extra security," he said.

Preparation offered no relief. He watched more of the show, read interviews and listened to podcasts about predators. "How do I prepare for something that I find so disgusting?" he asked. "It took a lot of frustration and nausea. I got really nauseous a lot of the time."

"After I shot it," he said, "I felt I had to wash myself clean of this and not think about it."

What does this change for Lipnicki's career?

The tears, it turns out, weren't only about the darkness. "I cried because you dream about being on a set like that. You work really hard, you dream to be with people like that, and they treated me so well," he said. Doubt followed in the weeks after — "Was it the right choice to make?" — but working at that level, he said, was what helped him cope.

"Primetime" is one of two psychological thrillers Lipnicki currently has out. At the festival he also debuted "Williston," written and directed by Adam Seidel, which he stars in and produces. Staying busy, he said, is deliberate.

"I grew up with horrible anxiety; my hands would break out with eczema. The only times I didn't have anxiety would be when I was filming because I love it so much," he said. "A lot of my confidence is not built off the success I've had. It's built off the failures I've had."

With three decades in the business and a career now built on roles that scare him, Lipnicki is betting that risk — not nostalgia — is what keeps an actor working.