Though the American child actor, Ezra Jonah Bobo, is still relatively young, he has already officially retired from his acting career. Widely considered to be far ahead of his peers in his reasoning and acting skills, Bobo wowed the movie audience during his years in the industry. He was active in the entertainment industry between 2004 and 2012, putting out a modest filmography of 8 feature films and a 5-year-long TV series, The Backyardigans. He also has two TV guest appearances are credited to him. In his years on the screen, Bobo was able to garner two Young Artist Award nominations. All these are tributes to the young actor’s unique charisma and a consequent great future expected of him in the career.
However, just as he was beginning to get noticed, and while his fans were beginning to swell in number, Jonah Bobo got lost from the screens. This has led to many people wanting to know what happened to him. Similarly, people also want to know how he rose to stardom so early in the first place and if his early rise might be responsible in some way for his early retirement. Thus, this post is dedicated to helping to answer these questions.
Jonah Bobo Got Started In His Career Very Early
A New York native born on January 24, 1997, Jonah Bobo is the first of his parents’ two kids. The actor has a younger sister named Georgia. He is also of Jewish descent and his roots can be traced to Syria, Egypt, and Eastern Europe. However, culturally and otherwise, Bobo and his younger sister have been raised as Americans in their hometown.
Even as a toddler just starting his life’s journey in the upscale Roosevelt Island, New York, Jonah Bobo had begun to manifest the genius in him. He frequently surprised his family with his precocious abilities. For instance, it is reported by those close to his family that Bobo had learned how to read even before he was 3. It was also said that he would often be the centerpiece of attention with his many theatrics. Thus, his flair for acting was also evident from an early age. Thankfully, the actor had supportive parents – Scott and Denise Raimi – who helped to guide him, enabling him to make his career mark early enough.
Bobo debuted on the entertainment scene as a child actor at age 7. In TV and films, the talented actor has brought several roles to life, winning the hearts of many with his charm. His first movie role was as ‘Sam Zaidman’ in the 2004 comedy-drama The Best Thief in the World where he acted alongside stars like Mary-Louise Parker, David Warshofsky, David Silverman, Audra McDonald, and Lois Smith. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and later aired on Showtime. Thus, Bobo’s outstanding performance in the movie quickly gave him early world-class exposure. It then paved the way for another role as ‘Zach Lair’ in Around the Bend that same year.
In Around the Bend, Bobo quickly began to establish himself as a great talent. The film was written and directed by Jordan Roberts who used it to tell a part of his family story. The film told the story of his renegade drug-addict father and how his substance-abusing habit messed up his career and family life. Around The Bend also explores a four-generation family in which Jonah Bobo’s character was the youngest member.
How Jonah Bobo Finally Landed His Breakout Role
Though Jonah Bobo gave an impressive performance in Around the Bend, the film did not do well in terms of critical reception, garnering only 29% on Rotten Tomatoes which became Bobo’s first career blow. He was, however, not discouraged and thankfully, his breakout role came a year later when he landed a role in the hit sci-fi movie, Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005). It was Jonah’s character (Danny Budwing) in the epic space adventure that established him as a budding star and a fan favorite. Thus, between 2005 and 2012, he was very visible in Hollywood, making appearances in various notable films. He is recognized for portraying Shamus Noblet in Strangers with Candy (2005), Tod in The Fox and the Hound 2 (2006), Young Victor Mancini in Choke (2008), Robbie Weaver in Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), and Ben Boyd in Disconnect (2012).
On TV, Bobo has a handful of impressive credits which include guest appearances in single episodes of Royal Pains and 30 Rock in 2009. Jonah’s most notable work on TV so far was between 2004 and 2009 when he voiced and brought life to the animated character, Austin, in the series The Backyardigans.
Did He Win Any Award?
Jonah Bobo’s active years in Hollywood may be considered brief by some, but it was also just enough for the actor to establish himself as a talented star. Among other honors, his outstanding performances in Zathura and Crazy, Stupid, Love earned him nominations for the Young Artist Award, respectively in 2006 (Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actor Age Ten or Younger) and 2012 (Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor). However, he ended up not winning any of the nominations.
See Also: Michael Yarmush – 6 Things To Know About The TV Actor
Where Is The Precocious Child Actor Now?
The last time Jonah Bobo graced our screens was in 2012. In less than a decade, during his active years, the actor established himself as a talented and versatile star with top-notch prospects. He took a self-imposed long hiatus from acting as a teenager to presumably focus more on his studies and other interests.
Well, as likely as that option may be, it’s just what we already called it, a presumption; this is because the actor has not addressed the issue directly by any means. For reasons best known to him, Jonah Bobo has been media evasive since his last film credit in 2012. Although he once owned social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram, he has not been active on them since his hiatus began. As a result, this is one of the reasons why fans and the media alike are finding it difficult to trace the actor’s exact whereabouts at the moment.
Though it remains unclear if and when Bobo will ever grace our screens again, his fans are keeping hope alive. The last time he was seen was in 2014 – two years into his hiatus. A certain Spanish-language Twitter account named ‘Gemini’ had tweeted a photo of him in late February 2014 as follows:
@aguttiaguirre se llama Jonah bobo investigue we jajajajajajjaja tiene la misma cara que antes jajajajajaj pic.twitter.com/wYq1q9hQEY
— Beturra (@BethinaAgui) February 22, 2014
The Spanish inscription on the tweet translates roughly to “@aguttiaguirre is called Jonah Bobo. Hahahahaha, we’ve found out that he has the same face as before”.
Though his fans are eager to see Jonah back on the big and small screens, reliable sources are reporting his entertainment career status as ‘retired’ which was earlier hinted on in this post.
There were reports in 2019 that the actor was worth over $1 million. So, apart from facing his share of conventional schooling, it is possible that Bobo may have begun to ply his trade elsewhere.
