‘Liar, Liar’ child star reveals disturbing letters prisoners sent him when he was just 8
Child actors never seem to get an easy ride of things and for many, the childhood fame can sometimes be a bit too much for them.
There have been tragic stories of former starts of the screen who became dependent on drugs or alcohol once the acting gigs dried up, while we also tragically lost Lilo & Stitch voice actor Daveigh Chase earlier this year.
Macaulay Culkin has been vocal about his struggles having been arguably one of the biggest child stars in history thanks to his role in Home Alone, which saw him become his family's main provider before he'd even become a teenager.
And although he didn't quite have the same levels of fame, there was also a period where Liar, Liar star Justin Cooper couldn't leave the house without being recognised by his fans.
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However, while he enjoyed feeling 'cool' to begin with, there was a disturbing other side to his fame, which he discussed in a recent interview on the “Not So Little Rascals” podcast.
Co-hosts Jordan Warkol and Blake Collins asked the 37-year-old if there were any 'overwhelming' or 'scary' moments from his childhood fame, which also led him to star as Dennis the Menace in a 1998 live-action film.
He said: “My mum did a really good job of kind of, like, shielding me from stuff, you know.
“She would tell me later on about, like, prison mail that I would get that she never showed me.
“Like, letters from people in jail, like, talking about … you know … dudes in jail talking about how they’re such big fans of me and, like, I’m such a cute kid.”
Naturally, the co-hosts were pretty shocked by this admission and called it 'wild' and 'bizarre', and thankfully Cooper was protected by his mother, even if he didn't fully appreciate the meaning behind those letters as a kid.
“I couldn’t really go anywhere in public. I enjoyed it. I thought it was cool,” Cooper added.
He admitted it 'probably annoyed' his family 'a little bit more' recalling how people would line up at their hometown buffet just to ask for his autograph.
Liar Liar saw Jim Carrey star as a lawyer who is forced to speak the truth for 24 hours, with Cooper playing his on-screen son.
Cooper is still working in the world of media although not as an actor, as he currently works as an executive producer on “The Ben Maller Show” on FOX Sports Radio.
His last acting credit came in a 2003 episode of The Practice.
James Moorhouse