Bruce Bogtrotter actor is hard to recognise in very rare video of star as an adult

The actor who played Bruce Bogtrotter in the original Matilda film looks pretty unrecognisable in a very rare video of him as an adult.

Jimmy Karz played the young chocolate-cake loving lad in the 1996 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s popular book.

And during a reunion with his co-stars in 2021, he recreated the iconic cake scene.

You know how it goes, evil Miss Trunchbull (Pam Ferris) forces little Bruce to demolish an entire chocolate cake and somehow, he just about does it.

Featuring a cameo from director Danny Devito, they remembered every line. Watch him (looking very different) here:

The actor who played Bruce Bogtrotter in the 1996 movie ended up having a huge career change after leaving acting.

Karz may have got one of the most iconic scenes in the whole film, but he not only looks very different but has a very different life nowadays.

The star followed up his appearance in Matilda with a role in The Wedding Singer a couple of years later, along with playing a part in an episode of ER, but after that he left acting and did something else altogether.

Sony Pictures Entertainment

He spent a couple of years working as a production assistant for MTV News and also volunteered as a teacher for struggling communities, where he helped them grow their own food, but he then went and trained for another big career change.

Karz ended up studying to become a doctor at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

"Through gardening, I learned a little bit about biology and chemistry, enough to realise I wanted to delve more into science. I went back to school to study biochemistry, which led me to medicine. I liked osteopathic medicine’s focus on helping the whole patient, and I was interested in learning manual techniques to help patients," he said back in 2015.

Jimmy Karz

Going back to that beloved chocolate cake scene, DeVito revealed it took two weeks to complete with Karz and Ferris staying behind after the day's shooting had wrapped up to film it.

DeVito said it was a disgusting scene to shoot, especially as Karz was not allowed to swallow the cake he was eating and had to spit it all out between takes.

As the director he also had to remind crew members not to wipe the actor's mouth between takes, while Karz remembered that he had to wear the same outfit for the scenes and it became encrusted with chocolate.

Unsurprisingly, he wanted nothing to do with chocolate for a few weeks after finally finishing the scene.

Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

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