Justin Cooper’s acting career spans from 1993 to 2003. He debuted at the age of five in an episode of the comedy Full House and retired at 15, in an episode of The Practice. He is now 37 years old and works behind the scenes in sports broadcast production, enjoying the anonymity he couldn’t have as a child. “I realized it was something important after Liar Liar [1997] was released and, you know, I couldn’t go anywhere public anymore,” he said this Thursday, August 13, on the The Not So Little Rascals podcast. Cooper was eight years old when the Jim Carrey-starring film premiered, in which he played his son, the reason his father cannot tell a single lie for 24 hours after wishing for it on his birthday. “It was fun working with Carrey. It was a great experience being with him and watching him work. And he was always clowning around!” he comments.
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Recalling his beginnings in Hollywood, Cooper says he only feels gratitude for the legacy he has left even though he is no longer an actor. “I thought fame was great, but it probably bothered my family a bit more,” he admits. “There was always a line of people at my table waiting to get my autograph while my family was trying to have dinner quietly,” he explains during the more than one-hour interview.
Cooper’s parents have always kept their personal and family life private, so their identities are not publicly known — although it is known that he has twin sisters, Jami and Jessi, with whom he used to pose on red carpets. The former child actor never mentions their names at any time, but he does thank his mother for the “very good job” she did protecting him “from certain things.” “You know, like when she later told me she was receiving letters from jail that she never showed me,” he points out. “Letters from jail?” the interviewers are surprised. “Yes, like those guys who are in jail and say they are big fans of mine and that I am, you know, a really cute kid,” Cooper explains with some shyness. “I’ve never received letters from jail, I’m a little jealous,” jokes one of the show’s hosts to lighten the mood.
A year after Liar Liar, Cooper consolidated his fame thanks to his leading role in Problem Child 2 (1998), where he shared scenes with Don Rickles, Betty White, and George Kennedy — who played his grandfather. As he grew older, his fame deflated, and according to the podcast, he finally decided to quit acting when he was in high school, after starting to feel disappointed when he was called to auditions. “We had to be in the car for about 45 or 50 minutes to get there, then I had to do the audition, and then I had to go home and do my homework, and the only thing I wanted at that moment was to go home and chat with the girls on Messenger,” he shares with laughter.
Currently, Cooper lives in Los Angeles, where he works as executive producer of the Fox Sports Radio sports program The Ben Maller Show. On his discreet X profile, where he has almost 8,500 followers, he describes himself with that title, as well as “ex-actor” and a fan of the Lakers and the Broncos. His posts are generally about basketball or poker games. He also has a profile on Muck Rack, a platform designed to connect journalists, podcasters, and content creators, where he writes sports articles.
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