Matilda's Bruce Bogtrotter actor Jimmy Karz completely unrecognisable after quitting fame for medical career
25.07.2023 - 21:23
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Child star Jimmy Karz shot to fame for his iconic role as Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda but now looks worlds away from his former self after turning his back on the limelight.
The 38-year-old is best known for his role in the 1996 cult classic, where his character famously devoured an entire chocolate cake in front of the school. The film marked his acting debut as a youngster, and he later opened up on the experience admitting that the one scene took three weeks to film.
“That scene took about three weeks to film, from what I recall,” he said. “I had to be on set all day, and I had to wear the same outfit every day. The chocolate was already encrusted on this shirt I was wearing."
He added: “For continuity’s sake, every day I had to have the chocolate painted on my face the way it was painted on the day before.
“I despised the smell of chocolate for a few weeks after that,” he admitted. “I realised then that acting is not easy. There’s a lot of skill and professionalism involved.”
While the experience may have put Jimmy off chocolate for a while, he stuck at acting for a few more years. The child star later appeared in an episode of the fifth season of ER in 1998 opposite George Clooney and Noah Wyle.
Later in 1998, he had a role in the Adam Sandler film The Wedding Singer, as the 'Studliest kid' at a Bar Mitzvah. That would become his last acting role before he turned his back on the industry.
Almost two decades later, Jimmy graduated as a doctor at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2017.
"Through gardening, I learned a little bit about biology and chemistry, enough to realise I wanted to delve more into science," he said in 2015. "I went back to school to study biochemistry, which led me to medicine. I liked