You Look Like That Girl
A Child Actor Stops Pretending and Finally Grows Up
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Average rating4
15
A Child Actor Stops Pretending and Finally Grows Up
Ratings1
Average rating4
At the age of twenty-two, Lisa Jakub had what she was supposed to want: she was a working actor in Los Angeles. She had more than forty movies and TV shows to her name, she had been in blockbusters like Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day, she walked the red carpet and lived in the house she bought when she was fifteen. But something was missing. Passion. Purpose. Happiness.Lisa had been working since the age of four, after a man approached her parents at a farmer’s market and asked her to audition for a commercial. That chance encounter dictated the next eighteen years of her unusual— and frequently awkward—life. She met Princess Diana... and almost fell on her while attempting to curtsy. She filmed in exciting locations... and her high school asked her not to come back. She went to fancy parties... and got kind of kidnapped that one time. Success was complicated.Making movies, traveling the world, and meeting intriguing people was fun for a while, but Lisa eventually realized she was living a life based on momentum and definitions of success that were not her own. She battled severe anxiety and panic attacks while feeling like she was living someone else’s dream. Not wanting to become a child actor stereotype, Lisa retired from acting and left L.A. in search of a path that felt more authentic to her.In this funny and insightful book, Lisa chronicles the adventures of growing up in the film industry and her difficult decision to leave behind the only life she had ever known, to examine her priorities, and write the script for her own life. She explores the universal question we all ask ourselves: what do I want to be when I grow up?
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As an adolescent, Lisa Jakub starred in huge Hollywood movies like Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day. And then in her early 20s, she gave it up and moved to Virginia with her now-husband. Her memoir traces her path through show business, beginning with her parents being approached at a farmer's market in Canada by a talent scout when she was just four years old, through auditions and being kicked out of high school due to her long absences to make movies, and her gradual realization that while she loved being on set and bonding with her coworkers, she didn't actually love acting or want to do it anymore. I'd read a blog Jakub maintained quite some time ago and was pleasantly surprised to find that she was a talented writer, and that impression held true for this book as well. Her words are humorous, honest, and compelling, and her retirement at 22 makes a lot of sense after the way she recounts her experiences in her career. But if you're looking for something dishy, this might not be for you. She barely touches on the filming of her most prominent movies, recounting little about Robin Williams and nothing at all about Will Smith. It's not super substantial, but I found it a quick and enjoyable read.
