Jonah Bobo
Born on 24th January 1997 in Roosevelt Island, New York, USA, Jonah Bobo is a former child actor who retired from showbiz in 2012. The “Backyardigans” star was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household; his paternal great-grandmother was Salha “Mama” Bobo, a businesswoman and philanthropist who became locally famous in Tampa, Florida as the owner of the Blue Ribbon Market minimarts. The mother of seven featured in numerous print and news stories and even her own documentary, passed away in 2001 at which point she reportedly had almost 100 relatives in the Tampa Bay area, including dozens of great-grandchildren.
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Regarding Jonah’s parents, we can confirm that his father Scott works in software, whereas his mother Denise advertises herself as a health and wellness advocate on social media, with a focus on “fascial and energy work”. (Although most people have never heard of a fascia practitioner, this is a real thing – the fascia is a casing of connective tissue that surrounds our organs, blood vessels, bones, and muscles, and fascia practitioners such as Denise work on release therapies to increase joint mobility and tissue flexibility in their clients).
Jonah has one younger sister named Georgia, who makes frequent appearances on Denise’s personal social media account. Jonah can also be spotted in several of Denise’s posts. Meanwhile, Jonah and Georgia’s father, Scott, prefers not to have an online presence.
Career
Jonah’s first movie role was in the 2004 comedy-drama “The Best Thief in the World”, which was followed by a heartfelt performance as Zach Lair in the road-comedy drama “Around the Bend”. Although both projects were major flops – “Around the Bend” made little over $500,000 at the box office, despite starring Christopher Walken and Josh Lucas – Jonah impressed casting agents enough to land several jobs afterwards.
From 2004 to 2013, the actor also voiced Austin in “The Backyardigans”. Concurrently, in 2005, he had an uncredited role in the independent movie “Strangers with Candy”, later playing Danny Budwing in the sci-fi film “Zathura: A Space Adventure”. The unsuccessful movie was a stand-alone spin-off from the 1995 blockbuster “Jumanji”, with Jonah playing one of the lead characters, and earning his first (YAA) nomination in 2006.
A year after “Strangers with Candy”, Jonah voiced Tod in “The Fox and the Hound 2”, an animated direct-to-video comedy produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Two years later, the New Yorker had a role as young Victor Mancini in “Choke”, a dark comedy based on the Chuck Palahniuk novel about a sex addict who cons people to pay for his mother’s hospital bills. Coincidentally, Jonah’s mother Denise also had a minor role in the movie.
2009 saw Jonah guest-star in episodes of “30 Rock” and “Royal Pains”, then in 2011, he played Robbie Weaver in “Crazy, Stupid, Love”, which was arguably his most successful movie, as it made almost three times its $50 million budget at the box office; the following year, the child star was nominated for a Young Artist Award in the Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor category.(
Jonah’s last role was in the 2012 psychological drama “Connect”, which explored the downsides of modern-day technology, namely its negative effects on human relationships. His character, Ben Boyd, was tricked into sending nude pictures of himself which were then distributed to his classmates. The cyberbullying that Ben suffered as a consequence led to him attempting suicide by hanging, and ending up in a coma.
Jonah then retired from acting so as to focus on his education, and enjoy a normal childhood. He’s since rebranded himself as a recording artist and producer who’s released several independent projects, such as his “Rainbow” LP and “Newgrass Suite”. In 2023, Jonah embarked on his first tour for “The Simon & Garfunkel Story”, covering some of the folk-rock duo’s greatest hits in the US and Canada.
Jonah, who is 5ft 8in (174cm) tall, is worth approximately $500,000, thanks to his past acting pursuits and his new career in the music industry.
Co-Stars
Although “Zathura” wasn’t the big success that movie execs may have hoped for, it helped launch the careers of two well-known Hollywood actors: namely Kristen Stewart and Josh Hutcherson, who played Jonah’s on-screen siblings Lisa and Walter in the adventure movie.
After “Zathura”, it would take years for Kristen and Josh to achieve mainstream recognition (Kristen, thanks to her portrayal of Bella Swan in the “Twilight” franchise, and Josh, for his depiction of Peeta in “The Hunger Games”). Kristen, who was born in 1990, was just 15 years old when “Zathura” premiered in cinemas but had already had a number of roles in projects such as “Catch That Kid”, “Undertow”, and “Speak”.
The latter project helped her begin to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry, as The New York Times and other publications praised her performance in the gritty Lifetime television film. However, the actress’s portrayal of Lisa in “Zathura” failed to draw media attention, as her character was immobilized for most of the film.
In November 2007, it was announced that Kristen would be playing the lead character in “Twilight”. The movie franchise became a cultural phenomenon of unforeseen popularity, and helped her become a Hollywood darling until 2012, when she was caught cheating on boyfriend and co-star Robert Pattinson with her “Snow White and the Huntsman” director Rupert Sanders – 19 years Kristen’s senior and was married at the time.
Despite issuing a heartfelt apology, it took a while for the public to forgive the actress, who has since had starring roles in a number of movies, and also participated in fashion campaigns.
As for Josh Hutcherson, he began acting in the early 2000s with minor film and TV roles, as well as commercial work. In his teenage years, he rose to prominence thanks to roles in “Bridge to Terabithia”, “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, and “The Kids Are All Right”, which helped him land a leading role as Peeta Mellark in “The Hunger Games”:
The record-setting movie franchise thrust Josh and his co-stars – especially Jennifer Lawrence, who played Katniss Everdeen – into the public eye with yearly releases between 2012 and 2015. Between filming, Josh somehow found time to play a lead role in “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island”, and do voiceover work for the 2013 animated movie “Epic”. He also won a People’s Choice Award and three MTV Movie Awards for his performance as Peeta.
Since then, Josh has had a number of notable appearances, in “57 Seconds”, “Burn”, and “Future Man” to name a few. However, he has always been interested in directing and producing, which has led to great movies such as “The Forger”, “Detention”, and “Escobar: Paradise Lost”.
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