When Jon was only 2 years old, his mother took him on a long drive into New York City, where he made he debut into show business on a Buster Brown Shoes Poster.
Each day, they would do this, Jon working on commercials, and as a print model. From this, he managed to get a part on "One Life to Live" at the age of 6!
When he turned 9, his parents packed up and decided to move to LA, where Jon could pursue a television and movie career. Almost immediately, he won a part on the Farrah Fawcett series "Poor Little Rich Girl."
He then won small parts on several movies, until the Television Movie Series "Stephen Kings: It," in 1990 where he played the part of a chronic stutterer.
Also later that year, he featured in the sequel to The NeverEnding Story, and played the child hero, Bastian. It was here in Germany (where the movie was filmed) that he got to see and go aboard a real-life submarine!!
Jonathan in "The Neverending Story (1990)"
After this part, Jonathan scored a wide variety of Television guest star roles, on shows like "Blossom," and "Full House." However, he could not seem to land himself a series at this stage. He attended a public school at the time, and worked every alternate week.
His big time break into show business was when he starred in the silly comedy Ladybugs. Jon played the part of a girl, and got to wear a couple of dresses, however the movie did not do all that well at the box office. Even so, many people saw the movie, and began asking questions about him.
Shortly afterward, in 1992 he scored the role of geeky Barry Gebrewski in the movie SideKicks, which also starred Chuck Norris, and Beau Bridges. This movie did much better that Ladybugs did.
