Whatever Happened To The Actor Who Plays Lydia In Mrs. Doubtfire?
When "Mrs. Doubtfire" hit theaters in 1993, we all fell in love with Robin Williams' incredible portrayal of Daniel Hillard, a lovingly eccentric father who transforms into nanny/housekeeper Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire so he could spend more time with his children following his divorce. The film was a wild success, earning more than $219 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo. Even now, nearly 30 years after its release, "Mrs. Doubtfire" is still one of those great movies that just keeps getting better. So what ever happened to the iconic film's cast — particularly the three young actors who played Lydia, Chris, and Natalie?
We know that Matthew Lawrence, who played Chris, went on to star in a number of projects, including the TV shows "Brotherly Love" and "Boy Meets World" and the 2002 comedy "The Hot Chick" alongside Rob Schneider and Rachel McAdams. Young Natalie, played by Mara Wilson, became a successful child actor and household name thanks to her starring roles in "Miracle on 34th Street" and "Matilda" before leaving acting in 2000 to focus on writing (per NPR).
As for the eldest Hillard child, Lydia, played by Lisa Jakub, she traded in her acting career for a more humble life away from Hollywood. Keep scrolling to find out what happened to the Canadian actor and what she has been up to following her breakout role in "Mrs. Doubtfire."
Lisa Jakub retired from acting at a really young age
Just like her "Mrs. Doubtfire" co-star Mara Wilson, Lisa Jakub left Hollywood to become a writer. According to her IMDb page, she went on to act in a number of projects in the '90s, including 1996's "Independence Day" and 1997's "The Beautician and the Beast" alongside Fran Drescher before retiring in 2001 at just 22 years old. Per her official website, she is now writer, speaker, and writing teacher with two published books — 2015's "You Look Like a Girl" and 2017's "Not Just Me" — under her belt.
On Instagram, she also describes herself as a wellness coach and often shares posts about anxiety. In fact, she opened up about feeling anxious at the "Mrs. Doubtfire" premiere when she was 14 years old. "When I look at my face, I see anxiety," she wrote alongside a photo of her from that night. "I'm uncomfortable and dying to get out of there. But that was part of my job, so I put on a smile and pretended to be who I thought I needed to be."
Though she continued to act for a little while, Jakub moved to Virginia after realizing "that there must be more to life than premieres and pretending to be other people" (per her website), adding that she felt "there was something outside of movies that would feel more authentic to me." There, she met and married her husband Jeremy Jones in 2005 and is now living a happily ever after in her "own version of a Hollywood ending."