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"I spent two weeks before the shoot getting to know him and getting used to him and allowing him to get used to me. I learned a few tricks and hand signals so I could get him to perform."

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Jason J. Richter, or as you may know him "The kid from Free Willy (1993)," is one of those "Whatever happened to...?" cases. The short answer is: He's still an actor. That's just how it goes when you're in one of the biggest movies of the year when you're a kid. If you don't land another major role within the following years, you're forever known as "that kid from that one movie." Of course, you could do a lot worse than to be a superstar as a kid and a working professional actor as an adult.

Life By The Ocean

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Born January 29, 1980 in Medford, Oregon to actress Sandy and US Navy enlistee Gregory Lynn Richter, Jason was three years old when his family picked up and moved to Honolulu. It was here that Jason would get his start as an actor when a casting agency based out of Japan scouted him and landed him a few television spots. The kid showed promise, so the family moved back to the mainland, getting settled in Los Angeles so that Jason could pursue his career.

It no doubt must have felt like a major risk, leaving Hawaii behind and moving to LA on the chance that their son might have a future in film. It must have felt like even more of a long shot when he auditioned for Free Willy and found himself up against four thousand other young hopefuls. And it must have been a shock when the risk paid off and he was cast in the leading role, and an even bigger shock when it turned out to be one of 1993's biggest movies, taking in over one hundred fifty million on a twenty million dollar budget.

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The film was a dream job for the young actor. Not many actors get to make their feature film debut swimming with a killer whale all day. Jason starred as Jesse, a troubled youth caught stealing food at an aquatic theme park. He is then tasked with working at the park, bonding with Willy the orca over his harmonica playing. Jesse's own youthful anger and frustrations are reflected in the whale, who lashes out and damages his own tank after being antagonized by a group of children. Jesse soon uncovers a plot to kill the orca to cash in on the million dollar insurance policy, and he undertakes the monumental task of releasing Willy back into the ocean.

The draw of real stunts featuring Keiko the orca and a soundtrack with Michael Jackson proved a strong combination, and that iconic shot of Willy leaping clear over Jesse and into the ocean helped to carry the film to the top five for its first two weeks of release.

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After Free Willy

While Jason Richter proved a capable lead in Free Willy, the real star of the show was Keiko, so the film helped to establish Jason as a working actor, but it seemed that his time as a leading man would be a one-off deal. The next year Jason played Kevin Robberson in the comedy-crime film Cops and Robbersons (1994) and took over the role of Bastian in The Neverending Story III (1994). The third Neverending Story would often be regarded as the worst of the three, creating a major stumbling block for the young actor. The movie has been criticized for replacing too many main cast members, reducing the Luck Dragon to a Goofy-inspired caricature of himself, and relying too heavily on comic relief over the original film's sense of awe and wonder. However, the movie did feature an early role for Jack Black as an adult-aged bully still attending high school due to being held back.

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The next year Jason would return to the role of Jesse for Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995), which failed to capitalize on the success of the first film. Another sequel, Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997) followed, but it was becoming clear that Free Willy was best left as a standalone film rather than being spun into a series.

Fortunately, there was other work to be had for Richter in the late 90s. He featured on an episode of The Client (1996) and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1997) and contributed his voice to an episode of Rugrats (1997). Throughout the 2000s and 2010s he began to work as both an actor and producer, serving in the latter role on Vicious (2015), and landed his first assistant director credit for Tekken (2009), based on the wildly popular fighting game series. In The Brawler (2019) he played real-life autograph-counterfeiter John Olson.

Landing a major role as a child can be a blessing and a curse for a young actor. Jason J. Richter has maintained a strong presence as a working actor, but has not yet landed that role as an adult to match the cultural impact of Free Willy.

"I liked the film, and I'm not just saying that because I'm in it! I like the special friendship between Jesse and Willy and how they are able to patch the holes in their lives."