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"It's difficult to have any animosity towards someone if you recognize that on so many levels they're exactly the same as you." That was something that Jonathan Taylor Thomas learned early on, when he worked with a number of other actors and got to know the stories behind people. He was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to an industrial sales manager and a social worker and personal manager. His parents divorced in 1991. Playwright and actor Jeff Weiss is Thomas' uncle. Thomas attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, California. He graduated with honors from that school in 2000. At that point he enrolled at Harvard and studied history and philosophy. He graduated from Columbia University School of General Studies in 2010. But how did he get his start, and where's he going next? Read on to find out more about Jonathan Taylor Thomas' life and career.

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An Early Start in Television

In 1990, Thomas got his start in television with a role on The Bradys, which was a spin-off of the original The Brady Bunch show from the 1970s. On The Bradys, Thomas played Greg Brady's son Kevin. In 1991, Thomas was on three separate episodes of In Living Color, which was a popular sketch comedy show. That same year, he was also cast in the role that made him a household name -- Randy Taylor on Home Improvement. He worked on that show until 1998, when he finally left to focus more on academic achievements. But during his time on the show, he became a star in his own right and a name that most people recognized. He also gained a number of fans who followed him when he left the show and started taking other roles after returning to school.

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In 2004, Thomas took a small, guest role on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and in 2002 and 2004 he had roles on Smallville. But there was more to come. He also had roles on Veronica Mars in 2005 and in The E! True Hollywood Story based on Home Improvement. Thomas was on Last Man Standing twice in 2013, and once again in 2015. He reunited at that time with Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson, his TV parents from Home Improvement. The show was popular, but didn't reach the masses in the same way Home Improvement had. Still, Thomas continued to guest star on it and other TV programs, spending time acting and also on other pursuits as necessary. He has left and returned to acting more than once in his academic pursuits.

Films and a Personal Life

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Education was very important to Thomas, who was interested in more than just being an actor. He has said, "An education is a more surefire guarantee that you have possibilities opened to you." With a good education, Thomas knew that his acting career wasn't the only thing he could do. He would also be able to focus on other things that interested him, if acting didn't work out or if he decided that acting wasn't the thing he most wanted to do with his life. Not everyone who's interested in acting stays that way, and not everyone who starts out as an actor makes a career of it. Thomas wanted to make sure he gave himself options to choose from, in order to maintain his high level of success with his chosen pursuits.

After Home Improvement, Thomas also appeared in a number of films. These included Tom and Huck, I'll Be Home for Christmas, and Man of the House from Disney. He was also in Speedway Junky, Walking Across Egypt, The Adventures of Pinocchio, and  Wild America. While it's likely he'll act in more films, he isn't making acting his entire life like many child actors have done. Instead, he enjoys other pursuits that are not related to acting, including gaining more education. He's been a vegetarian for the majority of his life, as well. But what's Thomas going to do next? That's a fair question, and one that might not be so easily answered for someone who isn't completely focused on acting.

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Thomas isn't just a child actor, or just an actor of any kind. He's much more than that, and he's taken care to make sure he has a number of options. It would be only speculation to try to say what he might do in the future, since he's still acting but also interested in education and other activities. He may focus on activism related to being a vegetarian, return to TV shows or films, or decide that he wants to go back to school. No matter what he decides to do, though, it will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Stay tuned to see what Thomas plans next.