From Matt McGuire To 'MindsEye': Jake Thomas Looks Back On 'Lizzie McGuire' Ahead Of A Big Anniversary

Reflecting on the upcoming 25th anniversary of the beloved Disney Channel series, “Lizzie McGuire,” actor Jake Thomas shared an exclusive look at his time on the show, why he believes the show was successful, and what he’s been doing since as a multi-hyphenate actor, director, and photographer. 

Thomas had some time to sit down with The Blast to talk about the 25th anniversary of the hit Disney show, his role in the video game “MindsEye,” and more. 

The hit Disney show, "Lizzie McGuire," is about to celebrate a big milestone. The 25th anniversary of the show brings on memories for Thomas, who played the role of Lizzie's mischievous little brother Matt. He quickly became a fan favorite and a memorable part of the show thanks to his clever pranks, sibling rivalry with Lizzie, and interesting imagination. Thomas shared some thoughts on it being 25 years since the show debuted and captured hearts and fans.

"25 years is a very, very, very long time, I'm realizing. It's a quarter of a century, which sounds even bigger that way. I think it's crazy," Thomas told The Blast exclusively. "It feels like it was yesterday, but it also feels like it was about a century ago, depending on the day of the week. Time flies."

When asked about specific memories from his time on the "Lizzie McGuire" set, Thomas said, "one thing that overall stands out to me is just how much fun I had."

"I really got to be a kid on that show. Matt was such a character that was so involved with doing all these pranks and stunts and every day was a brand-new adventure," he said. "I think just the main memory that stands out in general was just how fun it was. Every day, didn't feel like work, it felt like play."

When asked how much of Matt's personality was actually Thomas' personality coming through the character, Thomas explained that "sometimes, the lines were blurred."

"Sometimes the lines between Matt McGuire and Jake Thomas are blurred, which I think that's just an absolute privilege because the character was so much fun," he said.

"But I think where we did differ though is I don't think that I ever felt the need in my normal at-home life to prank anybody or cause any mischief, so I was a much better-behaved kid at home than in the McGuire household. But I think we both did enjoy a few good jokes and some good characters and having fun along the way."

Thomas said that he finds it "perplexing" that the show still resonates with so many viewers after two decades and still maintains a "cultural relevance."

"That's a very rare thing in the entertainment world, but I think some of the things that really made it long lasting are it was really special time for kids' show entertainment," he told The Blast. "I think 'Lizzie McGuire' set a new bar for what kids' shows could be. Yes, it can be fun and silly, but at the same time, it can also have great values."

Thomas also explained that since the show was pre-social media, that helped preserve the show and keep it pure.

"Lizzie McGuire" had 65 episodes and then a movie before leaving the screen. But at the end of 2019, there was an attempt at a reboot.

"I heard talk for a really long time about them trying to do a reboot of some form," Thomas told The Blast. "It was attempted quite a few times before that. Originally, we were going to try to do a run on ABC that was going to be Lizzie in high school, and then when that didn't pan out, they had another pilot that was a spinoff of the show that followed Miranda's character with her younger sister. It was going to have the same kind of format, but was going to be starring Selena Gomez, but that didn't make it past the pilot."

The reboot in 2019 was going to be for Disney+. They shot two episodes and then took a hiatus over the winter break, but they ended up not going back after.

"I think it was a combination of Disney+ not launching yet and not really knowing what they wanted, you know, what kind of content format, whether it was going to be more geared towards adults or kids," he continued. "I think at the time they were like we want to play it really safe and have it very family friendly kind of content and you had other creatives on the reboot who wanted to be more true, you know, this is the 30-year-old version of Lizzie McGuire. This is for the millennials that grew up with this."

In addition to the butting heads, COVID hit and everything "fell apart like a perfect storm."

Thomas got his start in acting at the young age of 6 after talking an agent's "ear off" and being told that he would be "great for commercials." His parents were acting and writing, and Thomas just got "mixed up in it by chance."

"At 6-years-old I wanted nothing more than to be a standup comedian so I just had a whole book of jokes that I would tell anybody who would give me the time of day, so of course, I talked the agent's ear off, and the agent was like, you'd be great for commercials," Thomas said. "It just snowballed. I did tons of national commercials and from there I did TV, and then did my first feature film."

Then "Lizzie McGuire" happened, and the "rest is history."

In his 20s, Thomas decided to branch out to "see what I was capable of on a different playing field than just acting." He first started the hobby of photography that grew into something more than just a hobby. He began submitting to photography competitions and winning. He eventually did commercial photography and that evolved into directing.

A bit of a different project for Thomas was the video game, "MindsEye."

"'MindsEye' is this huge video game, and I've done video games before, but it was just all voiceover. It was no different from doing animation," he explained. "But this is a completely different beast because it's very much akin to the same technology they use on the 'Avatar' movies. So, you're in a motion capture suit with all the dots and everything on it, but it's a step up from that because you're wearing a helmet that has an arm that goes up front and its cameras that map your face as your talking and acting things out. All of that is being recorded digitally and put into videos."

Thomas was involved in "MindsEye" for nearly five years and said it was "so much fun."

Thomas is currently auditioning for more major video game titles because he said he "really likes" performance capture gigs.

While Thomas keeps busy with different types of jobs - acting, directing, photography - acting "takes priority" and something he hopes to do "until I'm 99 years old."