Matilda's Bruce Bogtrotter unrecognisable after quitting fame to become a doctor

24 July 2023, 15:08

Jimmy Karz played the greedy schoolboy forced to gobble a giant chocolate cake during school assembly.

Matilda actor Jimmy Karz, who played greedy Bruce Bogtrotter in the hit 1996 film, is unrecognisable after ditching Hollywood to become a doctor.

The former child star, now 38, shocked fans with his smart appearance, which is worlds away from the chubby schoolboy image he portrayed almost 30 years ago.

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Jimmy, who now has a career in medicine, played Roald Dahl's iconic character who was forced to eat a huge chocolate cake in front of his entire school.

After being called upon by terrifying headteacher Miss Trunchball, the plump student gobbled down a disgusting amount of Cookie's pudding as part of a humiliating punishment.

But with some encouragement from Matilda when she stood up and shouted: "You can do it, Brucey", the mischevious student managed to finish the task with a huge belch and a roaring cheer from his classmates.

Reminiscing about the famous scene during an interview with medical publication, The Do, he said: "That scene took about three weeks to film... I had to be on set all day, and I had to wear the same outfit every day. The chocolate was already encrusted on this shirt I was wearing.

"For continuity's sake, every day I had to have the chocolate painted on my face the way it was painted on the day before.

"I despised the smell of chocolate for a few weeks after that. I realised then that acting is not easy. There's a lot of skill and professionalism involved."

Matilda marked Jimmy's first ever audition and debut film role.

Following his success as Bruce Bogtrotter, he went to the star in medical drama ER alongside George Clooney.

In 1998, he also played the role of 'Studliest kid' in the popular Adam Sandler film The Wedding Singer.

But his stint in Hollywood didn't last long as Jimmy decided he wanted a more community-focused career instead.

He explained how this change came about, saying: "After undergrad, I worked as a production associate for MTV News for nearly two years.

"I realised I wanted to do more service-oriented work. I was really into community gardening at the time, and I began volunteering to teach people from low-income communities how to grow their own food."

He continued: "Through gardening, I learned a little bit about biology and chemistry, enough to realise I wanted to delve more into science.

"I went back to school to study biochemistry, which led me to medicine.

"I liked osteopathic medicine’s focus on helping the whole patient, and I was interested in learning manual techniques to help patients."

In 2017, Jimmy graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and now works as a doctor.

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