Back in 1998, Michael Keaton and Kelly Preston starred in 'Jack Frost.' They played a husband and wife (the husband meets an untimely end and is revived as a snowman), and their son was a cute kid named Charlie.
Charlie was actually Joseph Cross, a 12-year-old who was just starting his acting career. In fact, right before Joseph played Michael's son in 'Jack Frost,' the pair also shared the screen in 'Desperate Measures,' which came out the same year.
Fans know that Keaton was recently in 'Batman,' though he seems to have disappeared from view lately. But who was the child actor Charlie, and what's he been doing since that fateful film (which totally bombed at the box office)?
As IMDb highlights, Joseph also had a few roles before 'Jack Frost.' Though 'Jack Frost' didn't do well (critics hated it), it seemed that it wasn't Cross's performance that was the problem. It was probably one '90s movie the lead actors regretted, too.
Ultimately, critics called Joseph's acting in 'Running with Scissors' a few years later his "breakout role." Since then, Joseph has had consistent acting work, but he's also produced a couple of films. While he's been hanging around Hollywood pretty consistently, and he's also started directing.
The thing is, directing is what Joseph has always wanted to do. In fact, he wrote for Talkhouse on the topic of his directorial debut, 'Summer Night.' While the actor-director explained that he was fortunate to have plenty of connections in the industry, the one challenge wound up being the financing.
'Summer Night' was more of an indie film than a blockbuster, and while Cross was able to secure an excellent cast (including Victoria Justice, Ellar Coltrane, Lana Condor, and others), the money wasn't available up-front.
Things finally came together for Joseph right around the time his daughter was born, he wrote, so she was on set sometimes while he was filming. It took 13-hour days, Cross explained, and when their financier ghosted them, he started racking up credit card debt to keep things moving.
It turned out that the "financier" had no money at all, and Joseph's film was floundering. But when he let the crew know they had to stop filming (the Screen Actors Guild demanded it after they didn't get their money), they all chipped in to make it happen. The actors, stunt coordinator, cinematographer, costume designer, and more all pitched in to help fund the movie.
The fact that they believed in Cross's film is sort of a testament to the kind of actor and director he is, but it also highlights that he's a pretty cool dude, too. Not too bad for a kid who started out as a child star in a film that flopped!