Give Joey Lawrence a break.

It's time he was allowed to graduate from Joey to Joseph.

He's no longer that adorable, wide-eyed, long-haired kid from Gimme A Break, Blossom and Brotherly Love.

He's 24 and a showbiz veteran of 19 years.

"People are taken back when they learn I'm only 24. It seems like I've been around forever," says Lawrence with a knowing chuckle.

Lawrence was five when his parents took him from their small Pennsylvania town to New York to audition for a Cracker Jack commercial.

The tyke was picked from thousands of other hopefuls and never looked back.

He appeared in more than 70 commercials and began guest-starring on such TV series as Silver Spoons and Diff'rent Strokes.

By the time he was seven, Lawrence was playing that spunky muppet Joey Donovan on Nell Carter's sit com Gimme A Break.

"My parents didn't push me into show business. It was always my idea, even as a child."

Lawrence is grateful to his parents for allowing him to grow up on TV.

"It has afforded me a very rare and enviable lifestyle. It's been a wonderful ride.

"At first, acting was a hobby, but now it's my life and I take it very seriously. I'm searching out feature film projects that allow me to work on as many different kinds of characters as possible.

"I've never taken acting classes because I believe I can learn more by working."

Lawrence's TV career came to an abrupt halt in 1997 when Brotherly Love, his third series, failed to find a faithful audience.

He teamed up with his two younger brothers Matt and Andrew for the TV movies Brothers of the Frontier and Horse Sense.

Lawrence also starred in the low-budget independent movies Desperate But Not Serious and Tequila Body Shots.

Now, he joins the cast of the slasher movie Urban Legend 2: Final Cut.

Lawrence knows the power of urban legends. Enough have grown up around his career. He does not, for instance, do 1,000 sit-ups a day.

"I have a rigorous workout schedule so I do about 100 sit-ups three times a week. I wouldn't even dream of trying for 1,000."

He does admit the rumours that he's afraid of spiders are true.

"I'm not a big fan of spiders, so you won't see me in a sequel to Arachnophobia. If my character survives the slaughter in Final Cut I'd gladly be in another Urban Legend."

He is guarding the privacy of his love life.

He won't confirm nor deny whether he and his Final Cut co-star Jennifer Morrison dated while they were filming their movie.

Neither will he comment on his rumoured relationships with actresses Kellie Martin, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Keri Russell.

"The only real drawback with being a public figure is you must always be aware when you go out in public you're never really alone.

"It makes friendships and relationships more difficult than they should be."


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