Trivia

Auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). He lost out to Hayden Christensen.

He performed in more than 85 commercials.

Was in a relationship with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)'s actress Tatyana Ali for 3 years.

He was the only actor to appear in all 57 episodes of SeaQuest 2032 (1993).

On November 11, 2003, Brandis was found hanging in the hallway of his Los Angeles apartment. He was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and died the following day of injuries sustained from the hanging. Brandis did not leave a suicide note.

He co-wrote the SeaQuest 2032 (1993) episode The Siamese Dream (1995).

The Slainesville Boys (2004), completed in 2003, would have been his directorial debut.

An avid Pez collector.

Jonathan was close to Soleil Moon Frye, the star of Punky Brewster. From 1989 to the mid 1990s, Soleil kept a video diary of her life with her fellow teen stars in Hollywood and this was compiled into the film Kid 90 in 2021. Jonathan is caught on her videos a number of times, as are a few of his phone messages to Soleil. Understandably, she was greatly affected when he took his own life in 2003.

Was considered for Saved by the Bell (1989).

Was best friends with Jason Marsden.

As a teenager, in hopes of preparing for a directing career as well as an acting career, he filmed movies starring his friends using a home video camera.

He claimed that his dad was one of the main inspirations in his life, having taught him about the "business from an early age".

Was set to direct an episode of SeaQuest 2032 (1993), but the show was canceled before he had the chance to do so.

In 2021, his father Greg Brandis noted that Jonathan was probably suffering from bipolar disorder. He told People, "His death wasn't due to the entertainment industry. I look back now, and in his 20s, he showed signs of manic depression. I hope that anyone suffering can go get help.".

Considered Roy Scheider to be the person of the biggest influence on him as an actor.

His remains were cremated and his ashes are in the possession of his family.

Attended the Valley Professional School, a special actors school, and graduated in 1993 after doubling his high school classes.

Coincidentally, his date to the high school prom was Clueless (1995) star Brittany Murphy, another actress who died at a young age. Jonathan died in 2003 at age 27, and Brittany died in 2009 at age 32 from pneumonia.

An action figure was created based on his character, Lucas Wolenczak, from SeaQuest 2032 (1993).

At the 15th Annual Youth in Film Awards, he won Best Youth Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Series for SeaQuest 2032 (1993).

Was considered for the role of Andy Barclay in Child's Play 3 (1991).

He made his mother his manager.

Dated Monica Keena. (2000)

In the start of his teenage-life, he was considered a bit short. This phenomenon was in fact due to that he was actually also growing as an adult. During filming Sidekicks (1992) he had the same height as Mako, (5' 4"). He then seriously grew in his late teenage years. In the last season of SeaQuest 2032 (1993) when he was about 19 years old, he reached the height 5'9".

His father has English, and some German and Scottish, ancestry. His mother is of half Irish and half Italian descent. The surname Brandis traces back to Jonathan's paternal great-great-great-grandfather, Henry William Brandis, who was born in Prussia.

He dived into the world of showbiz at the age of only two, when he became a model for the Brown Shoe Company, while at the age of four he was already appearing in a variety of TV commercials.

He was friends with childhood neighbor, actress Juliette Clarke.