Apparently, Even Everybody Hates Chris Producer… Hated Chris
Remember that adorable feel-good sitcom based on Chris Rock's teen years? It has been 14 years since it ended, and the star is finally ready to reopen his own old wounds!
In an interview for GQ, Tyler James Williams shares his experiences as a child actor on the set of Everybody Hates Chris.
Set in the '80s, the show follows teenage Chris Rock ( the time he was the hated one… oh, how the tables have turned!) as he handles the usual teen stuff.
While the series is considered one of the best sitcoms of the 2000s and has been critically acclaimed, this recent interview with the star of the show reveals that not everything may have been as good as one might think!
Talking about his breakout titular role, Williams mentions the time one of the show's producers straight up told him, "I'll never see you as anything else and you'll probably never work again."
Wow, imagine working on a family show and saying that to a literal child? That is just cold.
The actor supposes that the comment could easily have been a joke, but he still remembered it and carried it with him into his adult years.
Anyway, like any child actor, Tyler faced the possibility that his career might be over after the hit show – he was in danger of becoming a one-role star.
When Everybody Hates Chris ended, Williams made a smart move. He stopped and thought for a minute about what he really wanted to do.
The actor "got with a really good acting coach" and even turned down a few offers before getting the ones he was truly interested in!
In 2014, Williams landed the role of Lionel Higgins in Dear White People, for which he won Best Breakthrough Performance at the Black Reel Awards.
Funny, by 2014, Williams had already been a breakout star twice – first as a child actor and then as a young adult.
By the way, in 2018, the actor made a cameo appearance as Carson Rhodes in the movie's spinoff series of the same name.
However, what can really make that Everybody Hates Chris producer eat their words is Williams's third (and counting?) breakout role in Abbott Elementary – the show's creator and actress Quinta Brunson has actually written the character of Gregory Eddie specifically for Tyler!
The actor has already won a Golden Globe and been nominated for a Hollywood Critics Association TV Award for the role. Who knows what's next for him…