Until Abbott Elementary, Tyler James Williams was perhaps most recognizable as the kid from Everybody Hates Chris. He played the titular Chris Rock character and who knew that the title would end up being so apt 17 years later. Anyway, Tyler (James? I am not sure whether it’s part of his first name or a middle name) managed to transition child star success into adulthood by hiring an acting coach and being very discerning about his roles after his sitcom stint. Turns out that was partially driven by a rude comment a producer made to him on the Everybody Hates Chris set.
Of all the sets he’s been on, Williams says the learning curve on Everybody Hates Chris was the steepest. “I learned how to carry a show in a matter of two or three months,” he says. “It’s the most useful information I’ve ever gotten in my life.”
“The time this was happening was the same time the internet was becoming more ingrained in the industry,” Williams says. “So as I’m going through the most awkward years of my life, everyone sees it. I think my voice was cracking nonstop during seasons two and three. I was trying to find myself in front of everybody. And everybody had an opinion and was getting used to getting theirs out.”
Williams says he’s been in therapy for years as a result. “I could hear my name being brought up from two, three tables down. I could see how many people clocked me when I walked in the door. And that’s not healthy.” He’s recently managed to establish firmer boundaries and slow the pace of his life.
Williams also had to deal with the possibility that his career might be stunted or even ended by his early success. Hollywood can burn young actors out before they’re old enough to vote. If they aren’t discarded once they reach young adulthood, many get stuck in juvenile purgatory, playing teenagers. He remembers the time an Everybody Hates Chris producer told him, “I’ll never see you as anything else and you’ll probably never work again.” “I was like, ‘Holy shit, you really just looked at me and said that,’” Williams recalls. He notes that the comment was probably a joke, but he internalized it nonetheless.
When Everybody Hates Chris ended, Williams course-corrected. “I realized at 17 that I didn’t like the road I was on,” he says. “So I decided to stop and pivot. I got with a really good acting coach and I turned down every single thing I was offered.” Over the next 10-plus years, he eventually accepted a major part in Dear White People, meaty stints on shows like The Walking Dead and Criminal Minds, and a role in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
[From GQ via Lainey Gossip]
“I’ll never see you as anything else and you’ll probably never work again.” Um, that’s a pretty rude thing to say and Tyler (James) is giving a lot of grace to that nameless producer, because I don’t think it was a joke! Of course he internalized it. I’m sure the producer laughed it off, but meant it. Child actors can be really pigeonholed into approximations of their early roles, and even more so with Black actors who have to deal with that set of stereotypes. Everybody Hates Chris was on for four seasons and it’s pretty great that Tyler was able to course-correct immediately after that, when he was only 17. There are other actors who are much older who aren’t as strategic and discerning, so it really speaks to his commitment and maturity that Tyler James was able to do that at a point in his career when he could have been booking jobs just for the sake of it. Anyway, I’m glad he proved that producer to be very, very, wrong. I hope they read this and are eating their words. I like him in Abbott, Dear White People, and I recently watched this rom-com on Netflix with him and Sarah Hyland that I enjoyed.
