Famous beyond ‘Everybody Hates Chris’: discover the career of Tyler James Williams | Pop

For many Brazilian fans of “Everybody hates Chris”Tyler James Williams practically became a persona non grata.

Perhaps the pain that comes from fans of “Everybody hates Chris” nurtured by Tyler didn’t allow many to know that the actor still “has borogodó”, as one of the series’ famous catchphrases says.

Williams currently plays Professor Gregory Eddie in the celebrated comedy series “Abbott Elementary”which premiered in 2021 and is in its third season.

In addition to accumulating praise from specialized critics, the show earned the actor two Emmy nominations, the first of his career, and the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy, drama or musical series, another important and unprecedented milestone in the actor’s trajectory. artist.

“There’s nothing harder than the transition from child star to adult starbut Tyler has always been very comfortable in his own skin and that’s why he will continue to shine,” wrote Terry Crews, who plays Julius in “Everybody hates Chris”when talking about the work of the actor who played his son in fiction in a text published by Time magazine.

In fact, turning the switch from child promise to consolidated actor was not simple for Williams and he realized this in an experience he defined as “traumatic” as soon as filming the sitcom that revealed it have come to an end.

In an interview with GQ magazine, Williams said that on the last day of filming “Everybody hates Chris”which ran between 2005 and 2009, a producer on the series said: “I’ll never see you anywhere again and you probably won’t work again“.

Tyler was impacted by the speech and concluded that he needed to do something to avoid being labeled just for that job. “I realized at 17 that I didn’t like the path I was on, so I decided to turn around.. I went to a great acting coach and turned down every role they offered me.”

In the years following the end of “Everybody hates Chris”Williams made brief appearances in lesser series until appearing in an episode of the medical drama “Dr. House” in 2011. In 2012, he starred in the musical television film “Let It Shine”produced by Disney Channel, in the role of a young rapper who uses his talent for music to win the girl of his dreams.

2012 also marked Williams’ return to recurring cast on a TV series in the comedy “Go On”in which the actor played the shy character Owen Lewis and starred alongside the late Matthew Perry, the show’s protagonist.

In 2013, he starred in a theatrical film for the first time in the satirical comedy-drama “Dear White People” (2014), which follows the discomfort of a group of black students in the face of racist situations they face at a prestigious American university. Tessa Thompson also works on the project, which years later was adapted into a TV series format.

Back on a highly popular series, Williams joined the cast of “The Walking Dead” in 2014 and starred in 10 episodes of the post-apocalyptic series as Noah, who forms a strong friendship with Beth Greene (Emily Kinney) and joins the survivors led by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). In the end, the character was devoured by zombies in one of the most impactful episodes of the series, which left a lasting impression on the actor. “They said ‘cut’ and then I broke down and cried for two minutes on set,” Williams recalled in an interview with Deadline.

In the following years, he made short appearances in TV series such as “Criminal Minds” (2015), “Ballers” (2015) and “Instant Mom” (2015) until being consolidated in the cast of the spin-off “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” (2016 – 2017), a police series in which he plays a technical analyst for an elite FBI squad.

The actor also worked with award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow on the drama based on true events “Detroit in Rebellion” (2017), starring John Boyega and Anthony Mackie. After taking a brief career break in 2017 to undergo surgery for a Crohn’s disease diagnosis, Williams starred in the romantic comedy “One More Wedding” (2019), in which he was a romantic partner with actress Sarah Hyland, from “Modern Family”.

One of his most recent works in cinema was in the biopic “United States vs. Billie Holiday” (2021), which earned an Oscar nomination for protagonist Andra Day and featured Williams in the role of Lester Young’s saxophonist.

Also in 2021, it debuted in “Abbott Elementary”a comedy filmed in the style of a mockumentary that addresses the daily life of a public school in Philadelphia, in the United States, predominantly attended by black students.

The series was created by Quinta Brunson, who also stars in the show as the idealistic teacher Janine. Amid the confusion and challenges of the school routine, Janine experiences romantic tension with Williams’ character, a substitute teacher who arrived at the school after not being approved for the role of director.

“I couldn’t be happier that ‘Abbot’ happened now and not five or ten years ago. I know what I’m doing and I’m comfortable with my choices. If I pursue my truth and what I think my truth is, everything It’s going to be fine”, said the actor in an interview with Elle in 2023.