Tyler James Williams: star of Everybody Hates Chris

IT'S hard for Tyler James Williams to recall a time when he didn't act. Sure, the star of the hit UPN sitcom Everybody Hates Chris is only 13, but he's been earning an acting paycheck since he was 4.

He got his start on Sesame Street, where he performed for several years. Additionally, he worked on Bill Cosby's animated series Little Bill, and has appeared on the hit drama Law & Order: SVU.

Acting wasn't something he considered as a child. He just did it for fun. "I never decided to become an actor," he explains. "It just came to me. I just performed for my mother, doing impersonations of people when I was little. People were impressed with what they saw me doing, and we contacted an agent and that was that."

And now he has more visibility than he ever imagined. "Everything is going so well," says the New York Jets fan. "We're moving very well with the show and people are liking it."

Everybody Hates Chris, one of the few shows that has already been picked up for a whole season, is based on the teenage life of comedian Chris Rock as he was bused from his Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood to an integrated school, where he was often picked on. Rock does the narration of the show, but Williams gets to show his comic skills, handling realistic adolescent situations such as falling in love with girls who barely know he exists.

The show features Tichina Arnold and Terry Crews as his parents, and Tequan Richmond and Imani Hakim as his younger siblings. Vincent Martella plays his White friend at the school.

"When I first read the script, I knew it was going to be a hit show. It was actually funny! And people can relate to what happened in 1982 [the year in which the show is set]--the songs, the shows, the movies."

Not surprisingly, he enjoys working with Rock. "It's fun working with him," he says. "He gives us jokes to come up with for the show, and we get to ad-lib sometimes."

And, since he's a veteran, Williams never gets nervous, even during auditions. "The only time I've ever been nervous was in 1997 when my brother [Tyrel] popped out. At the age of 5, I realized I was going to be a big brother. For a quick second I thought about it, then I went back to playing with my toys. That was the only time I was nervous."

Williams, a native New Yorker, also is big brother to Tylen, 3. Both his younger brothers are performers, and he has used his relationship with his brothers to help with his character development. "Having younger brothers makes it easy," he says. "When we had one scene where I had to be mad at my brother and sister, I just thought about when I was really mad at my brothers. That made it easier."

And now, the veteran performer says he's prepared to make a commitment to the craft. "It looks good that this is what I'm going to do," he declares. "This is going to be it!"

COPYRIGHT 2006 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning