Photo: Rich Polk/NBC via Getty
Tyler James Williamsis ready to embrace his fun side.
DuringThe Hollywood Reporter’s Comedy Actor Roundtable, theAbbott Elementarystar — who plays substitute teacher Gregory Eddie — opened up about feeling like he’s finally reached a “f— it” phase of his career.
“I think for a while I was doing things just to survive,” he shared. “I think one of the hard parts of finding success young is then you’re thrown into the ‘do you have staying power’ argument. I was just trying to keep the train moving, which eventually everyone figures out is not sustainable.”
“But after taking those periods of silence, I was able to figure out what I actually wanted to do,” he continued. “If you don’t get to ‘f— it, I do what I want’ [phase], eventually you burn out.”
Tyler James Williams.Kevork Djansezian/NBC via Getty
The actor revealed thatSteven Yeunwas actually his source of inspiration for the philosophy. “Every time I’m like, ‘I feel like I should do this,’ or I have people on my team saying, ‘You should go this way,' I think about Steven and I’m like, ‘Steven would just be like, ‘Nah, I’m going to wait,'" he shared.
“I’ve admired that about [Yeun’s] career since leavingThe Walking Dead,” he added.
Williams also shared that he’s at a “fun” place in his career right now with the success ofAbbott.
“All my favorite things I’ve ever done came about because I wasn’t thinking about that thing. That’s what happened withAbbott,” he explained. “In the middle of the pandemic, I think I was at home, just high, eating chips, and it popped up.”
“I’m just really having fun right now with what comes,” he added.
Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams.Gilles Mingasson/ABC
Williams has been open about his career trajectory, beginning as a child actor on the sitcomEverybody Hates Chris, which was based onChris Rock’s teenage years.
In aninterview with GQin March, he claimed that a producer on the show once told him, “I’ll never see you as anything else and you’ll probably never work again.”
“I was like, ‘Holy s—, you really just looked at me and said that,’” Williams said.
Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams on Abbott Elementary.Gilles Mingasson/ABC
Discussing his character in the show, Williams continued, “I pray that this is a win for Gregory Eddie and for his story and for stories like this that we may understand but his story just as important as all of the other stories that have to be told out here. Thank you so much for this.”
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source: people.com
