Thursday, March 28, 2024

Jaleel White on His ‘Unique’ New CBS Series and Cultural Impact of ‘Family Matters’ [EUR Exclusive]

*Former childhood star Jaleel White may be best known for a character that is largely considered part of the fabric of American pop culture (Steve Urkel on “Family Matters”), but it’s his latest role as “Darryl” on the new CBS series “Me, Myself and I” that most parallels the real-life man and father he is now.

Created by Dan Kopelman, Bobby Moynihan stars in the new comedy series about the defining moments in one man’s life over three distinct periods – as a 14-year-old in 1991 (played by Jack Dylan Grazer), at age 40 in present day and at age 65 in 2042 (played by John Larroquette). In 2017, 40-year-old Alex is an inventor/entrepreneur on top of the world until his wife leaves him and threatens to take their daughter, Abby, with her, sending him into a tailspin that requires the help of his best friend and business partner, Darryl, to get him back on track.

When EUR/Electronic Urban Report caught with Mr. White, he teased about the journey that Darryl and Alex are going to take viewers on this season.

“I’m letting this man live in my garage free of charge. I don’t think there’s any series that’s going to premiere this year that defines friendship better than that,” he told us about the dynamic between best friends Darryl and Alex.

White also told us how he really feels about Hulu’s TGIF deal, which will soon allow subscribers to binge the entire “Family Matters” series beginning September 29.

Check out our Q&A with the actor below.

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:  ‘Page Six TV’: Bevy Smith is Bringing Her ‘Pizzazz’ to ‘The OG of the Gossip Game’

CBS comedy series

What can you tell our readers about the journey that Alex and Darryl are going to take viewers on?

JW: Alex is going through a tough time in his life. As the series fills out, you’ll see how and Darryl and Alex met, which I think you’ll find funny. You’ll see that the relationship is organic and not forced in any way. But ultimately, at the age of 40, Darryl is kinda almost turning into a default life coach/best friend to Alex. Alex is going through a divorce and living in my garage with his 8-year-old daughter. But at the same time, I gotta pull the best outta this guy, that’s why I used the coach analogy because we’ve got to pull out his best inventor skills so that he can ultimately become John Larroquette’s character, which is the successful billionaire in 2042.

There’s a great backstory between the two characters. I’m definitely trying to make the character as empathic as possible to Alex’s plight. I’m a sounding board for him but also I’m a voice of reason. That’s the thing I’m most proud of, is the chemistry I’ve been able to develop with Bobby Moynihan, very quickly, and I’m looking forward to seeing how that translates to screen. Premiere days matter just as much to me as they do to you guys ‘cause I get a chance to see the final product.

What’s going to surprise viewers about this series? What makes it unique from other comedies that explore similar themes (such as marriage, appearance vs reality, order and disorder)?

JW: Visually, you’re going to love our transitions from time period to time period. We seamlessly jump around from 1991 to 2042 back to the present and we even have characters in other time periods buttoning jokes that were set up in a previous time period. So I think that’s a very unique device, visually. Most sitcoms are only going to give you two stories, we’re really averaging a strong three stories right now because of the device. The other thing I think that people are really going to enjoy will be the nostalgia that the show offers. I grew up in the 90’s and I think that’s one of the reasons why I was very touched that Warner Brothers and CBS saw fit to add me to the cast. These kids are going to grow up with everything that I was a part of in the 90’s. So it’ll be interesting, should the show stay on long enough, to see what pop culture elements get added to the show.

Again, I can’t spoil too much for you, but it’s pretty much like, every week, the boys in 1991… it’s working like a “Wonder Years” almost. So that’s fun. If you liked the “Wonder Years” you’re definitely going to like this show. And then lastly, I’m a very curious person about the future and 2042 is going to be fun to see how we continue to stimulate you visually. Dan (Kopelman) is drawn from movies like the film “Her” with Joaquin Phoenix, to depict what life is going to be like in 2042. So I think people are actually going to tune in to be like, “Well, I wanna see what they’re saying about 2042.” And you get all of this in a half hour and I think that’s pretty cool.

Me, Myself & I
Jaleel White and Bobby Moynihan attend the 2017 Summer TCA Tour CBS Television Studios’ Summer Soiree at CBS Studios – Radford on August 1, 2017 in Studio City, California.
(July 31, 2017 – Source: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images North America/ZIMBIO

Overall, the series seems to be about reinventing yourself, at any age. Can you recall a moment when you were forced to put life on pause, reflect and reinvent yourself? And what was the outcome?

JW: (laughs) Yeah, after “Dancing with the Stars.” That was really actually a pivotal moment. I wasn’t too keen on doing the show and my manager wanted me to do the show and I am somewhat of an athlete but that show is just not about being an athlete so I came ready to dance and that show was like, “Welcome to our reality world.” And it was like, “Oh, okay.” So I learned a lot about myself throughout their process and I’m very grateful for having been on “Dancing with the Stars.” Sometimes we can be in our early 30’s and mid 30’s and not even realize we have so much growing to do as a person. So that show really helped me over my final hump growing professionally before I was able to be prepared to do some other things.

And the other thing for me is having my daughter. When my daughter got here, my outlook became so simplistic. Things that bothered me in the past, they didn’t bother me anymore. I felt like my skill level went up, even as an actor. I accepted it for what it was, this is my job. I go to work, I’m a dad. So “Dancing with the Stars” and having my daughter were the two most pivotal moments in my recent adulthood that shaped me for opportunities like this one.

Hulu subscribers will soon be able to binge the entire “Family Matters” series. Do you think this release is going to open the show up to an entirely new generation?

JW: One thing I am proud of is “Family Matters,” and I think it’s making it more readily available but I don’t think it’s opening it up to anybody. I remember going to my daughter’s perspective parent night for her school and they had six, sixth graders on the stage and after they were done talking to all the parents, the sixth graders came running off the stage, all of them, racing over to me, and they were like, “It’s really you!” and they wanted to talk and they wanted to take selfies and then some of the other parents were just kinda like… “Oh, they know you.”

So apparently our show is running at seven o’clock in the morning, and this is three years ago, so a lot of these kids were watching “Family Matters” before school, eating their breakfast. And I was proud of that though. And what I was even more proud of, and here’s the funny business twist on it, was a white kid in particular. I asked him what channel he watched it on and he didn’t know. So I checked the next morning where are we running at seven o’clock in the morning, and we were on BET. And so what I thought was funny about that was he had no concept that he was watching BET. BET on most cable guides is going to be listed next to MTV, Nickelodeon and a lot of kids stations. So he just knows where to find us and when he left to go to school in the morning he had no idea what was running after that. So I was really proud of that ‘cause that said a lot about the performance. It said a lot about content still being king.

Family Mattetrs

Lastly, considering your impressive body of work spans three decades, what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?

JW: My greatest accomplishment is still being here. My mom and dad have no connections or preexisting ties to this business. My dad was a bus driver, my mom worked at the post office. They were Crenshaw high school sweethearts, and a preschool teacher told them that their son was funny and he should be doing commercials. And I ended up, by God’s grace, being represented by one of the best child agents in the business at the time and just like everybody else, I had to go through the process of maturation in this business, which isn’t easy, and at this point… I’ve done it all and I’ve mainly concentrated on drama. I didn’t realize that that wasn’t just going to be a challenge for me. It pretty much was going to be a mandate to keep working over the last ten years. So it made me very adept at drama and out of the blue, a comedy comes back to me.

So because of that, couple that with my daughter, this is the first project that she’s really aware of. “Dancing with the Stars” she was a little too young, all my guests spots she just understands dad is going to work today, but she came down to the set and she looked around and she acted completely unimpressed and then two weeks later she saw a billboard and she’s like, “My, Myself and I.” That means a lot to me. That’s why I said just to still be here, to have the opportunity to potentially be relevant with kids at her school for something completely new, that is a very refreshing feeling.

Tune in to “Me, Myself and I” when the series premieres TONIGHT (Sept. 25) at 9:30/8:30c on CBS.

 

Save

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING