PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: Tyler James Williams attends the 54th NAACP Image Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 25, 2023 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
<p><em>Abbott Elementary </em>star Tyler James Williams is opening up about his early years in Hollywood, along with the impact that the experience had on him.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">He Reflects On His Early Breakout Role: &#8216;I Was Trying To Find Myself In Front Of Everybody&#8217;</h3>
<p>During a recent interview with <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/abbott-elementary-tyler-james-williams-hype" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GQ</a>, Williams looked back on his journey to what led him to star on one of TV&#8217;s hottest family sitcoms.</p>
<p><amp-instagram data-shortcode="CqGN0VDOJq8" layout="responsive" width="600" height="600" data-captioned></amp-instagram></p>
<p>Back when he was merely 12 years old, after working on shows like <em>Little Bill </em>and <em>Sesame Street</em>, Tyler&#8217;s big break came when he secured the lead role in <em>Everybody Hates Chris</em>, playing a teenage <a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/sunny-hostin-will-smith-cannot-be-upset-over-chris-rocks-recent-jokes-he-wasnt-the-one-who-got-slapped/?_gl=1*ru1j9f*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTkwODU2NTI4NC4xNjc5Njc4MjU1*_ga_V2HX8YP3XL*MTY3OTY4NjcxMS4zLjAuMTY3OTY4NjcxMS4wLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Rock</a>.</p>
<p>While the role presented a steep learning curve, Williams noted that it left him with &#8220;the most useful information&#8221; he&#8217;s ever received.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;​​I learned how to carry a show in a matter of two or three months. It&#8217;s the most useful information I&#8217;ve ever gotten in my life.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>However, in spite of presenting him with this &#8220;useful information,&#8221; Tyler also noted that the his time on the show coincided with &#8220;the most awkward years of [his] life.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;The time this was happening was the same time the internet was becoming more ingrained in the industry. So as I&#8217;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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Williams summed up the situation by pointing out, &#8220;I was trying to find myself in front of everybody. And everybody had an opinion and was getting used to getting theirs out.&#8221;</p>
<p><amp-instagram data-shortcode="Cdso4vnuYrl" layout="responsive" width="600" height="600" data-captioned></amp-instagram></p>
<p>He went as far as to call the experience &#8220;traumatic&#8221; and added that, on account of growing up in the public eye, he &#8220;still get[s] triggered by things that are part of everybody else&#8217;s childhood.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;It was traumatic. I still get triggered by things that are part of everybody else&#8217;s childhood. Every time someone comes up to me, regardless of what it is they recognize me for, what that says to me in the moment is that I&#8217;m seen.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>He added that, while working through this trauma in therapy, &#8220;hypervigilance&#8221; was a major issue that he had to address.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Hypervigilance was one of the things that we had to tackle, because I would be listening to everyone&#8217;s conversation in a room. 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&#8217;s not healthy.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Tyler James Williams Says He &#8216;Didn&#8217;t Like The Road&#8217; He Was Pursuing</h3>
<p>Aside from the personal ordeals that his on-camera adolescence put him through, the actor also addressed some of the work-based pressures, which he &#8220;figured that out pretty f**king quickly.&#8221;</p>
<p>In fact, Williams cited an interaction he had with an <em>Everybody Hates Chris </em>producer in which they proclaimed, &#8220;I&#8217;ll never see you as anything else and you&#8217;ll probably never work again.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the actor noted that the comment &#8220;was probably a joke,&#8221; it still deeply impacted him.</p>
<p>However, rather than being discouraged, Tyler acknowledged that he &#8220;decided to stop and pivot&#8221; in order to hone his craft.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I realized at 17 that I didn&#8217;t like the road I was on, 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.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>After eventually accepting roles in projects like <em>Dear White People</em> and <em>The Walking Dead</em>, he eventually formed a bond with Quinta Brunson after meeting on HBO’s <em>A Black Lady Sketch Show</em>. Of course, his eventually led up to Brunson casting Williams in <em>Abbott Elementary</em>.</p>
<p><amp-instagram data-shortcode="CeeIuMxOauF" layout="responsive" width="600" height="600" data-captioned></amp-instagram></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">What do you think about Tyler James Williams&#8217; commentary?</p>
 <div class="wpra-reactions-wrap wpra-plugin-container" style="justify-content: center;;"> <div class="wpra-reactions-container" data-ver="1.3.10" data-post_id="117082" data-show_count="true" data-enable_share="onclick" data-behavior="regular" data-animation="true" data-share_url="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/tyler-james-williams-acknowledges-traumatic-side-of-being-a-child-actor/" data-secure="edb4cef2ba"> <div class="wpra-call-to-action" style="color: #000000;font-size: 25px;font-weight: 600;">What Do You Think Roomies?</div> <div class="wpra-reactions wpra-static-emojis size-medium" style="border-color: #ffffff;border-width: 0px;border-radius: 50px;border-style: solid;background: #ffffff;">					<div class="emoji-8 wpra-reaction wpra-pad-fix" data-count="" data-emoji_id="8"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-10 wpra-reaction wpra-pad-fix" data-count="" data-emoji_id="10"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-4 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="4"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-5 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="5"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-2 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="2"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-7 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="7"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-12 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="12"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div> </div> <div class="wpra-share-wrap wpra-share-buttons-bordered" style="">				 </div> <!-- end of share buttons -->			 </div> <!-- end of reactions container --> </div> <!-- end of reactions wrap -->		
