Tyler
James Christopher, who plays the geeky character Charlie in the
upcoming film UNACCOMPANIED
MINORS, comes across much more mature than his age.
He was appropriately dressed in a little man suit and
described his character to be sheltered from the real world. He’s
a confident boy with zest for acting.
Currently starring in the TV show “Everybody Hates
Chris”, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the
future. In the meantime, see
what he had to say about the film.
Tyler
James Christopher
Is
that your costume for the movie?
Yes,
this is my costume for the movie.
What’s
your character?
I
play the character of Charlie Goldfinch. He’s a home schooled kid.
He’s been sheltered his entire life. His parents are divorced, so
they’ve really overcompensated for his education. He doesn’t get
out much; he hasn’t been around a lot of kids. So he takes tips
from 1960’s movies, as far as clothing. So that’s really
Charlie. He’s always one of those guys who looks at the glass as
half full. He can take somebody who got shot, but say, ‘They
weren’t shot in the heart!’
Is
it fun working with all these other kids?
It’s
really fun. It’s a lot like the show, because there’s a lot of
other kids there. I think that was a good movie to start off with
after the show, post ‘Chris.’ That way, I can still have fun,
but still work. If I’m just sitting in one space, not working, I
get stir crazy.
What
are you carrying?
Oh!
It’s funny, I didn’t even know I had this in my hand. It’s a
life Pod. It’s speakers for my iPod and everybody else’s. On the
set, when we’re shooting in the Delta Center, I am the DJ. I take
everybody’s iPod and I play.
In
the movie?
Oh,
no, no. For this, here.
How
long have you been acting?
I’ve
been acting since I was four years old. So I’m pulling up on about
ten years now.
So
how did you break into acting?
It
wasn’t really a break in. You don’t really break into anything
when you’re four. It was more… I saw the movie Men in Black. And
I told my mom I wanted to do it. And she thought it was just like
another thing. But then after I kept saying it, she said ‘Fine,
let’s see what we can do.’ A lady at my aunt’s church was with
a management company, and she said, ‘Hey, let him audition for the
management company. If he gets it, hey, it’d be nice.’ I booked
the management company. They picked me up, and then they started
sending me out on auditions. My first job was actually Sesame
Street. That was my first job ever, and that was great.
How
was it doing that show and seeing all the behind the scenes stuff,
like the puppeteers?
It
was cool. It was cool seeing them. It wasn’t like it was a big
thing for me, where I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! He’s got his hand
up his butt!’ It wasn’t anything like that. I kind of knew it
already.
Your
show is a one camera show. Is doing the movie much different?
Not
different at all. It’s just that we have more time to get things
here. On the show we have a week to do an episode, and a week
period. Here we can take our time and get it done.
Did
you have a break between the show ending and beginning the movie?
Yeah,
I had about a month. I was able to just chill out; get prepared for
this movie. Then I came out here February 28th. And we
had wrapped for the show January 25th.
But
you like to keep working?
Yeah,
I like to keep working.
Are
you involved in any stunts? Are you in the canoe?
Yeah,
I’ve done just about every stunt for this movie.
How
has that been?
Um…
incredible! In every sense of the word. Just yesterday I had to do a
scene where I was falling through a vent. I was crawling through it,
and then I had to fall through it. And they used a hydraulic, and I
just fell through. And that was crazy. Yeah, I did the canoe; I did
all the canoe. What else? I did all my stunts getting hit; hitting
stuff. I was able to do that too.
Yes!
This is not my wardrobe!
I
like hats! I like hats a lot. I like caps. Those are cool.
A
New York Yankees baseball cap. That’s my favorite cap.
It’s
been odd! Very odd. I mean I wasn’t used to people recognizing me,
and talking to me and all that stuff. I wasn’t used to that.
What
do fans say when they approach you?
They’ve
given me a new name. Little Chris; that’s my new name. That’s
what they do. I mean people come up and say, ‘Hey, you’re from
the show?’ No, actually, they don’t ask me if I’m from the
show! It’s like they just know. It’s like they just have an
instinct. What’s that?! They’ll come up and say, ‘Hey, I love
this episode!’ Or they’ll ask me, ‘Why did you do this?’ in
an episode. ‘Well, it was in the script!’
Have
you talked to Chris Rock at all about the things in his childhood
the show’s based on?
No,
I didn’t talk to him about that. Nobody knew Chris Rock when he
was 13. Nobody knew what he was like. So for me, I was able to mold
it that way. Just make it my own.
Was
it fun for you to go to the tribute to the show The Museum of
Television and Radio did?
It
was cool! It was cool to see everybody out there. To know the people
like the show and they came out. It’s nice.
Not
that prepared me for this. More of, prepared me for my career.
Tichina Arnold [Note: She plays his mom on “Everybody Hates
Chris”] really helped me in a sense, where she would improv, to
help me not to smile; help me not to laugh. To build my chops. She
really helped that. Cause I came in smiling in just about every
scene. So now I’m trying to do it to these kids. I’m trying to
break them!
Very
well! I like it.
Yes.
I’m home schooled. I have to have three hours of school each day,
on set. I’ve gotten my three hours already, so I’m done!
No.
Never liked it at all. Never liked the concept of getting up and
going to school. I mean it wasn’t even the people. I didn’t even
really miss seeing people there. It wasn’t that. I’m just not
really interested in school. I mean not interested in school, but
school, the place… going there.
Writing.
Definitely writing. I love to just make people laugh and writing
helps as well. Directing I would like to do, cause I like to boss
people around, tell them what to do. Directing would be something
that I would do as well.