As he tells it, his journey as an actor was almost serendipitous. In an effort to find Warner an after-school activity, his mother enrolled him in an acting workshop. But she was no stage mother, Warner emphasizes. In fact, when an agent saw him perform in a community theater production and wanted to sign him on as a client, his mother refused. At the time, she was going to school and in no position to drag her son to auditions. The following year, when the same agent saw Warner in another production and again offered to take him on as a client, his mother said no yet again. But Warner was fortunate to have an acting teacher who was willing to accompany the talented youngster to auditions. Warner signed with the agent and continued to do local theater and a handful of day player roles on such shows as “Fame” and “Call to Glory.”
His life-altering experience was landing “The Cosby Show” during its national search for a young actor to play Theo. “They were looking for a 6-foot-2 15-year-old, and I was a 5-foot-5 13-year-old,” he recalls. “It was the last day of auditioning, Good Friday, 1984. It was 6:30 in the evening, and my agent was begging the casting director to stay so I can come in and let me read. I did and I was called back for network callback that Monday. I was one of three actors, one from New York, one from Chicago, and one from L.A.—that was me.
Malcolm Jamal Warner: “Live Life With No Regrets” was originally published on blackdoctor.org
