We started looking for someone in L.A., and what we found was that we were encountering the usual suspects. They're Hollywood kids who have been in the business for a few years. We were looking for someone who was a little raw and a little edgier. And we got a tape from New York with this kid on it. The thing that sold us was his face. He has an incredibly expressive face, and it's older than his years. When you sit and you look at him, it already feels like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He looks like his eyes are a little sad, but he's really bright. At this particular point, there's no Hollywood in him. |
We were just trying to cast a great kid that kind of embodied the idea of the character. A young kid who kind of felt put upon, who wasn't too cocky and who was a little unsure of himself. |
We're finding these little things that turn into something. He's going to go to school, he's going to meet people, he's going to run into problems, Dad's going to try to pay the bills, Mom's going to try to get along, keep these kids on the straight and narrow. That's pretty much the show. |
We're really not responsible for any of this. We went into a room. We came up with an idea. We did it the best way we knew how to do it, and this is what happened. |
We're trying to build stories that come from smaller things. There's one show where Chris gets into trouble because his sister wants to make a cup of hot chocolate, but she almost burns the house down. It's just about hot chocolate. There's another show where he gets upset with the girl next door because he finds out she likes his little brother more than she likes him. It's little, simple things. |
You will recognize different pieces of Chris Rock material that you've heard before. |