Tequan Richmond-Everybody Loves Tequan
Tequan Richmond auditioned for the role of Chris on Everybody Hates Chris three or four times. Things were looking good—until he found out he was too cool.
 The show is based on the childhood experiences of comedian Chris Rock, who thought Tequan would be a better fit for the role of his cool older brother Drew. So Tequan went back once more—this time to read lines with Tyler James Williams, who read the role of Chris. Tyler landed the title role on the CW comedy series, and Tequan plays Drew. “We worked so well together, that’s the role they chose [for me],” says Tequan.
Now 16 years old, Tequan moved to Los Angeles from North Carolina when he was 9—after “auditioning” for an agent over the telephone. His mom, actress Temple Poteat, had already been working and living in Los Angeles, and talked constantly about her son to her agent. One day she called and asked Tequan to sing for her agent on the phone.
Tequan sang “Just My Imagination,” a hit by his favorite band, the Temptations.
“If you bring him out here,” his mom’s agent told her, “I’ll represent him as an agent.”
Smooth Sailing
It can be tough to break into show business—but it wasn’t for Tequan. As soon as he moved to the West Coast, he booked a Discovery Channel commercial. A half dozen more gigs came along right after that. Recently Tequan finished his ninth national commercial. He’s had guest spots on TV shows including ER, Numb3rs, CSI, and Mad TV. He played the young Ray Charles in the biopic Ray. And he’s in his fourth season on Everybody Hates Chris.
“Everyone always tells me I’m so fortunate, I’m so lucky—but it’s OK. I don’t mind,” he quips.
The jobs come easily—but making time to do everything he wants to do is more of a challenge! During the season, Tequan works five days a week on Everybody Hates Chris. He’s usually on set from about 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. “I get up when it’s not even light outside—the sun is like, ‘What are you doing up?’” he says with a laugh.
After work, he may have to head out to an event to promote the show—such as a movie premiere. “And let’s not forget my homework,” he adds wryly. A high school freshman, Tequan hasn’t attended a traditional school since sixth grade. Having his own teacher and learning one-on-one is great, he says, but he really misses hanging out with other kids in the classroom, and having the camaraderie of a big group.
There’s a different kind of camaraderie on the set, where Tequan is surrounded by both kids and adults. And his character’s personality is so close to his own that sometimes it’s hard to differentiate between the two.
“Drew is so much like me, the similarity is crazy. I don’t really do anything different but slap Tyler upside the head a couple more times than usual, and that’s about it,” he jokes. “Some days I go home as Tequan; some days I go home as Drew!”
One big difference between the actor and his character is that Tequan is an only child. But taking on the role of an older brother isn’t too tough—especially since Tequan is used to looking after his shih tzu, Gizmo.
Another difference is wardrobe. Drew’s pants are super-tight (the show takes place in the eighties)! Off the set, Tequan’s favorite wardrobe item is sneakers. He has a collection of about 50 pairs, which he takes turns wearing (sometimes switching in the middle of the day!). He even has “nice sneakers” for special occasions (they glow in the dark.) “I just love sneakers!” he says.
Off Set
Tequan hopes his career will shift more into moviemaking in the near future. “TV’s a really, really heavy grind every day,” he explains. “Not that movies aren’t, but it’s such a different schedule. I’ve done a couple movies, and I’ve seen how they go.”
In the meantime he’ll continue with his show, and various TV guest spots and commercials—and with producing music. Tequan started producing when he was about 13 years old. “I’m trying to work with all new artists—actor friends of mine who do music, a few rappers. My goal is to eventually become like a Timbaland,” he says. “Hopefully by the time I get to a pretty good age—20, 21—I’ll be an expert in that.”
With so much work and so many goals to occupy his time, Tequan doesn’t have time for drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. He wouldn’t be able to do his job if he went to work drunk or high, he says. And he adds, “That’s not the image you want to put out there as a young teen. Teens are always trying to put out this image that they’re more responsible and that they can be independent. As teens we need to have less of that stuff [substance abuse] going around. I don’t think that’s cool.”
And now for the big question: working with such stars as Chris Rock and Danny Glover, doesn’t Tequan ever get starstruck?
Not usually, he says. “Maybe my favorite people, I’ll be like, ‘Wow!’ It will hit me the next day when I wake up, but for the moment I’m cool.”
Still, now and then he finds himself in a situation that’s almost surreal—such as sitting at an awards show and realizing that George Clooney is right across the table from him, and that Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz are at the next table over.
After a few more years in the business, some other young actor may look up at an awards ceremony and be awestruck to see Tequan Richmond sitting across from him! “That’ll be my goal,” Tequan says with a big laugh. “I’ll be like, ‘Yes! I made it!’”
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