Tyrel Jackson Williams on the jump from Disney’s Lab Rats to Party Down

When you’re 25, but have been acting since you were 8 years old, you can be both a film-industry veteran and the breakout star of a new comedy. Tyrel Johnson Williams is the unstoppable star of the new version. Have a good time!.

Though he’s known to Internet Kids of the early 2010s as Leo from Disney XD’s Lab RatsThe actor has been in a variety of roles over the past decade, including Disney-adjacent films, independent hip-hop projects and occasional comedy for adults. The following are his other credits. Have a good time!Sackson plays the role of a TikTok wannabe star who serves appetizers alongside a team of caterers that had once been able to achieve their Hollywood dreams. The cast of the revival remains stacked: Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Ryan Hansen, and Martin Starr from the sitcom’s original 2009-2010 run are all back, joined in the long-awaited season 3 by heavy-hitters like Jennifer Garner, James Marsden, and Afterparty’s Zoe Chao. Williams squeezes in, but noticeably never misses a beat, and makes what could be an eyeroll-worthy gag about superficial “kids today” into a grounded, giddy riff on the modern quest for fame.

“Sackson is not cringe,” Williams tells Polygon with a laugh. “That was a goal of mine. I feel like a lot of critique of Gen Z or modern culture is just, like, ‘It’s weird!’ But [Party Down creator John Enbom] was very much of the idea that he didn’t want the joke to just be ‘young people are strange.’ So Sackson has very clear motivations. Even if they’re not clear to the audience, they’re clear to him.”

Williams compares Sackson to Hansen’s character Kyle from the first two seasons. In his eyes, Kyle, twelve years ago was everything he wanted: an actor, model. A musician. And a heartthrob. While he may have been a dolt at times, he had the ability to really work the screen. Sackson is sharper and savvier than Kyle ever was, but he can do it all and does, even when that means sneaking into a millionaire catering client’s bathroom to shoot selfies while his boss Ronald (Marino) takes an illegal on-hours shower. There are often hilarious moments, but it is not always a joke. Williams was determined to keep up with Marino, the gang and avoid cringe.

Photo: Starz

“Ken is incredibly hilarious, but he’s also a very, very sweet person who sort of latched on to the fact that I was really nervous,” Williams says. “And he was like, ‘Look, if it ever seems like you’re slipping out of the tone of what we do, I’ll let you know. Like, we’re not gonna lie. We won’t let you be embarrassed.’ And I was like, YES. That was awesome.”

It Have a good time!Williams thought the twist on social media was a great idea. While he has done the TikTok thing, he could understand Sackson’s hunger to hit big because of his own experience with Vine. “Can I say back in my day?” he asks with complete self-awareness. “I was high school age at the time, and I was just like… wow. Vine was something we all felt was ours. It was mine, and it was also my. That mindset is one that anyone can have, people will just love you for you. This makes it a star. It was very easy to bring that back in the present context. I feel like the TikTok is just Vine but longer, scarier, and more chaotic.”

These days, Williams is mostly off TikTok, occasionally on Twitter and Instagram, but is all in on his “stupid, and just for me” Tumblr. (“Yes I’m still there — you can look for me, but you’re not gonna find me!”) It’s easy to see why he’s reeled away from the platforms; a quick scan of the comments on his various socials is mostly Lab RatsFans are wondering when he will be back. Lab RatsThe station has been off the air since 2016

While the constant barrage might unconsciously send Williams looking for more insular spaces, the fandom doesn’t actually faze the actor. Yes, it’d be great if Lab RatsHe was going to be comedy gold, stans were aware Have a good time!But he is honest with himself and feels the exact same way about the programs he used to love as a kid.

“I love Raven Simone — That’s So Raven is in my DNA,” he says. “It doesn’t matter how old I get, or how far removed from it I get, my memories with those things will live on forever, even if the people who were on it are older and doing different things. It is something I value. And it’s all love when I see it. But I’ve been able to sort of carve out my own lane in adulthood in a way that I really liked. For people saying, like, ‘bring back Lab Rats!’ I don’t have the power to do that. I wish I could do that for you!”

Williams is a comedian who has transformed from a child actor into a comical star. His own abilities have allowed him to compete against Ken Marino. But he admits it doesn’t hurt to have close family who can offer sound advice. He’s happy to call Tyler James Williams, who went from the young star of Everyone Hates ChrisTo be an Emmy-nominated pillar in the highly acclaimed sitcom Abbott ElementaryHe is a brother and role model.

“He’s always been sort of a champion of making the jump,” Williams says. “The one bit of advice that he gave me that I sort of find myself returning to was: The show that you did is the show that you did, and people are going to love it for what it is, but if you want newer people who aren’t familiar with you to see you a different way, keep hitting that. Don’t get upset when people see you in public and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s Leo.’ That’s their relationship to that show. But understand that you aren’t that show. So if you want to be seen differently, do different things.”

Have a good time!Season 3 will premiere on Starz Friday, February 24th at 12:00 ET.