The Bernie Mac Show is a cult classic and iconic sitcom for many. For five seasons, viewers laughed as Bernie Mac hilariously tried balancing being a husband and comedian while parenting his rambunctious three nieces and nephews: Vanessa (Camille Winbush), Jordan (Jeremy Suarez) and Bryana (Dee Dee Davis).
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Suarez shined as Jordan, the smart and nerdy yet mischievous middle child of the Mac family. Despite the show’s success and Suarez developing a fan base, he seemingly disappeared from show business after the show went off air.
Now, Suarez is explaining why. In a new interview with YouTube’s Comedy Hype, Suarez says it was tough to land roles because he was legally underage. Networks apparently find it more cost-effective and less time-consuming to work with of age actors.
“It was a little bit tough because I was in this age bracket. I was – I looked like lower to middle high school age but at that age they’d much rather hire somebody who’s like 19 to play that age because they don’t have child actor laws,” he explains. “Not only are they not restricting you working 9 ½ hours a day, they also don’t have to hire a teacher. So, it’s vastly cheaper to hire an adult.”
As a result, Suarez says things slowed down in his acting career. He admits it was a difficult transition as he’d never gone more than six months without working. The young star began blaming himself, believing he wasn’t talented enough and not really understanding the politics of the business at the time.
He took a step away to refocus. “I went out and lived a normal life and that was really cool because I had never done that before, I’d never had a normal job.” He took jobs in construction and more during that time to begin creating his own life.
He says, the experience taught him a lot and made him stronger.
Watch the interview preview below:
