Interview: Tyler James Williams on Continuing to Grow and Learn with ‘Abbott Elementary’

After five years, Abbott Elementary is still going strong, making audiences laugh while also offering some important insight into the education system. Tyler James Williams stars as Gregory Eddie, and based on the season finale, season 6 will have a lot of interesting avenues to explore with the character, such as his new role as assistant principal.

So why is now the right time? “He was just getting comfortable as a teacher. I think the thing that I fear most for Gregory — because for me, he has to be real, he lives inside of me somewhere — is that he gets comfortable and then he gets stagnant. He needs to be forced to grow because he likes to stay within his comfort zone, and now the classroom is his comfort zone, but he has a lot more to give than that. We see it in a lot of different [ways], like even with ‘Goofgirl’ and his after-school programs. You see that he’s not just teaching; he’s helping shape and usher the next generation of men, women, [and] how young men interact with young women.”

As for his personal life, after a fight with Janine (Quinta Brunson), which only made their relationship stronger, he’s ready to take things to the next level by proposing.

“I think if you look carefully, you’ll see that this is a headspace Gregory’s been in for a while. He’s been talking about money for a while. So, it’s definitely been something, even from him picking up a second job to the argument in itself; he seems really money-concerned. I think it’s easy to write him off as cheap, but I think what it more suggests is that he’s planning a deep, long future here, and he’s trying to put the pieces together. Unfortunately, like most people, the ends just aren’t meeting,” Williams explained. “He’s trying to find a bunch of ways to do it, but Gregory’s been thinking about Janine long-term for some time. I think he’s beginning to learn that there’s only so much he can control. As long as they’re in it together, they’ll be able to figure it out.”

He continued to share, “That’s what I like about them, too, is they seem to be a reflection of the times. I think it’s going to be hard. We’re in such an acute place right now between coming out of a worldwide pandemic this decade, and then also, I think a lot of people from our generation feeling like the things that were promised on the other side didn’t come to us, and we have to kind of shape our own world and have to have different arguments than our parents had. I think all couples argue to some extent about money, but the way we have to talk about money is different. And hopefully, I think when we can get out of this phase, we go into the 30s, we go into the 40s, people can look back on the 20s and go, ‘No, Janine and Gregory was what it felt like to be a couple at this time.’”

Watch Awards Radar’s full video interview with the actor below, where we discuss growing with the audience, Gregory’s relationship with Janine, using his character’s past to shape his present, watching scenes differently as a director, and more.

All episodes of Abbott Elementary are streaming on Hulu and Disney+. The show will return as part of ABC’s Wednesday night lineup this fall.