Back in the ’80s, he was known as Theo Huxtable, the son of the once legendary and now infamous character, Cliff Huxtable. At a time when Bill Cosby could no wrong and his hit show was being lauded as one of the greatest in sitcom history, anyone in his orbit automatically became as famous and beloved as he was. Malcolm-Jamal Warner experienced this phenomenon early in his career by reaching levels of fame as a teenager that most actors never find their entire acting lives. He carried this through into the early ’90s and seemed to be on a path to A-list stardom.
However, for a while, his career began to stunt a little. Between the late ’90s and early ’00s, Warner never seemed to hit the career heights his fans might have expected him to. However, by the 2010s, he experienced a resurgence and appeared to come back a stronger and more mature actor than ever. For a dose of nostalgia, here’s a look back at Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s best performances over the years.
10 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Warner’s early sitcom fame gained him a huge amount of fans and more than a few admirers around the world as he grew into a handsome young man before our eyes. His suave demeanor and sitcom experience came in handy as he made two appearances on another massively popular sitcom at the time, Will Smith’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Warner’s appearances were memorable as he was still at the height of his fame back then. He sent sitcom audiences into delirium when he popped up as Hilary’s boyfriend on an episode of The Fresh Prince. He played the dashing and smooth-talking character Eric — and also appeared as himself in another episode of the show — making for one of the biggest cameos on it at the time.
9 Saturday Night Live
Back in 1986, as a 16-year-old, Warner’s fame and popularity gave him the opportunity of being chosen to host an episode of the legendary comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live. His highlights on the show saw him wanting to perform a dance during his opening monologue, but feeling a little self-conscious when he realized that 20 million people would be watching it live.
To the audience’s rapture, Dana Carvey joined him on stage and began performing some hilarious moves of his own. The rest of the night went memorably from there as Warner got to write his name into the history books of SNL as one of its youngest hosts in history — also giving him the unique honor of being one of only nine other people under the age of sixteen to have ever hosted the show. To cap off a great night, his musical guest for the night was Run-DMC.
8 Fool’s Gold
Despite all his early fame, Malcolm-Jamal Warner never had a very prolific filmography as a movie star. His most notable performance in his early days came when he made an appearance in the Wesley Snipes film, Drop Zone. He later appeared in a few TV films, but none that ever made much of a splash. However, among his film credits, in 2008, he did appear in the hit action-comedy Fool’s Gold.
The film paired up Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson once again after their time together in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. The pair once again proved a hit with audiences as Fool’s Gold was a box office hit. One of the most memorable characters in the film was played by Warner. He took on the role of Cordell, a bumbling antagonist that tries his best to outwit McConaughey’s character with some hilarious results.
7 Here and Now
After the massive success of The Cosby Show, Bill Cosby went on to direct another sitcom called Here and Now. Despite it being slightly edgier than The Cosby Show, it retained much of the same charm and values as its predecessor. Cosby backed Malcolm-Jamal Warner to play the main role in the show, and Warner was even credited as an executive consultant on it.
However, despite seemingly having the same winning combination as Cosby’s most famous show, Here and Now never lived up to its promise. The show was sadly canceled by NBC after just thirteen episodes due to poor ratings. Warner was nevertheless as enjoyable as ever on it as he played a character named Alexander “A.J.” James in the show.
6 Key & Peele
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s sketch show Key & Peele was as hilarious as it often was poignant in the way it poked fun at serious underlying issues like racism. The show was highly noted for its wit and clever nuances in the way it tackled social justice with dark comedic overtones. It was also quite popular and received a huge amount of acclaim, including two Primetime Emmy Awards amid close to twenty nominations.
On Episode 21 of the show, Malcolm-Jamal Warner appeared in a classically hilarious sketch as a speaker during a meeting of The Black Republicans of Tallahassee. His serious style in the episode as he delivered an impassioned speech about why Black Republicans are cool set the scene nicely for the hysterical reveal at the end of it.
5 Major Crimes
By 2013, Malcolm-Jamal Warner was slowly becoming a regular fixture on TV screens again. By now, he had grown and matured a lot as an actor and now sported a very different look from the young teenager everyone remembered him as. When he joined the police procedural show, Major Crimes, it showcased a different side to his repertoire as an actor.
He played Lt. Chuck Cooper on the show that was a spin-off from The Closer. As the officer in charge of the LAPD’s Special Operations Bureau, Cooper was known as a tough and charismatic character on the show. Warner played the role across multiple seasons in a recurring capacity and gave a great account of himself as an actor with it.
4 Malcolm & Eddie
Between the mid-90s and the turn of the century, Warner went back to his acting roots and gave his career a huge dose of energy as he played one of the two main characters on the very funny sitcom, Malcolm & Eddie. While Warner’s character on the show was often more reserved and calmer than his cast mate Eddie Griffin’s, the pair played well off each other.
While the show had a much raunchier style than the kind Warner was best known for, it was still more of a wholesome show at a time when many others were slowly pushing the boundaries of acceptability when it came to crudeness. The show was popular and ran for four seasons, firmly helping to keep Warner relevant as an actor when he was starting to become something of a forgotten one.
3 Suits
After making appearances in other hit shows like American Horror Story and Sons of Anarchy, Malcolm-Jamal Warner had firmly begun a huge resurgence as a TV actor. At the height of this, he landed a recurring role as a prison counselor on the hit legal drama, Suits.
Playing a character named Julius Rowe, Warner became a very poignant part of the show as he helped one of its lead characters stay hopeful while in prison. Warner was reputedly a fan of the show and revealed that it had been a hard-fought journey to land the role as he only managed to join it after his fourth time auditioning for a part on it.
2 The Resident
As far as medical shows go, The Resident, was a popular one when it first debuted on Fox in 2018. It followed the dramatic lives and careers of doctors and other healthcare practitioners in a fictional medical center known as Chastain Park Memorial Hospital. When Malcolm-Jamal won the role of Dr. A.J. “The Raptor” Austin, it first seemed like he may be something of an antagonist character.
AJ was known as a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon but was also notably arrogant about his abilities. However, he proved to be a popular character and has been a part of the show’s main cast ever since. Warner was great in the role, injecting it with his signature blend of confidence and charm. Despite the show having a great six-season run, and it being noted as one of the most respected medical shows by real doctors, Fox sadly announced that season six was its last as ratings had begun to drop. Despite this, the show has done wonders to firmly put Malcolm-Jamal Warner back on the map.
1 The Cosby Show
There was hardly anyone who grew up around the late ’80s and early ’90s that didn’t know The Cosby Show and love its blend of wholesome humor and family values. In a cultural sense, it was hugely influential as it helped break down damaging stereotypes about families of color by depicting one that was led by a husband and wife who were a doctor and a lawyer pairing.
The show was massively popular, launching the careers of everyone on it, and imbuing Bill Cosby’s reputation with the title of “Best Television Dad.” Warner played his son, Theo Huxtable, on the show — a role that saw him nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. As legendary as the show was, all the controversy that would later come to light around Cosby’s heinous acts has had a damaging effect on his and the show’s legacy. While Warner has publicly stated that he’s still proud of the show, he’s also let it be known that all the surrounding drama has affected him in some very personal ways.
Speaking to ET, he bemoaned the seemingly double standard by which Cosby was treated in comparison to other Hollywood legends like Woody Allen and Roman Polanski.
“One, because the show was taken off the air; it’s literally taking money out of my pocket. So I got my own personal feelings about that, because it personally affects me, but even outside of that, you just look at how the media is playing this whole thing out. And I can’t help but think about Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Stephen Collins… it’s very clear, you know, the crimes they’ve committed.”
Despite the sad ending to the legacy the show and Cosby once had, Malcolm-Jamal Warner has found a way to revive his own career through his recent roles. Still only 52, he hopefully has many more acting years ahead of him and his fans can’t wait to see how they turn out.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
