Get your popcorn ready: Terrell Owens is coming to primetime Wednesday night. As an actor.
T.O. will make his sitcom acting debut on MyNetworkTV’s “Under One Roof” as the long-lost brother of the show’s star, Flavor Flav. Owens tries convincing Flav and sitcom sibling Kelly Perine that they’re all brothers in hopes of getting them to invest in his website.
“I see dollar signs,” Owens said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m trying to kind of smooth my way into the family, but Flav is not buying it. It’s a lot of funny dialogue. It was a good time.” It might also be a first step toward a second career.
“If I’m going to really consider doing acting after football, this a great start to let me get my feet wet,” Owens said.
Owens always has been comfortable in front of a camera, but it’s usually playing the character known as T.O. He’s built his reputation through end-zone celebrations, colorful interviews and dressing up for the Tour de France just to ride a stationary bike at training camp. He showed more acting skills during a skit with one of the “Desperate Housewives” that aired before a Monday Night Football game. The scene ended with the woman dropping her towel — and ABC later offering an apology.
Owens got a taste of Hollywood in 1999, when he appeared in “Any Given Sunday” with a star-filled cast. A friend who is the casting director of this show has long been encouraging Owens to take on roles, something he’s more receptive to after the way things went with Flav’s show.
He came away with several football-acting comparisons: Cast members are like teammates, the script is like a playbook, and both require lots of practice so that once the lights go on you’re ready for anything.
“You’ve got to get a feel for the flow of the show and the story line and go with it,” Owens said. “They told me they were very, very pleased with the way I played my character.” Viewers can see for themselves at 7 p.m. Wednesday on KTVD Channel 20.
Owens will be tuned in, too, because that’ll be the first time he sees the finished product.
And, yes, he’ll have his popcorn ready, like he memorably urged fans to do upon joining the Cowboys.
“I think I’ve got everyone I know tuned in to watch this show,” he said.
