Former 'Cosby' Kid Has New Ball Game

Reno Wilson Proves Success Is A Tough Road Worth Taking

Dear Readers: I'd like to extend a post-Thanksgiving thanks to you for visiting me each week here at "On the Set." Also, a big thanks to the readers who e-mail me. One very nice Los Angeles reader wrote: "'On the Set' is the first entertainment column I've read where I actually felt like I was there. Bravo!" The fact is that's my goal -- to bring you as close as I can to Hollywood without buying you a plane ticket.

Together, we've met Hollywood's brightest young stars like "Will & Grace's" Sean Hayes (Jack) and "Baywatch" hunk Jose Solano (Manny). We've also rubbed elbows with legends like Pam Grier, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, and Cloris Leachman, and gone galactic with "Star Trek's" Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) and Garrett Wang (Harry Kim).

Just wait until you see what we have in store for you in 2000!

Before we tie a nice bow on the rest of 1999, I want to give you the inside scoop on an actor who is getting that coveted (and well deserved) Hollywood buzz. While you may know his face, his name may be another story.

Well, this is his story ...

From Reno Wilson's television debut on "The Cosby Show" to his current slick moves on Showtime's hit series "The Hoop Life," the industry buzz is that this Cosby kid is all grown up and finally ready to play ball with the big boys.

Howard's End?

"I played Howard, Theo's best friend (on the sitcom)." Reno Wilson is talking about his two-year stint on NBC's top-rated "The Cosby Show."

We've met at Red, the trendy café on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles. The café teems with young industry types and is, as you may have guessed, painted red inside and out. Wilson munches on a scone, and we both drink coffee. It's a brisk and bright November day as we sit outside. A fire truck whizzes by.

What was it like to work with the legendary Bill Cosby?

"It was great," Wilson tells me. "Cosby took me out of college and under his wing, I was 19. I was so in awe of him I could hardly speak. The first week of the show, he took me into his office and I thought, 'Damn, I'm in trouble.'"

Wilson wasn't exactly in trouble. But, Cosby didn't feel Wilson was living up to his potential on the show.

Wilson uses his best Cosby voice and imitates the actor. "I paid for you (long Cosby pause) I need you to do what you know you can do. Don't hold back."

Then Cosby did the unexpected.

Wilson says, "He (Cosby) said 'get your script' so I got my script and he got his script.

"We started working on the scene. Cosby said, 'When I say this, you knock it back. It's like tennis.' And I thought, 'Man, this is what the business is about, people helping you.' Of course, I was wrong. Nobody's done that since."

New York State of Mind
A Native New Yorker, Wilson's father was a jazz pianist and his mother an opera singer. On scholarship, Wilson attended the famed High School of Performing Arts in New York City. "Friend" Jennifer Aniston was one of his classmates.

After the Cosby run ended, Wilson continued to work, primarily in New York theater. But producers weren't knocking down his door with the big roles, he tells me.

Then, in 1992, he visited a girlfriend in Los Angeles. "I saw those palm trees ..." he says referring to his decision to move out west.

The move turned out to be exactly what his career needed. Soon after relocating to Los Angeles, Wilson found an agent, and started working in commercials and small television gigs.

Wilson now lives in Hollywood with his wife, singer Coco Fausone-Wilson.

You Outta Be In Pictures
"I still get recognized to this day. Nobody knows my name, though." He laughs. "But people are always stopping me and they're like, 'Damn, dude, you look familiar.' When I tell them I'm an actor they say 'No, no, that's not it.'" He laughs.

"I think because of 'Cosby,' I'm assimilated into people's consciousness."

But people may also recognize Wilson for other projects. He is a full-fledged working actor.

"I've never had another kind of job," he tells me. Wilson has made nine films including "Mighty Joe Young" with Bill Paxton, "Rough Draft" with Mike Madsen, "Fallen" with Denzel Washington, and "White Hype" with Samuel L. Jackson and Damon Wayans.

He's also worked continuously in television either as a series regular or guest starring on dramas like "NYPD Blue" and "Chicago Hope" or sitcoms "Cybil," "Coach," and "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," among others.

So why can't we put a name with his face?

It all comes back to the best advice Bill Cosby gave him -- advice he didn't understand until now.

Wilson says: "Cosby said to hire and fire (managers). You are the product, if they (agents and managers) aren't working for you, move on."

Wilson tells me, "I don't think the people representing me opened the doors that could have been opened after Cosby."

And, although Wilson has had recognition, star status has mainly eluded him -- status that would allow him to take more responsibility in projects and move him to the next level in his acting.

"I didn't fully understand Cosby's advice until now, that's why I have Steven." Wilson refers to top Hollywood producer and talent manager, Steven Vail who started representing the actor over a year ago. His career has been heating up every since.

Play Ball
On July 4, 1999 a show called "The Hoop Life" premiered on the Showtime network. It had the largest premier audience in the cable network's history.

Wilson says, "'The Hoop Life' is about a basketball team starring Michael T. Williamson. Michael T. is this cat named Marvin, an aging shooting guard for the fictional New England Knights. The series starts off at game seven of the finals, where he takes on my team. My character's name is Owen Davies. I'm his arch nemesis." Wilson's team wins and Marvin is haunted by the game for the rest of the season.

The show takes risks and Wilson tells me "It's one of the best roles I've played."

Why? He says of the producers and writers: "They're theater cats and they've written the craziest things for me. I've existed in his (Marvin's) memory, he sees me in basketballs, and I'm leaning out of magazines speaking to him. I'm having fun with the character."

He's having fun and the viewers love him. And the numbers have proven it. Wilson co-starred in the first eight episodes of the series. Never meant to be a mainstay of the series, Wilson's character was written out. The ratings soured.

Wilson is humble when he tells me, "The producers told me that the ratings went down when I went off the show. I don't know what that means. I just know I wasn't on (the show)."

The producers quickly wrote him back into the series.

Full Court Press
Wilson's role on "Hoop Life," coupled with his work in feature films is starting to pay off. The industry buzz is that it is only a matter of time before Wilson lands a role that will propel him to the next level. And he is ready.

Wilson tells me, "I want to do more feature films with more responsibility. I'm down with television, too. I'm at the point right now where I'm understanding the business now and finally getting heat on my name."

Speaking of responsibility, I remind him that he has a flight tomorrow and we better wrap things up. Wilson is flying to Toronto to tape the season's last two episodes of "Hoop Life."

I thank him for his time and make him promise that when he hits the really big time, he'll still take my call. He laughs and makes the promise.

On the drive home, I can't help but wonder where Wilson's career will go next. And while there are no sure things in Hollywood, one thing is certain: This time, Reno Wilson is keeping his eye on the ball.

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