That’s what Jaleel White thought when he played the cool alter ego of his Family Matters character Steve Urkel.
On a recent episode of You Made It Weird, hosted by Pete Holmes, the sitcom star shared that he felt his Stefan Urquelle character was “boring.” Holmes had asked if Urquelle was the actor’s idea to introduce audiences to the “real” him.
“I thought it was a one-note joke and so I was really taken aback when everybody just fell in love with him,” White said.
The Dancing With the Stars alum said that he was personally “always comfortable in my skin.” He said the Urquelle character was an effective storytelling device to keep viewers watching. White added that he wrote a bit about the alternate personality in his recent memoir Growing Up Urkel.
Urquelle was born out of Urkel’s desire to woo his longtime crush and neighbor Laura Winslow (Kellie Shanygne Williams). He previously told Entertainment Weekly that he was surprised that people liked the character, which he also called boring at the time.
“It came as such a shock to me that people were so interested in seeing me as me,” he said.
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White wasn’t a fan of another Urkel alternate: Myrtle Urkel. He was worried about getting teased at school for the role. Still, the actor eventually put on Myrtle’s dresses a few more times on the show.
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