Community Corner
Gracie Rubs Elbows With a TV Star
Gracie spent some time recently with local celebrity Gunnar Washington, who stars in the TBS series, "Meet the Browns."
This week I sat down and talked with actor and Laguna Niguel resident Gunnar Washington.
Gunnar is a 14-year-old ninth grader at . He is also a star of the hit TBS series, Meet The Browns. I asked Gunnar how he got involved in acting in the first place.
Gunnar told me he always liked to pretend he was other people when he was really young. One day at the Dana Point Whale Festival his family was approached by a talent scout. At first, his parents didn’t want to call them, but they did, and ultimately it helped him get a really good agent. Gunnar went on many auditions and did a couple of commercials before getting the part of Joaquin on Meet the Browns.
Gunnar says his favorite part about being an actor is hanging out with the cast and crew, he says they are very nice and fun. David Mann who plays Mr. Brown on the show is “a really great guy and very funny.”
Meet the Browns is filmed in Atlanta, and Gunnar is gone from one to three months at a time filming. His dad Curtis travels with him and stays with him on set. His mother Melissa and brother Cobi, who is in middle school stay home. He said he misses his family when he is gone, but it helps a lot that his dad is there.
I asked him how he keeps up with his schoolwork and he told me that teachers have been really nice and send the regular curriculum to him. He has an on-set teacher that teaches him the schoolwork and he just picks up where he left off when he gets back.
I asked Gunnar if other kids treat him differently because he is on TV. He said most people don’t make a very big deal about it. Last year on theseventh grade trip to Washington, D.C., he was recognized by fans of the show at a restaurant and asked for his autograph, and took pictures with them.
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He said the other AVMS students were surprised and it was kind of funny to see their reactions.
Meet the Browns has finished filming its third season and Gunnar is not sure it will come back for another season. He is now auditioning for commercials and TV and film roles.
I asked Gunnar what he saw himself doing in 10 years and he told me he wants to work for a video game development company, hopefully local in Orange County. He said he, “likes acting and wouldn’t mind doing smaller roles and playing interesting characters.”
His mom Melissa added, “He looks at it as a hobby, it doesn’t define him.”
Gunnar is a really cool person and I can’t wait to see him in his next role!
To see Gunnar on Meet the Browns check out these Youtube clips:
