William Stanford Davis is grateful he messed up his Friends audition
The Abbott Elementary star waited until age 70 for his big break
Not being cast on Friends is the best thing that ever happened to William Stanford Davis.
In an interview with Q's Tom Power, the Abbott Elementary star — who asks that you call him Stan — says that he auditioned to be on the legendary sitcom much earlier in his career.
"It wasn't for a series regular or anything," Davis says. "I think it was for a co-star. It was a very small role."
Nonetheless, he walked out of the audition feeling like he'd "killed it." While listening in on a call between an actor friend and their shared agent, Davis discovered that may not be the case.
"[My friend] said, 'Stan told me he went up for the Friends [audition]! He thought he killed it.' The agent didn't know I was in the office with him," he says. "The phone went dead silent for about 10 seconds and he told my friend, 'He was terrible.… I think he should go back to his telemarketing job.' And about four months later, I got a drop letter from that agency."
But Davis says that was "the best thing that ever happened in my acting career." It was the stark reality check he needed to motivate himself to put in the work to become a better actor. He took more acting classes, found different acting teachers and workshopped his craft.
"You're not going to book every job," he says. "Sometimes, you're going to do a bad audition. But no one's ever going to say those words about me: 'He was terrible.' And that was the motivation."
Even after that moment, it wasn't a straight shot to stardom for Davis. He spent years as a working actor, making a living doing a few episodes of a series here, a TV movie there.
At 69-years-old, he auditioned for his eventual breakout role as Mr. Johnson, the school custodian in Abbott Elementary. He was originally only cast for a bit role in one episode, but the show's creator, Quinta Brunson, saw something special in Davis. She ended up casting him for two more episodes, then eventually made him a series regular.
This past March, Davis won an NAACP Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his Abbot Elementary role.
"Don't give up," he says. "Because one day you might have… the Quinta Brunson in your corner."
The full interview with William Stanford Davis is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with William Stanford Davis produced by Catherine Stockhausen.
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