As Donald Faison launches his next fan favorite character with NBC sitcom Extended Family, he turned back the clock on some of his most iconic roles, from Clueless to Remember the Titans.
Speaking exclusively with Us Weekly’s Role Rewind, Faison, 49, rewatched the infamous scene in 1995’s Clueless where he and costars Stacey Dash and Alicia Silverstone accidentally drive their red convertible onto the Los Angeles freeway. Chaos hilariously ensues when the teens’ car is immediately crowded by irate drivers in cars, motorcycles and 18-wheelers.
“So I remember that when I turn around and scream, I remember that the cameraman was in the back seat and that was improvised, and him being like, ‘Yo do that again,’ ’cause there’s B-camera in the car,” Faison explained. “So we did that a couple times where I turn around and yell. I remember that.”
According to the Scrubs star, this day of filming was memorable for another reason. “The one thing I really remember about this day, though, when I got this job, I told everybody in the building that I grew up in that I was going to play Stacey Dash’s boyfriend,” he said. “And they were like, ‘You get to kiss her.’ And I was like, ‘I get to kiss her.’ This was the day that we finally get to kiss on camera, and after we kiss, Stacey goes, ‘Wow.’ I’ll never forget that.”
(Faison portrayed Murray in Clueless, the boyfriend of Dash’s Dionne Davenport.)
Later that year, Faison appeared in the music video for Brandy’s song, “Sittin’ Up in My Room” as her love interest. “I would have never been in this music video had I not been in Clueless,” Faison told Us.
“I was a part of a repertory company, a youth organization called City Kids in New York, and Brandy came to perform with us. When she walked in, she was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s Murray.’ We would hang out, her and her brother Ray J, while they were in New York. Every time they came to New York, they came over to the crib, all of that stuff.”
He went on to describe Brandy as his “first real Hollywood friend.” Faison said, “Even though it was only for a couple of months, she was the first person that I can honestly say as small as the window is, they were the first people that I knew in Hollywood that were really successful.”
Five years after Clueless, Faison joined the cast of Remember the Titans as Petey Jones. Released in 2000, the sports drama is loosely based on the real life and career of football coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington.
“So when doing this movie, we didn’t have a lot of connection to Denzel because he played the coach, and we were the kids on the team,” Faison said. “And so whenever he addressed us, he was playing Coach Boone the whole time. I remember he didn’t even say good morning. He just walked up to me and said, ‘Let’s go, let’s work.’”
Us showed Faison one particularly iconic Remember the Titans scene, wherein the team meets for the first time and an intimidating Coach Boone asks Petey, “Why are you smiling?” What results is a tense, but hilarious exchange, where Coach Boone lays out his no-nonsense rules for the football season.
“We went off into the corner and we ran lines for about 10 minutes,” Faison recalled. “He was like, ‘You feel good?’ I was like, ‘I feel great.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, let’s do this.’ And this is what you got. And this is what came out of it.”
Faison continued, “I mean, it’s an iconic scene. Like, I know how iconic this scene is. You know what I mean? And I’m in it. I feel embarrassed saying that. But this was a moment in my life where in my mind, I’m like, ‘I can’t wait to tell my mom. I can’t wait to tell my dad because I’m now working with the best.’ I’ll never forget that day. That was a great day in my life.”
Faison currently stars as Trey on the NBC sitcom Extended Family, which airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Reporting by Christina Garibaldi
