How The Wonder Years Star Elisha Williams Became a Serious Hooper

There we go! Ah! You saw that? It was in the second grade. He got the part. He got the lead for the play. And after that, we set benchmarks for him in order for me to get involved to help them get going. And it was, boy, it took off like the wind. That's when it was like, oh, like, I just booked this. I was just proud. Like, I was just like one of those aha moments. Hello everyone. I'm E.J. Williams. I'm an actor. And you might know me as Dean from The Wonder Years. And welcome to my day off. The biggest takeaway from being on a show like The Wonder Years is really that you're able to respect everybody's differences a whole lot more. And I think that's really the way I've grown as a person. So talented. You see this? I get hugs every day. Hard working. Work hard too. E.J.'s biggest strength is to be able to pick it up very quickly. He'll get off book quickly. He'll pick up a move quickly. And then, okay, Dad, what's next? What I love most about acting is putting a smile on people's faces, you know? Sometimes people might be having a bad day and they turn on their favorite show and I might be on it and I'm able to make somebody's day. You never know what the character is that people need to see. So for me to be able to meet that day and maybe meet that person and for them to tell me that I made their day is what really matters to me. Now today, I actually am lucky enough to be on set with my brother working the same show. And it's always a great opportunity to be able to meet new people and even share some new moments with the people you love. All right, everybody. That is a wrap on E.J. and CJ. It is very important to take days off. One, because you don't want to keep going and injure yourself. Two, you do need some type of mental break. Whatever you're doing is going to be on your conscious all day. It's going to be in your subconscious. You just need time to relax. I mean, everybody does. My day off from acting is basketball. And I know basketball is still work. But I'm still switching categories, so it helps me the most. Today, you're going to see me come to the gym and hang out with my dad. And after that, go to my family's favorite bowling spot. Let's play one-on-one. Here we go. Okay. Can I start? Can you start? Yeah. No, man. I'm the elder statesman. But that's not fair. Age before beauty. You don't want me to go first? You want me on defense? Yeah. All right, hold on. Let me take off this chain. This right here is your great-grandfather, Thomas Williams. My role model. I'm going to have to take this off before I give you this whooping. Don't take this personal, okay? I'll hang in there. Most people know me as lefty around the world because I became world-renowned by becoming the first-ever left-handed showman in Globetrotter history. I started playing basketball with EJ at 7 months old. Give me all you got. Let's go. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Good job. How do you hold your fall through? Show me what you got. Turn. Basketball is a huge part of my family, actually. My cousin, Raphael Edison, he had a huge multi-year career in the NBA. He got drafted by the Phoenix Suns. He played with the Charlotte Hornets. He played with the Detroit Pistons, the New York Knicks. My uncle, Allen Houston, shout-out to him. He's the assistant general manager of the Knicks. My dad, with him being a Harlem Globetrotter, playing overseas, played in the NBA Summer League. So I see it literally almost every day. So it's huge. What you got? And one, and one. Get out of here. And one. Am I in his ear? Step back. I can't do that. Get him out of here. What you got? Get to the basket. You're leaving me open? Yeah. Oh. Okay. I'm an athlete who loves to act, because before the acting came, like he said, I had a ball in my hands at 7 months old. I've always been a basketball person. So for me to switch over into acting, it was really, it was like another platform, you know? I've always knew that all of my kids had a knack for acting. E.J. wanted to follow his big sister, Kiara, in acting very young. He was in grade 2. And there was this play that was coming up, and he kept talking about wanting to audition for the lead role of a play. And I didn't really want to hear it too much, because I just wanted them to just focus on school, and that's it. When I was able to really show my light to my dad of ways that I can really do this and be in this industry, and when we were able to prove it to him that we were actually capable to do this, he took us there, and we just started doing it. Way to work. How do you feel? I feel good. It was hard. You got to remember to push yourself every day. Nobody going to give you anything, and don't nobody owe you anything. All right? So every day you got to give 110%, whether it's on the court, whether it's on set, right? Yeah. My dad inspires me in a lot of ways. The main way is for me to be able to see what he's doing each and every day. I came from hard beginnings. I come from Jersey City, New Jersey, my wife and I, and we come from nothing. And being able to give back by way of our Harold Lefty Williams Day of the Dream Foundation, I tell my kids what was once our ceiling is now your floor, and you have a leg up to move forward, and trust God and trust the process with where you're going. It's good to be able to see the opportunities that he's helped me get to. I've never had an acting coach. My dad came from an entertainment background, but it was basketball, you know? And now that I actually have help, and he did it, him sharing his experiences, it carries and it inspires me each and every day. I love spending time with family because, you know, family's everything, and my schedule can get pretty crazy at times. One thing you will learn about this family is it doesn't matter how bad we are, we are all competitors. That was mediocre. Okay, here we go. It's very important to take days off because you use that time to reboot. My family, my wife and I, have prided ourselves on staying connected. It's important that we stay grounded. It's important that we stay together, so we travel together all the time. And I think that's what EJ is beginning to really appreciate. It doesn't matter how you roll it as long as it hits the pin. Listen, you might be a good actor and a good basketball player, but the PBA is not in your future. Do not see that. Roll it steady wins the race, though. Yeah. Next for me is to really continue what I've been trying to do for really my whole life, which was basketball, you know? My goal is to turn pro, you know? I don't want to keep myself compartmentalized. I want to be able to have other options because, you know, acting might not always be there. My biggest goal for EJ is for him to dare to dream. I want him to think outside of the box, whether that's acting, whether that's writing, directing, producing, playing basketball, or just being an entrepreneur. This for you, whistle. Again, this is EJ Williams, and thank you for joining me on my day off. Thank you.