Jeremy Suarez portrayed Jordan on the hit television series The Bernie Mac Show and recently sat down for an interview and shared how he transitioned from a child actor to living a regular life working in retail and construction.
The 33-year-old starred in the series alongside Kellita Smith, Camille Winbush, Dee Dee Davis and the late comedian from 2001 to 2005. When the show ended, Suarez was older and realized he wanted normalcy in his life. He placed his acting career on the back burner and worked as a blue-collar employee in retail, as a line cook and in construction with his stepfather, Atlanta Black Star reported.
Suarez also worked as a boilermaker’s apprentice. In a recently-published interview with HYPE+, he said the experience was hard work and “put some hair on his chest.”
“I mean it was good work, it was heavy work, but like I said, it kinda put some hair on my chest, man,” he explained, adding, “I may be an actor and I may got soft hands but got dang it I’mma use ’em to lift s**t. I’m not scared, ya know.”
The Chicago native said his transition to regular jobs helped him learn more about himself.
“I always transitioned to a regular job and kind of lifestyle with a purpose of using that as like a fact-finding mission. You go out, and you see all of this stuff. You take it, and you make all of those things part of you.”
After spending some time away from the limelight, Suarez has plans to resume his acting career.
“I think you can run away from it and try to be the exact opposite of that character, but not really. Jordan is one section of me. It’s one little slither of Jeremy. There’s tons of different Jeremys, too. I’m hoping that in the future I’ll just get to show all the different parts of me.”
Suarez’s former castmates have also chosen different routes to make a living. In February, Blavity reported that Winbush and Davis created OnlyFans accounts and made quite a bit of money on the subscription service.
Winbush clapped back at social media users who criticized her and Davis’ decisions to create content on the app.
“The trolls are hungry again so here’s some food for thought–I’ve never been arrested, never been on drugs, don’t have any baby daddies, I pay all my taxes, I drink water and mind the business that pays me,” Winbush said, according to Atlanta Black Star.
