Jaleel White is a far cry from nerdy Urkel
The suspenders are off, the clunky glasses are gone and Steve Urkel is a dweeb no longer.
He rubs elbows with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and emits a suave sex appeal. He even - gasp - curses.
At 28, Jaleel White is a far cry from Urkel, the iconic geek he played from 1989 to 1998 on the sitcom "Family Matters." A generation of kids grew up with his snorting laugh and nasal "Did I do that?", which were staples of ABC's Friday night TGIF lineup.
Thursday at 8 p.m., White (No. 37 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Kid Stars) will speak at University Auditorium to an audience who likely will be looking for Urkel. But what they'll find is a young man who - fortunately, most would agree - has outgrown the scrawny, lovable Steve.
"I'm not necessarily as TGIF as people would think I am," White says.
Urkel began as a one-time character during the first season of "Family Matters." But viewers - including about 50 fraternity boys in the studio audience who chanted his name after the show - reacted so positively that before long he was the star.
"There's so much more good in my life that's come out of playing that character," White says. The role has granted him both the recognition that so many in Hollywood seek and now the challenge of separating himself from the nerdy kid he used to portray.
"Those pants were too tight," White says of his Urkel persona. "They had to come off."
Today, White suffers from what he calls "Captain Kirk syndrome," a reference to William Shatner's character on "Star Trek." Only with time, White says, has Shatner been able to distinguish himself from that character and successfully pursue other roles. White expects the same to happen with his own career, which is a combination of acting, screenwriting (he's a 2001 graduate of UCLA film school) and part-time real estate investing.
White - who just finished writing a feature comedy in which Wayne Brady, the headliner at Gator Growl earlier this month, will star - discovered his passion for writing in his late teens, when he wrote two episodes for "Family Matters."
"I just fell in love with it," White says. "I love putting words in people's mouths."
But, White found, it's much different to write for a television show that you're the star of than it is to convince others to buy your scripts.
As part of his appearance at UF, he will relate his post-college experiences and offer his advice to students preparing to face real-world struggles - though admittedly his struggles aren't quite cookie-cutter.
"I'm just striving more to be recognized as an artist with a voice," White says.
But when the former Steve Urkel comes to a college town, he knows the audience will want some "Family Matters" stories.
Like the time when a young White, scheming for a future in the ice cream-making business, took up an on-set collection to buy his first ice-cream maker.
"I thought I was going to be the black Ben and Jerry," White says.
Since his mother didn't tell him how much he was earning on the show until he was 16, he didn't realize the irony of soliciting money from other members of the cast and crew - who, he says, still tease him about it.
Evan Tyroler, chairman of UF's ACCENT Speakers Bureau, which is hosting the event, says he has gotten an enthusiastic response from students about White's appearance.
"We all grew up watching 'Family Matters,' " Tyroler says. He expects a good turnout for White's appearance, which is free and open to the public. Doors open at 7 p.m. and will close when and if the auditorium's 845 seats are filled.
White describes himself as reserved (surprising for a guy who spent his formative years with his pants pulled nearly to his chest in front of millions of people) and expects to be a little nervous when he takes the stage on Thursday.
"You're definitely going to see a black guy blush," he says. Just don't ask him to hike up his pants and imitate Urkel. Those days are behind him.
"It would look ugly," he says.
What: Jaleel White, known for his role as Steve Urkel on TV's "Family Matters," will speak about life after college and share anecdotes from the show he made famous. When: 8 p.m. Thursday; doors open at 7 p.m. Where: UF's University Auditorium Admission: Free