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BURLINGTON — Tequan Richmond is too cool - at least by the standards of Chris Rock.

In 2005, the Burlington native auditioned for the lead role in the sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris," which is loosely based on Rock's childhood. When it came time to interview with the Emmy Award-winning comedian, however, he was instead offered the role of Chris' little brother Drew.

"I auditioned with Chris Rock, and he said, 'You know what? You're just a little too cool to play Chris, but I'd love to see you in the role of Drew,'" Richmond, 15, said in an interview last week. "I was like, 'aw shucks.' But it was also good thing. I really appreciate the role I have now. For certain reasons, I'm glad I have this role and not Chris, which is a harder work schedule. And I'm very happy that I'm still able to portray the cool side of me to a TV audience."

The show, which kicked off its fourth season this month, keeps Richmond busy six months out of the year. But the teenage actor is also delving into other projects, including commercials, voiceover work and a budding music career. He hopes to one day establish himself as a film actor.

A former Haw River Elementary School student, Richmond got his start in the entertainment business seven years ago, when he moved

to Los Angeles with his mother, Temple Poteat , an actress whose credits include stints on soap operas "Passions" and "The Young and the Restless." She was in town last week, with Tequan in tow, to help plan a high school reunion.

Prior to working on "Everybody Hates Chris," Richmond was best known for playing Ray Charles Jr. in the 2004 biopic "Ray." It was a part he found out about at the last minute.

"We used to have four or five auditions a day between my mom and I," he said. "She would have her auditions. I would have mine. And we would go all over L.A. to make sure we'd hit all of them. And so we got back home, and our agent called and said, 'We have this audition for Tequan to play Ray.' And we had just gotten home, literally, and we were really tired. But we decided to go, and we pulled out of our garage and went out to Culver City, which is pretty far from where we lived."

Shooting started almost immediately after he auditioned.
Richmond had been working steadily for several years on television when he got the part on "Everybody Hates Chris," having acted on "ER," "Cold Case," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "The Shield." He also appeared alongside Danny Glover in the "The Law and Mr. Lee."

"Everybody Hates Chris," which premiered on the now-defunct UPN in the fall of 2005, airs at 8 p.m. Fridays on The CW. The show takes place in Brooklyn and follows the travails of teenaged Chris (played by Tyler James Williams), who, despite his best efforts, seems to always be picked on.
Brother Drew, as Richmond describes him, is "cool, relaxed, not the smartest - every season they keep making him dumber, but that's OK. He's very oblivious to the fact that he attracts girls. He just doesn't get it. It's always fun for me to act like I don't know it.

"One thing I do enjoy is he's a lot like me, except he's so dumb. But I've done other characters where I've had to cut people, throw chairs, stuff like that. And roles like that, you have to dig for, and you have to chill out and think about what you're going to do. But when I go into work to play Drew, I feel like I'm just being regular ol' me."
A typical day for Richmond starts at 5 a.m. He's on set by 7, and goes to school at the studio with the other child actors in 20-minute increments in between shooting throughout the day.

"You run from school, run to set, run back to school. I have to get about three hours a day," he said. "It can be really difficult. It's hard to focus when I'm doing lines or doing two-hour scenes and then going back to doing algebra."

He goes home about 5 or 6 p.m., though some nights he might have to attend a red carpet or other type of publicity event. The work week for him ranges from two to five days depending on how much screen time his character receives in a particular episode. He gets the show's script on Monday, though instead of going through the whole thing, he said he typically focuses on the "sides," which list only the scenes each actor will take part in.

His weekends may be taken up with charity events and commercials - he has shot ads for McDonald's, Spalding and Nestle, among other companies.

"A lot of times it turns into a seven day work week for him," Poteat said.

Richmond has started producing R&B, rap and electronica for actor friends of his, as well as for his mother, who is also a singer. For his birthday several years ago he received an MPC-3000 drum machine from Jamie Foxx (who starred as Ray Charles Sr. in "Ray").

After "Everybody Hates Chris" is over, Richmond said he wants to pursue a feature film career. He has received some offers to act in big screen productions, though the show's shooting schedule has prevented him from taking any other major roles. But his goal, he said, is not necessarily to become a major star, but simply to make a good living in the business.

"I want to be able to do good movies and get good reviews," he said. "I think it's the best thing ever when you can manage to get good reviews to let you know that you're actually doing your job right. I don't really need the fame. I just want to be a successful actor."

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com