“Did I do that?” This is arguably Steve Urkel’s most famous line in the hit series ‘Family Matters’. Currently, White Jaleel is revealing what playing the nerdy neighbor for nearly 10 years did to his real-life voice!
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Jaleel White had this to say about his Steve Urkel days
Jaleel spoke at 90s Con 2024 on Sunday (December 1), which was held in Daytona Beach, Florida this year. During the event, White said he had to change his voice on the TV series to have that harsh and congested sound. He starred in the show from 1989 to 1998. He eventually broke his voice, each complex. White learned the extent after speaking with a doctor.
“What happened was that during puberty, I spoke at the same volume for a long period of time. If the turf had been thrown everywhere, I wouldn’t have damaged it so much. The disease has improved and I’m fine now,” Jaleel White said.
At one point, Jaleel said he thought he would lose his voice completely. The television network really shocked White by constantly sending notes about his voice pronunciation.
“I kept getting notes online like ‘We can’t hear him. Please explain more clearly.” It was a scary thing for me to go through,” he said.
Is ‘Family Matters’ getting a reboot?
Talking about his ‘Family Matters’ days, the actor recently released a new memoir, ‘Growing Up Urkel’. As you might guess, the book focuses on how this role elevated his acting status but also defined his perception in Hollywood and among his fans.
According to Rolling Stone, Jaleel White has been tapped to star in a one-off episode of ‘Family Matters’. However, his character was rated a W by viewers and he was added in the 13th episode. By the second season, the producers added him to the main cast, and the rest were is history.
Regarding a ‘Family Matters’ reboot in the future, Jaleel said that he is happy with it. However, he wanted more than the ‘Fuller House’ formula, which saw the original cast grown up with their children. White also wanted to be paid more than the $80,000 he was offered for the basic storyline.
“What? So I don’t have any say in what gets written, you’re going to cut my old salary in half, I’m going to do fewer episodes, and there won’t be any sales pitch because you established that it was me, Laura and a child,” Jaleel told Rolling Stone in November.
Earlier this year, the actor began a new chapter in his off-screen life when he married technology executive Nicoletta Ruhl.
RELATED: Congratulations! ‘Family Matters’ star Jaleel White marries tech executive
What do you think Roomies?
