Barry Floyd Talks About CW's The Game: From PA to Tee Tee

Tee Tee is like that family member you only see at the reunion, and then he disappears, but the audience looks forward to seeing him again next time. Barry Floyd, mid-20s, the actor behind Tee Tee on CW's show "The Game," has been on the show for three years, but Floyd, the actor, has been putting in work in Los Angeles for five years.

This Philadelphia native graduated from Temple University with a Film and Media Arts degree, and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in screenwriting.

Being a Writer's Production Assistant on the (now) canceled UPN/CW show, "Cuts" with singer Marques Houston, he became a Stage Production Assistant on the (now) canceled CW show "Girlfriends." He initially never wanted to be an actor, but the creator of "Girlfriends" and "The Game," Mara Brock Akil, changed his mind.

"When I was on the 'Girlfriends' set, I would always be clowning around, making jokes and stuff," Floyd told AC Source Shamontiel. "One day we had to do a scene...we do something everyday called a run-through so the network people can see what the show is going to look like. There was a scene where Reggie, who plays William on the show, his character was talking to a doppelganger. Obviously he couldn't talk to himself, so they had somebody stand in and be the opposite version of him. So they picked me to do it since I was always joking around...they thought I was funny. It went really well. I had all the network people laughing, and the casting director came up to me afterwards and asked if I wanted to audition for [Tee Tee] on 'The Game'."

But even after the run-through, if not for the casting director asking Floyd, he may not have ever auditioned as an actor.

Luckily for audience members, three years later, Floyd is still Malik Wright's assistant, Tee Tee, on the show. No last name necessary.

"We don't know [his last name yet]. We didn't know [his first name] was Terrence until the middle of last season," Floyd quipped. "I'm still not a main character. I'm still recurring. I'm hoping that'll change when we come back next season. When I was first coming in, they didn't know how much they could trust me as far as lines and making jokes. When I showed them what I could do, they've been trusting me more and putting me in a lot more scripts. I'm there for the jokes as the sidekick, but I'd like to see it expand beyond that."

Each season of "The Game" has shown us more evolved characters in the show, and Floyd has been along for the ride to watch the other characters grow.

"I feel like there's a lot of drama," Floyd said. "A lot of things that keep people coming back. Obviously I know what's coming next because I sit down and read the scripts, but as a viewer, I wish they had more time. It's over so quick, and 'The Game' leaves you wanting more."

The characters on 'The Game" seem to get along really well, so Floyd was asked if it's like that off set as well.

"No! Man, it's so much drama," he kidded. "When I first went over there, I was kinda scared because 'Girlfriends' was next to 'The Game.' [The actors on 'The Game'] used to see me doing my PA work, carrying boxes, running back and forth getting food. I wasn't sure how they were going to treat me when all of a sudden I'm acting with them. ["The Game" cast was] really nice to me. I've learned a lot from watching them, and they all took time to coach me and mentor me a little bit."

Floyd didn't have a comedic background, but he was the guy who made people laugh with his friends. Born January 23, Floyd grew up with a natural sense of humor. And with the ability to draw the audience in with his show character, he doesn't want to stop.

However, he hasn't given up on screenwriting either. He's writing spec scripts, scripts of currently running shows, as resume builders.

"I love animation, so I've been writing a lot of 'Family Guy' and 'Simpsons' trying to get myself a literary agent," he said.

Floyd is also part of the team of writers for PurpleStuffTV.com.

"It's kinda like Saturday Night Live's weekend updates that they do," Floyd explained. "It's basically a comedy. We do sketches...trying to get in on the ground floor of the Internet thing because it's the future of entertainment."

He makes fun of music too. "We did a parody of Jamie Foxx's new video 'Blame It'. We call it 'Blame It on the Purple Stuff.'" The music video can be found on YouTube.com.

With Floyd's hand dipped in comedy, acting, and writing, he was asked what he wants to be doing ten years from now.

"I want to be working steadily in the entertainment business as both an actor and a writer. The actor I look up to the most is Samuel L. Jackson because he's always working; you always seem him all the time. He's been doing it consistently for years, and other big time celebrities have come and gone, but he's still around. I want to be like that."

And after "Girlfriends" ran for 172 episodes with no genuine last episode after getting caught in the backlash of the 2007 Screenwriters' Strike, Floyd can see how sensitive show business can be. Although the only cast member of "Girlfriends" that he's still in touch with is Keesha Sharp, who played Monica (William's wife), he does wish that "Girlfriends" would've been able to have the final episode.

"I would like to see 'Girlfriends' come back because they just left y'all hanging," Floyd said, admitting he'd enjoy acting on that last episode in addition to "The Game." "We never got to see [Joan] get married...that was the whole point of the show...that she would eventually get married. I feel like the audience never got the payoff."