Actor Tyree Brown

Portrait by Jay Dixon courtesy of JE Model/JE Talent

So, Parenthood. How did it come about?

I did an audition in San Francisco and then that’s how I got in Parenthood. My mommy and daddy jumped up and down. But I started acting when I was 3.

You did? How did you get started in acting?

Tyree Brown getting a big squeeze from Joy Bryant, who plays his mom on the new NBC series Parenthood. (Photo courtesy of JE Model/JE Talent)

My sister Mackenzie was bigger than me—she’s 10 and I’m 6—and she was an actor. She does modeling, too. And when I watched her do her modeling, it looked really fun. So my mom took pictures of me and sent them to JE [Talent, a San Francisco agency], and they liked me. I’ve done the Barn [Pottery Barn Kids]. I did a State Fair commercial—me and my sister. We had a pretend grandpa and grandma. We got to go on rides.

And now you’re going to be on TV. That’s really cool.

Yeah. I like Parenthood. I like my pretend dad and mom [played by Dax Shepard and Joy Bryant]. I like hugging Dax. [Based on the hit ’80s movie of the same name, the show chronicles the imperfect life of the Braverman family. Tyree plays Jabbar, the son of commitment phobe Crosby Braverman.]

Are they like your real mom and dad or different?

They’re different. Dax is white and Joy is brown. [Tyree’s mom, Renee, is white and his father, MacArthur, is black.]

What do you like about being on set at Parenthood?

The donuts. I like the glazed ones. And licorice. I liked one scene because I got to play Candy Land. Do you have Candy Land? It’s my first [favorite game]—I like being a person.

You’re in kindergarten. How do you memorize your lines?

[My mom and I] work on the lines at home. I do home schooling. I like home school. I like my mom teaching me and my dad teaching me. I like calling my mom Ms. Renee and [wearing] my jammies.

What’s the hardest word you’ve had to memorize so far?

“Intolerant.” It means that you’re sick. It was for a car scene—I’m in the scene with my dad and I’m intolerant to something [lactose].

That is a big word. But you’re a big boy now—you just turned 6. What’s going to be different about being 6 versus 5?

I’m going to stop whining. Sometimes I’m crazy—I get hyper. And I don’t [like to] eat vegetables, but I’m going to eat vegetables. And now I don’t need a car seat.

Speaking of car seats, do you drive or fly when you have to go down to L.A. to shoot Parenthood?

Drive. But I like flying. I like going on an airplane because I am really high up and I can look out the window and say, “Whoa, look at that!”

Do you like L.A.?

Yeah, cuz of Austin [his cousin, who lives there]. He’s a baby. He just turned 3. So he’s a baby, but he can go pee by himself.

You visit L.A. but you live in the Sacramento area. Where?

In Elk Grove. In a big house—we have an upstairs and a downstairs. My first best friend Evan lives next door. He’s really cool. I like his Wii games.

What else do you like to do for fun?

I like to go to Toys “R” Us. I do soccer. And I like boxing. I [also] like tackling. I’m a good tackler. So I want to play football. I want to learn football when I’m 21. I like swimming too. When I was 3, I learned how to ride my bike and I learned how to swim—without the floaties. When I was 5, there was a girl that was 6 and I beat her in swimming.

Wow. Back to acting, you’re on a TV show. Do you ever want to be in a movie?

Yeah, I want to be in an Iron Man movie. He can shoot [repulsor rays] and he can fly. But I have to be 16 because he looks very old.

I see. Do you think you’ll still want to act when you grow up or do something else?

I want to do something else when I grow up.

What do you want to do?

Be Iron Man! I have the costume. Or I want to be a doctor. I want to go to the hospital and help people.

That’s great. And finally, now that you’re a big Hollywood star, I have to ask: Do you have a girlfriend?

Yes. From preschool. Her name is Brayden. She’s in first grade now. Her hair is curly. It’s like my mommy’s hair—blonde—but curly. We like playing with blocks.