For a long time, Geoffrey Owens was known for playing the Huxtables' son-in-law, Elvin, on The Cosby Show. But a few decades after the show went off the air, Owens is having quite a week. Last Sunday, someone decided to post a photo of Owens bagging groceries at Trader Joe's. The post later went viral as people accused the poster of trying to shame Owens for earning an honest paycheck. Since then, Owens was interviewed on Good Morning America, Nicki Minaj offered him $25,000, and he's fielding multiple TV offers including Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots.
Earlier this week, Perry went to Twitter to offer Owens a role in the series. "I'm about to start shooting OWN's number one drama next week! Come join us!!!" he wrote.
And it seems like he's making good on that promise. TMZ and USA Today report Perry offered Owens a 10-episode deal—and Owens accepted it. But that's not all. Owens told The Hollywood Reporter he's got a "whole handful" of TV offers. "It's been a real generosity of spirit and a generosity of action where that is concerned," he said.
He's also got the support of his fellow Cosby Show alums, saying, "Keshia Knight Pulliam [Rudy], Malcolm-Jamal Warner [Theo], and Sabrina Le Beauf [Sandra aka Elvin's onscreen wife] have all been in touch and all have been lovely, as you would expect friends to be."
Although he quit his job at Trader Joe's—due to the media attention—the company said he's always welcome to come back. "They said, 'Don't consider it leaving, consider it an indeterminate leave of absence.' So they wanted to hold my place open in case I ever wanted to come back, which I thought was really cool," he said. But if the TV offers keep coming in, he likely won't have the time for it.
