A lot can happen in a year or two.
The last time we saw a young Kei Rawlins, he was 9 years old, making his professional stage debut in the 40th anniversary of the Goodman Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol.” He would go on to play CJ for the Chicago Children’s Theatre’s production of “Last Stop on Market Street” in the spring of 2018.
Now, at the ripe old age of 11, the former Cratchit/Turkey Boy is starring in his first Disney movie — “Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.”
The film, set to premiere on Disney Plus Friday, is based on the book of the same name, which follows the exploits of Timmy Failure, who runs Total Failure Inc., a Portland, Oregon, detective agency with his partner Total, a CGI polar bear. But Failure is still in elementary school, so he has to solve cases while dealing with his mother (played by Ophelia Lovibond), her boyfriend (Kyle Bornheimer), and teachers/counselors ((Wallace Shawn/Craig Robinson). Rawlins plays Rollo Tookus, Timmy’s best friend, who goes along for Timmy’s (Winslow Fegley) adventures. Some of Kei’s antics are captured in the trailer.
Michael Anthony Rawlins, Kei’s dad, recounted Kei’s path to playing the Tookus character that began with an audition in 2017. The family has since relocated to Los Angeles.
“We didn’t hear anything for a year, and then we got a call to audition in 2018,” he said. “They said they’d fly him out to Vancouver for a screen test. We were still in Chicago at that point and flew to Vancouver, did the screen test and he got the part. I think it was as much his personality as much as it was his comic sensibility.”
Kei’s personality shone when it came to first meeting the director/co-writer of the film, Tom McCarthy — yes, the one who won an Oscar for his “Spotlight” screenplay. According to Kei, when they met, he asked McCarthy where Jerry was? It took him a while to get that Kei was referring to the classic cartoon team “Tom & Jerry” a creation of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in the 1940s.
“He didn’t get it at first,” Kei said. “He looked at the girl who was working the camera and she was covering her mouth laughing because she didn’t want him to see her and then he thought about it for five seconds and then he got it and started laughing.”
We caught up with Kei on the phone following his red carpet premiere in Los Angeles. His father (joined in on the call) and said they’ve seen the finished product and admits it feels more like watching an “independent film” that is “grounded and down to earth.” Kei shared his excitement over his Disney first, details about the movie, and what has transpired with the Rawlins family since we last saw them (dad acting in stage productions like “Moon Man Walk” and appearing in shows like “Empire” and his mom working as a TV production accountant on the “Chicago Fire” TV series). The interview has been condensed and edited.
Q: What were your best and worst parts of the film?
Kei: I don’t really think that I had a worst part. My favorite part was when I ran into the door in the bank – I think that was in the trailer. I ran into the door and I did my own stunts for the first two takes. Tom was cracking up but he told me I had to stop running into the door because he didn’t want me to hurt myself.
Michael: The stunt coordinator was like: “Kei, ACT like you’re running into the door!” You’re going to hurt yourself, we’re concerned. We tried to tell the stunt coordinator one of his favorite things to do is fall on the floor, fall off of furniture — he’s been doing stunts since he was a baby.
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Q: What was it like working in the Disney bubble?
Michael: It’s a very privileged bubble.
Kei: We went to Disneyland, the entire cast, to do press, so we did press and took pictures around the park and we got to ride some rides for press too. After press was over, they fed us. Then after that we got our own VIP tour guide and it was even better than FastPass because we didn’t even have to wait for the FastPass line: We would just go behind the ride, through the emergency exit of the ride and then we would ride the ride before anyone with FastPass could ride it.
Michael: Now that we did Disneyland that way, I can’t imagine going and waiting in a line.
Q: Are we going to see more comedy from you, less drama in the future?
Kei: I want to do comedy and drama. I like comedy, but I like drama better because sometimes in comedy they can take out all the dramatic moments … . So I’m open to both.
Q: Last time we chatted, you were hoping to land a spot on your favorite show, “Stranger Things.” Any progress on that front?
Michael: He had an audition for “Stranger Things” recently for an eight-episode arc in December or November. It didn’t happen, but we were very excited to get the audition.
Q: Since the family moved to Los Angeles, you’ve also done a guest spot on the ABC show “Fresh Off the Boat,” that aired in October. What other shows can we see you in?
Kei: I did a guest star role on a Disney Channel show called “Just Roll With It.” I played Kyle. I shot it in December.
Michael: We don’t know when it will air though. “Just Roll With It’s” second season hasn’t started airing yet, but it is episode number seven and it’s called “Owen’s Bromance.”
Q: Let’s address the elephant in the room. Why is Timmy’s sidekick a polar bear?
Kei: The polar bear was on an iceberg that branched off from the Arctic ice caps and he ended up in Portland, Oregon. And he comes to Timmy’s house and actually knocks down the door of Timmy’s house and the rest is history. The polar bear is a substitute father … that steps in to fill a void. Timmy even goes so far as to call Total Papa Bear.
Q: Are there any plot twists or surprises that you can reveal?
Kei: Not really. I will say that it’s definitely set up to have a sequel.
Michael: Let’s just say that the Russians may not be who they appear to be.
Q: Would you be up to doing a sequel, if there is one to come?
Kei: I totally would do a Part 2 and a Part 100!