Geoffrey Owens talks connecting with Justine Bateman on "Fame" after his Trader Joe's shaming, says Tyler Perry's offer was "not a handout"

The New York Times

The Cosby Show alum has had a busy few weeks since he went viral for working at Trader Joe's. He had to fly to Atlanta to film OWN's The Haves and Have Nots, agree to an NCIS: Los Angeles guest role while weighing other acting offers. Was he concerned that Tyler Perry only wanted to hire him because of the Trader Joe's picture? "No, I was not presumptuous and ungrateful enough to say such a thing," Owens tells The New York Times, in an interview looking back at his recent viral fame. "I know that Tyler Perry is a very shrewd businessman. He would never make that offer if he didn’t think I could deliver. I think of it this way: He offered me the role but it’s not like I don’t have to do a job. It’s a job I have to do for him and I have to do it well. It’s an offer, but it’s not a handout. He knows my work and he knows that I’m a professional and I can do what he needs me to do." Owens says he's also formed a connection with fellow former NBC sitcom star Justine Bateman, of Family Ties fame, who graduated from UCLA two years ago at age 49 with a degree in computer science and management. "Justine Bateman came to my defense on social media and she sought to reach me personally," says Owens. "And so we started to communicate directly via text and she has been extremely supportive, and she even sent me a copy of her book that is being published as we speak, a book called Fame, which is wonderful. I’ve actually already read it. She is one of the few people who shares the experience that I have. A person who experienced great fame and celebrity, more than I ever did, for longer, and then has had to adjust to not being famous, which is a lot of what her book is about. We understand certain things that very few people can understand, not to sound elitist about it."