Jaleel White Shares Lesson He Learned from George Clooney While Shooting“ Family Matters”

Virginia ChamleeTue, June 30, 2026 at 7:00 PM UTC

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Jaleel White, George ClooneyCredit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Maarten De Boer/Getty -

Jaleel White revealed that FamilyMatters and ER were filmed at the same studio in the '90s

George Clooney taught White a lesson in stardom by taking over a shared basketball court at the studio

White reflected on Clooney's intentional Hollywood journey compared to his own experience navigating fame as a young actor

Jaleel White is sharing words of wisdom he gleaned from George Clooney as a young actor.

Clooney's role as the hunky Dr. Doug Ross in the medical drama ER catapulted him to stardom while White's role as Steve Urkel in Family Matters did the same for him.

Speaking on a recent episode of Sherri with Sherri Shepherd, White, 49, shared that the two shows were filmed at the same studio.

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"You know ER was shot next door to Family Matters," White said. "So George taught me a lesson."

White continued: "George taught me a lesson in stardom because my basketball court — when ER asked to move it into a common area, it suddenly became his basketball court."

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"But George was a great guy to be around. He was always really humble," White added of Clooney. "And the thing about George that was unique though, was he was very intentional about his road in Hollywood. Whereas me, I was kind of a leaf in the wind and figuring it out with my parents."

While White primarily portrayed the geeky but lovable Steve Urkel in the hit sitcom, which aired from 1989 to 1998, he also played several additional roles, including Urkel's alter ego Stefan Urquelle and other members of the Urkel family.

While taking part in a panel at 90s Con at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford in 2025, White noted that fans frequently tell him "you're my entire childhood," as PEOPLE earlier reported.

"Reality of it was, you're my childhood too, but in a different way," White said on the panel.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”