Tyler Hynes and Andrew Walker Take Us Back To Their Are You Afraid Of The Dark Days
Long before they became Hallmark Hunks, Tyler Hynes and Andrew Walker appeared on the iconic ‘90s horror anthology series Are You Afraid Of The Dark. Pop Culture Planet spoke with the duo about their childhood memories on the show while celebrating Hallmark Channel’s 25th birthday at 92nd Street Y.
In The Tale of the Wisdom Glass, Hynes played Jimmy Miller, a poor kid transported into a world governed by an unyielding standard of truth and judgement after a wealthy boy named Allan steals a video game. The episode explored the divide between the “haves” and “have-nots,” while forcing the boys to confront themes of honesty, privilege, and fairness. “I worked a lot of overtime and they paid me in cash,” Hynes recalled. “As a young man, I’d never seen that amount of money in my life, which probably wasn’t that much, but to me, it was really exciting.”
So what did he do with all that dough? “I bought a lot of Ninja Turtles,” he laughed.
Hynes also had a particularly memorable experience on set involving a fake guillotine. “I was on like the thing that chops your head off,” he shared. “I fell asleep on that thing. I was a young man and we working long hours. I remember my mom had a picture of me just asleep with the guillotine above my head. It's trauma. Trauma dumping. I'm sorry.”
Meanwhile Walker appeared in two episodes of the series. He played Catherine’s love interest Eric, a popular soccer star, in The Tale of the Vacant Lot, and then the jock bully Bucky in The Tale of the Secret Admirer. At just 13 years old, the series was one of his first jobs and the moment acting started to feel real. “Oh boy, I remember stepping on that set going, ‘What have I done?’” Walker said.
He quickly learned that being an actor meant more than just memorizing lines. He has to hit his mark, find his light, and get out of other people’s light. “It was a nice guest spot that I had done,” Walker explained. “I remember just pretty much forgetting about it all because it was so nerve-wracking. I wish I would have been able to sit in it a little bit more now and go back and go, ‘Oh, you could do this. You're all right. Just have fun and know your lines.’”
Did you recognize these Hallstars on Are You Afraid Of The Dark when they were kids?
