For character actor French Stewart, Atlanta has become home

After four decades in Hollywood, veteran actor French Stewart needed a change of scenery.

So in 2022, the “Third Rock from the Sun” star and his family uprooted themselves and moved to a newly built home in the Scottdale neighborhood in unincorporated DeKalb County.

It took a moment for him to get used to basic Southern hospitality.

“First day I’m here, some guy said ‘Good morning,’” Stewart said. “I was thinking, ‘What does he want? What is he up to?’ Then another guy said the same thing. People here are just nice.”

He has since landed a notable role in new indie film, “Bob Trevino Likes It,” which hits theaters March 28. He plays a self-absorbed father to his fundamentally kind, but psychologically abused, daughter Lily Trevino (Barbie Ferreira).

The film, based loosely on the real-life experiences of screenwriter and director Tracie Laymon, features two characters named Bob Trevino. Stewart’s Trevino is Lily’s biological dad, who cuts her off after a spat. She is so bereft, she goes on Facebook and hunts for him, finding instead a different Bob Trevino, played with quiet stoicism and sweetness by John Leguizamo.

Lily builds a genuine friendship with Leguizamo’s Trevino, creating a stark contrast to her real dad, the type of person who will open a door for a stranger but not his own daughter. Stewart’s Bob is on the surface charming and sweet, but in reality is a narcissist perpetually framing himself as the victim.

“I wanted to keep him human,” Stewart said. “He has to be the hero of his own story. In his mind, everyone will see how thankless his daughter was.”

Laymon said other actors tended to read bad Bob with a dark edge, but she found Stewart’s natural wit and humor leavened the character in a way that made it easier to understand Lily’s deep-seated desire to please him.

“You have to be incredibly empathetic and kind to play unkind people well,” said Laymon, who was in a writing group with Stewart’s wife Vanessa during the pandemic. “You have to understand it deeply so you can play the lack of it. French is the most empathetic actor and human being I know. I know it was hard for him to be this mean to Barbie.”

Stewart said he helped Laymon work on her screenplay in 2021 by playing both Bob Trevinos via Zoom. “She preferred me as bad Bob,” he said.

And when the movie reached the point of casting, Laymon insisted Stewart get that part. “Once French read it on Zoom, she couldn’t see anyone else doing it,” Vanessa said.

Credit: LAY

Credit: LAY

Stewart, a 61-year-old New Mexico native, began his career primarily in theater before attempting to break into TV and film. He landed the role of his lifetime in 1996 as quirky alien Harry Solomon in NBC’s “Third Rock from the Sun.” Harry was sent to Earth to study human behavior along with characters played by John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. For six seasons, he brought distinctive physical comedy to Harry and a signature squint that would make a great meme in 2025.

The show aired during a peak time for sitcoms. “It was so much fun,” he said. “We were on the same lot as ‘Roseanne,’ ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Grace Under Fire.’ You had ‘Wings.’ It was a sitcom machine.”

The experience, he said, was a dream, allowing him to rub shoulders with big stars and land on the covers of magazines. “We grew into this lovely family,” he said. “We all appreciated where we were at the time and how lucky we got to do something like this.”

Since then, Stewart said he fashioned a journeyman’s career, seeking the best roles he could find. “I just wanted a house, a car and insurance,” he said. Over the years, he’s landed roles in shows like “The Closer,” “The Middle, “NCIS” and “Mom” and films like “Inspector Gadget 2″ and “Home Alone 4.” His wife wrote a successful play where he got to play Buster Keaton.

Credit: NBC

In 2022, he and Vanessa decided to leave Los Angeles with their daughter Helene, who is now 11. “I didn’t feel like a person anymore,” but just a cog in the big Hollywood machine, he said. The pandemic made remote auditions acceptable, making it easier to live outside L.A.

They chose Atlanta after he got a good vibe from the city shooting the 2021 comedy “Queen Bees” starring Ellen Burstyn, James Caan, Ann-Margaret and his former “Third Rock from the Sun” cast member Jane Curtin.

So far, Atlanta has not disappointed him. He loves to grab coffee at Galette or breakfast at Rising Son, both in Avondale Estates and recently enjoyed a birthday dinner at the steakhouse Il Premio in Old Fourth Ward. They love catching shows at Theatrical Outfit and Dad’s Garage.

“This city has a great theater community, a great film community, a great comedy community,” he said.

He has not yet pursued any parts in local theater but isn’t against the idea. “I didn’t want to come barging in,” he said. “I want to see their shows and get to know them.”

Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com

Stewart was able to shoot “Bob Trevino Likes It” during the actors’ strike in 2023 because it was an independent film and received a waiver. But he said after he filmed it, “it was a desolate year” of no work, which was the case for many actors. He has since landed a recurring role on NBC’s “Chicago Med” and worte a screenplay for an office comedy he is shopping around.

“Bob Trevino Likes It” traveled the film festival circuit over the past year and critics have given it a 95% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Several critics gave Stewart specific plaudits. Collider’s Aidan Kelly called it “without a doubt, the best performance of French Stewart’s career, and it’s not even close.”

Stewart said he is appreciative of the renewed attention. “It’s a quiet beautiful little movie about chosen family,” he said. “We’ve screened it all over the country and people all react the same way, no matter what their age. My daughter has seen it five times.”

Laymon described him as “a genuine artist. He’s fully in whatever he’s doing. I really hope this film helps people see him in a new light and see his incredible range and nuance.”