There’s a particular heartbreak in seeing someone you grew up watching on Television reduced to a viral moment of suffering.
Nearly two decades after playing the over-prepared hall monitor who had everything figured out on “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide,” Tylor Chase is back in the spotlight.
Tylor Chase seen in a clip dated June 27, 2008
But this time, it is not on a Hollywood set. It is through the lens of strangers’ camera phones, as he walks the streets of Riverside, California, looking lost, worn down, and unmistakably in crisis.
The “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” cast pictured during Nickelodeon’s 19th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards on April 01, 2006
When a Familiar Face Reappears in Crisis
In one viral clip, the former Nickelodeon actor is seen wearing a battered Los Angeles Raiders polo, clutching the waistband of his equally battered jeans to keep them from falling.
The person filming asks if he was on Disney Channel. Chase, foggy but polite, corrects them, saying, “Nickelodeon.” When asked which show, he responds clearly: “‘Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.'”
The clip spread fast, triggering an outpouring of emotion from longtime fans. Comments included, “This just broke my heart,” “My heart just shattered,” and “This is what Hollywood does to children.”
Another clip shows him more animated, still disheveled, engaging with a passerby who offers him money. Chase tries to hand over his watch in exchange, an unnecessary gesture, but telling. The man gives him $20 anyway.
