ENGLISH TEACHER – Season 2 Key art | ©2025 FX Networks

ENGLISH TEACHER returns for its second season on FX on Thursday, September 25, with a three-episode blast, with episodes available on Hulu thereafter. The series, nominated for Writers Guild of America and Television Critics Association Awards for Comedy, is created by Brian Jordan Alvarez, who also stars as the title character.

Alvarez’s Evan Marquez often finds himself in the middle of conflicts with his fellow teachers and students at an Austin, Texas high school over both the political and the personal.

Carmen Christopher costars as one of Evan’s friends and colleagues, school guidance counselor Rick, who is perhaps not the smartest person in the room, but is always trying to get some kind of second job going.

Originally from Chicago, Christopher has a recurring role on THE BEAR, in addition to being a stand-up comedian. His other film and television credits include DELIVERY DUDES, SUNSET PEAKS, OTHERHOOD, SHRILL, SEARCH PARTY, KILLING IT, and FRIENDSHIP.

During a Q&A panel for ENGLISH TEACHER and sponsored by FX and the Television Critics Association, and a one-on-one conversation afterward, Christopher discusses his involvement with the show.

This formally began with an audition but, Christopher explains, “The week before, [ENGLISH TEACHER executive producer/director] John Krisel had seen an hour of the stand-up solo show that I was doing. The next week, I had an audition, and I think it’s because he saw me, that’s what got me in. And I heard back pretty quickly. It just worked fast.”

What was Christopher told about Rick at the start?

“This guy is his own entrepreneur, trying to make his own money, and trying to do something bigger than the [guidance counselor] job. That job was just kind of there. He always has a scheme to get rich, but the schemes are for only a couple thousand dollars, so it’s really not a ton of money, But to him, it is a lot. It’s aspirational for him. He doesn’t know that in the macro sense that it’s not as big.”

As far as his guidance counselor gig goes, Rick isn’t too concerned with job security. “He’s concerned with his relationships with the other teachers, and he does like the kids, but he feels invincible, like he won’t get fired, because he has such good relationships with the people”.

The character interacts with both adults and teens, but Christopher believes Rick doesn’t discriminate. “I treat the kids and the fellow teachers the same.”

Does ENGLISH TEACHER resemble Christopher’s real-life high school experiences?

“Hard to say, because I don’t remember dealing with a guidance counselor, and my character is a guidance counselor, who’s not very involved, so maybe in that sense.”

As far as actually being a high school guidance counselor, “I don’t think it’s a job that I would ever want. I love the job I have now, being a comedian. I worked in sales for eight years, and that was a very different industry than this, and I left it so that I could follow my passion. So, I’m doing what I want to do. But all love to the guidance counselors out there, helping the kids. Because Rick is not the best.”

ENGLISH TEACHER is shot single-camera, rather than multi-camera, which is often used for television comedy. Does Christopher approach it the way he would drama, which is also single-camera?

“I approach it the same way that I approach everything. I prepare as much as I possibly can, but then, because it’s on screen, I know that I don’t have to be as big in terms of when I’m doing stand-up on stage.”

Since Christopher writes his own material for stand-up, does he ever get to contribute to Rick’s dialogue?

“I wouldn’t say that I’m putting a pen to a pad, but I’m definitely improvising on set, and coming up with my own ideas that are oftentimes accepted. It felt like a very safe place to improvise. Everything was written so well, but if you had an idea, it was accepted, and that’s the best way to work.”

What’s the chemistry like between the cast members?

“I think everybody just came so prepared and willing to be open and work together. Something that I liked about this show is, we all ate lunch together every day, and I feel like we genuinely liked each other, so it was really easy.”

And what would Christopher most like people to get out of ENGLISH TEACHER?

“I honestly just want people to watch.”

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Article: Exclusive Interview: Actor Carmen Christopher on Season 2 of ENGLISH TEACHER

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