When it comes to child star stereotypes, Home Improvement’s Taylor sibling actors run the gamut, with Jonathan Taylor Thomas maintaining a largely private existence, and Taran Noah Smith going full circle from chaotic young adult to a mild-mannered non-Hollywood professional. Zachery Ty Bryan was the only one to continue leaning heavily into an acting career, which turned into a producer gig after he’d bolstered his wealth as an early Bitcoin investor. But it’s only been in recent years that Bryan’s life seemingly started to spin out, following multiple DUIs and a high-profile 2020 arrest in which he’d allegedly fought with and strangled his then-girlfriend while both were intoxicated. With more details about his personal life and substance abuse coming to light after the fact, Tim Allen spoke out about his former TV son’s complicated issues.
With several allegations of fraud being laid against him over investments in an agriculture-tech startup, and at least one ongoing lawsuit involving other fraud accusations, Bryan’s recent years were addressed at length by THR, with Tim Allen having shared with the outlet his largely unique perspective on the situation. In his words:
I don’t know what’s going on with him. Zach is a great kid who has grown into a complex man. All you can do is step aside and let somebody go through their process. At a certain point, he deviated from the guy I know to somebody who is reacting to situations that I had nothing to do with and can’t control. I don’t know what happens when people get corrupted. You just don’t know.
It's unclear if Allen was speaking about any specific elements from Zachery Ty Bryan's life, or if he was just talking generally, but his words could be attributed to any parts of it. The lengthy report also contains reactions and quotes from family, friends and professional colleagues of Bryan, and while there are varying levels of context involved, many of their views echo the same thoughts.
Namely, that Bryan is a charismatic and largely kind person who likes to speak of his wealth and Hollywood connections, and one whose decision-making skills in recent years are completely incongruous with the person they've known for years; or, in the case of some dismayed investors, the person they put faith into being someone who could make them some money. The way Tim Allen sees it, the person he's known for decades is still in there, but has to be coaxed back out again. Here's how he put it:
I know Zach’s heart. He’s got to figure out his own way.
There's a running theme of Bryan's love of alcohol being the fuel for a lot of the trouble he was getting into, and Tim Allen can certainly speak to the idea of imbibing certain substances leading to arrests. He was famously arrested in 1978 on cocaine trafficking and possession charges, spending over two years in jail after giving up the names of other dealers; he was also arrested in 1998 for a DUI.
Zachery Ty Bryan himself admitted to alcohol being an avenue to problems in THR's interview, while also downplaying the events that led to the arrest mentioned above, saying he and Cartwright "didn’t even really get that physical" during their drunken argument. And though he apparently isn't into using the term alcoholic, he spoke to it by saying:
“I definitely have an issue with drinking. . . . Dude, I started drinking when I was 14. Back then, I was going to nightclubs and they would just let me in because I was the kid from Home Improvement. [Now,] I try to stay away from it. I’ve just kind of disengaged. I’ve got my routine, I’m not going out and getting lit, and that takes away a lot of problems.
Here's hoping the worst of it is all behind both Bryan and Cartwright (who was arrested in April 2021 for assaulting a pair of security guards while intoxicated), especially as they raise their three young children together. If there was a ever a time for a Home Improvement revival to come back around, it might be now.
