The filmmaker and actor is offering the 57-year-old actor a role on his drama which will be aired on Oprah Winfrey Network.

• Sep 5, 2018

AceShowbiz - Filmmaker Tyler Perry has offered former The Cosby Show star Geoffrey Owens a role in his new TV project after the actor was spotted working as a cashier in a New Jersey store.

Owens was bagging groceries at Trader Joe's last month, prompting a customer to take to social media to express her shock at his new career path.

"I used to watch The Cosby Show all the time; it was my favourite show. It was definitely him," Karma Lawrence told U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail. "I would have thought after The Cosby Show he would maybe be doing something different. It was a shock to see him working there and looking the way he did. It made me feel really bad."

Many celebrities, including Patricia Heaton, Donnie Wahlberg, and Terry Crews, came to Owens' defence, saluting him for finding work in between acting jobs, and during an appearance on U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America on Tuesday, September 04, the actor revealed he initially felt "devastation" and "shame" over the negative press, but the response to the story has been amazing.

"I kind of feel like that character in that Woody Allen movie that wakes up one morning and he's a celebrity all of a sudden. It came out of nowhere," he said. "I really want to thank everybody out there for the incredible support... that they've shown for me. It's quite astounding."

And now Perry has offered Owens, 57, a job on a new drama.

"#GeoffreyOwens I'm about to start shooting OWN's (Oprah Winfrey Network) number one drama next week! Come join us!!!" Perry tweeted on Tuesday. "I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs. The measure of a true artist."

#GeoffreyOwens I’m about to start shootings OWN’s number one drama next week! Come join us!!! I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs. The measure of a true artist.

— Tyler Perry (@tylerperry) 4 September 2018

Owens, who played Elvin Tibideaux on The Cosby Show from 1985 to 1992, has responded to Tyler's offer, telling news show Entertainment Tonight, "That was kind of cool.

"I mean, that kind of sounded like he was saying, 'Come work with me'. I'm so, like, skeptical. Like, really? Are you actually saying come work with me? Because we've never worked together before. So, that's a very, very generous thing for him to say. And we'll see what happens with that. But, that's encouraging."

FULL INTERVIEW: @GMA EXCLUSIVE -- "There's no job better than another...every job is worthwhile..." Actor Geoffrey Owens speaks out, responding to job shaming and backlash after a photo of him working at a grocery store was posted online: https://t.co/0wZJnpowI9pic.twitter.com/aNiG5fV2yf

— Good Morning America (@GMA) 4 September 2018

But he admits he hasn't actually seen any of Perry's shows: "I'm not a TV watcher," he laughs. "Never have been."