Russell Hornsby Remembers ‘Lincoln Heights’ On 10th Anniversary Of Show’s Finale

“Lincoln Heights,” created by Seth Freeman, followed police officer and Sutton family patriarch Eddie Sutton (Russell Hornsby) after he, his wife and kids relocated to his old, tough neighborhood of Lincoln Heights. The show’s series finale aired exactly 10 years ago, on Nov. 9, 2009, and Hornsby recently reminisced with International Business Times about his experience working on the show in honor of the major milestone.

The drama ran for four seasons on ABC Family (now Freeform) from 2007 to 2009, tackling various social issues, like racism and poverty, while following the everyday lives of the Sutton family and their friends and romantic partners.

While speaking with IBT at New York Comic Con last month about his upcoming NBC series, “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector,” Hornsby, who has since gone on to star in projects like “Grimm” and “The Hate U Give,” shared what he remembers most from his time working on the family drama.

“Honestly, the best memories are just, now, in retrospect, it was really working with the kids. At the time, they were a pain in my [expletive], I thought. And that was just because I was older, you know what I mean,” he said. “But watching them grow up and having just some impact on their maturation, on their growth, that’s really special to me. And I see that now, having — I’ve run into them, seen them over the years, and they’ve always referenced just how good of a time they had over the four years, and it was a very impactful time in their lives. So, working with the kids [was the best part of the show].”

Hornsby’s, of course, referring to the three actors that played his and his character’s wife’s, Jenn Sutton (Nicki Micheaux, “Good Trouble,” “In the Dark”), kids on the show.

Erica Hubbard (“Let's Stay Together,” “Falling in Love Again”) played his eldest daughter, Cassie; Actress-singer Rhyon Nicole Brown (“Empire,” “Throwback Holiday”) played the youngest daughter and middle child, Lizzie; and actor-singer Mishon Ratliff (“Last Call,” “Frat Brothers”) played the youngest child and only son, Tay. The “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector” actor might also be including Robert Adamson (“The Young and the Restless,” “Hollywood Heights”), who played Cassie’s on-again-off-again boyfriend-turned-fiancé, Charles, in that roundup of “kids” on the show.

Other cast members over the seasons included Michael Reilly Burke (Kevin Lund), Alice Greczyn ( Sage Lund), pre-“Black Panther” Chadwick Boseman (Nate Ray), Cory Hardrict (Luc Bisgaier) and Tyler Posey (Andrew Ortega).

Jennette McCurdy also recurred early on as Becky, Aimee Carrero did as Sylvia Torres and Tyler Hoechlin recurred as Tad. Trey Songz guest-starred as himself, in his acting debut, in a Season 4 episode, and performed “I Need a Girl” with Ratliff’s Tay in the broadcast.

Fans can celebrate the big anniversary with a rewatch (or first watch!) of “Lincoln Heights,” which is currently streaming on Freeform, Hulu and YouTube TV.