Youngest ‘Home Improvement’ actor explains why his character went goth

Mark Taylor’s goth phase on Home Improvement makes so much more sense now.

Taran Noah Smith, the actor who played Mark, the youngest son of Tim (Tim Allen) and Jill (Patricia Richardson) on the sitcom, recently explained the surprising origins of his character turning goth seemingly out of nowhere. He was asked whose idea the new phase was during a recent appearance on The Best Show with Tom Scharpling podcast.

“So, it wasn’t mine,” he said, laughing. “The whole storyline of the older brothers beating up on me or teasing me didn’t really work anymore because now I was taller than both of them.”

According to Smith, the decision to change his character’s look was made in the break between seasons 6 and 7, but it wasn’t until later that he realized where the idea likely came from.

“I found out later the head writer on the show, he had a son that was right around my age,” he explained, adding, “and after about halfway through the season, I’m in wardrobe, black fingernails, and dog collar and all the stuff on, and I went backstage and came face to face with his son, who was not in wardrobe, but looked just like me, and we had this very awkward moment of like, ‘Oh, I’m your dad’s way of kind of dealing with you, sorry.'”

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Home Improvement followed Allen’s Tim Taylor, host of the home improvement show “Tool Time,” and life with wife Jill and their three boys Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and Mark (Smith). It ran for eight seasons on ABC. Allen has spoken about the possibility of a reunion, telling The Messenger in 2023 that he was still in contact with his onscreen sons, and the topic of a spinoff has come up.

“One of the conversations we’ve had recently is how weird it would be if Home Improvement would be about the kids’ kids,” Allen said at the time. “Like if all of them had children, and I’m a grandparent. Home Re-Improvement or something like that. It’s come up.”

That could be a tough sell, though, at least as far as Smith is concerned. Smith, who starred on the show from age 6 to 16, left Hollywood after the series ended its run. His other pursuits have included briefly running PlayFood (a vegan restaurant and catering company), doing volunteer work in the Philippines for the nonprofit Communitere, and working for the Community Submersibles Project, according to Us Weekly.