The stars of ABC's upcoming revival of The Wonder Years revealed it was hard to relive painful parts of American history while filming the series, which is set during the American Civil Rights Movement.

"Being able to look back at that time and learn about it and then reenact it -- I'm not gonna lie, I cried," Elisha "E.J." Williams admitted during the show's Television Critics Association (TCA) panel, as reported by Deadline. "[The character] Dean's perspective and me learning were two different situations. For me, it was hard to process even though I've already learned about the era but when you're deep into a situation you think of things you'd never have thought of before like the death of Dr. King."

RELATED: Peacock Cancels Punky Brewster Revival After One Season

Williams' costar Dulé Hill added, "What sticks out to me is, as much as things have changed, they've stayed the same. As tragic as [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s] passing there's still so much tragedy that's gone on between now and then that's still happening right now."

The actor also revealed that, in his opinion, the most interesting thing about exploring America in the '60s was seeing how Black Americans reacted to trauma, explaining, "...If you see the trauma and you see the hurt, you also see the strength of the people from that time and you reflect on where we are now and you see that same strength, that same power, and the same fortitude to press forward that has always been there for people who look like me."

RELATED: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Reboot Reactions Are Overwhelmingly Positive

As previously reported, the rebooted version of The Wonder Years will follow the Black middle-class Williams family in Montgomery, Alabama. The show will center on 12-year-old Dean Williams (Williams), but narrated by the adult version of Dean voiced by Don Cheadle. The first trailer for the new version of The Wonder Years was released in May and introduced the Williams family features Joe Cocker's cover of "With A Little Help From My Friends," which was also used as the theme song for the original series.

Fred Savage, who starred as Kevin Arnold in the original The Wonder Years, directed the series premiere and executive produced the first season alongside creator Saladin K. Patterson, Lee Daniels and Marc Velez who are also EPs. It was also recently confirmed that Allen Maldonado, who currently stars on the Starz wrestling drama Heels, will appear in The Wonder Years in a recurring role as Coach Long.

The Wonder Years stars Elisha "EJ" Williams, Saycon Sengbloh, Dulé Hill and Laura Kariuki. The series will premiere on ABC on Sept. 22.

KEEP READING: The Office: NBCU Is 'Standing by' Whenever Greg Daniels Wants to Do a Reboot

Source: Deadline