Jabari Banks is the new ‘Will Smith’ in ‘Bel-Air’ on Peacock
09.02.2022 - 04:23
/ nypost.com
Peacock’s adaptation of NBC’s iconic sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”That series (1990-96) launched then-rap star Will Smith into superstardom, and his onscreen character, also named Will Smith, into TV lore when he’s sent to Bel Air, Calif. to live with his rich relatives after getting into trouble in his West Philadelphia neighborhood.
(As recounted in the show’s ear- candy theme song, written by Smith and his hip-hop partner DJ Jazzy Jeff and sung by Smith.)“Bro, I grew up watching that show,” Banks, 23, told The Post. “My family has the six-season [‘Fresh Prince’] box set, so that would repeat in our house all the time.
I have Will Smith sweaters and I dressed up as ‘The Fresh Prince’ in high school with a couple of my classmates.“That has been the defining show for me in my life — and even before I got the call [for ‘Bel-Air’] I re-watched the six seasons all the way through during quarantine. There are so many parallels between my life and Will Smith’s life.
This is my first time in LA and it was Will’s first time in LA when he did the show. I grew up playing basketball and he played basketball and we both do the music thing.”So call it serendipity, along with the fact that Banks — who grew up in West Philly and is a 2021 graduate of the city’s University of the Arts — shares a last name with his TV alter-ego’s uber-wealthy family in “Bel-Air”: Uncle Phillip Banks (Adrian Holmes), Aunt Vivian (Cassandra Freeman) and their children Hilary (Coco Jones), Carlton (Olly Sholotan) and Ashley (Akira Akbar).
Geoffrey (Jimmy Akingbola) manages the family’s estate (in more ways than one).The names of the “Bel-Air” characters will be familiar to fans of “The Fresh Prince,” but there aren’t many laughs here. Will, a high
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