Image via CHRIS HASTON/ NBC/ GETTY //
Including the OG Will Smith…
Much to the delight of ’90s kids across the world, the cast of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air are reuniting for a TV special next month, to coincide with the legendary show’s 30th anniversary.
Cast members returning include Will Smith, Tatyana Ali (Ashley Banks), Karyn Parsons (Hilary Banks), Joseph Marcell (Geoffrey Butler), Daphne Maxwell Reid (Vivian Banks) and Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton Banks). There’ll also be a special appearance from DJ Jazzy Jeff as well as some other surprise guests. Surprisingly, the cast actually did a virtual reunion earlier this year, during the peak of lockdown in the U.S. It definitely got a bit emotional however while paying tribute to Uncle Phil himself James Avery, who passed away in 2013.
Speaking on the video call, Smith said to his former co-stars “That just makes me teary. The first couple times that I’m seeing clips of James, you know?”
“You guys are my second family. I’ve been shaped by my interactions and relationships,” he said. When I look back, the best times in my life will have been on that set.”
The cast has been thinking of going a reunion for quite a while, but Avery’s death in 2013 definitely threw a spanner in the worlds, with Karyn Parsons saying in 2017 “It feels like an impossibility since James Avery died. I don’t know how we would do it without him. It definitely affects the entire dynamic of the group.”
“He affects all of us as a group and the way we interact. We miss him so much. He was such a wonderful man and important part of our lives that when we’re altogether, it feels like something is missing.” She’s definitely got a point. The dynamic won’t be the same without Uncle Phil, but we know it’ll be just as special. Check out some clips from their virtual reunion earlier this year below, and have some tissues on standby in case you start tearing up like we did.
