Aunt Viv, What Happened to Fresh Prince of Bel Air Cast? | Then & Now | Cast Reunion

All it takes is hearing that opening drum kit of that title sequence to throw a whole bunch of us back to the super early 90s when The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was kicking off its 148th episode run between the years of 1990 and 1996. The series starred Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself in the role that would launch him into superstardom as we followed his escapades living in his aunt and uncle's house in Bel Air. Fresh Prince was created by Andy Borowitz and Susan Borowitz and starred actors like James Avery as Uncle Phil, Janet Hubert as Aunt Vivian until she was replaced 3 seasons in by Daphne Maxwell, Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton, Karen Parsons as Hillary, Tatiana Ali as Ashley, Joseph Marcel as the butler Jeffrey, and Jeffrey A. Townes as Will's best friend DJ Jazzy Jeff. Most of these actors would forever become associated with the roles they played in this series. In fact, Alfonso Ribeiro admitted to Us Weekly that he had a tough time landing future roles after spending so many years as Carlton. He told them You get a role that you get to fully dive into and make it yours and create dances and create ideas and work with the writers and directors and producers in molding this character. Having people feel like oh my god you were so good I think that's you. Which I always say well isn't that what acting is? I did something so well that you're punishing me for doing it. But all that was over 3 decades ago and recently HBO Max has announced an unscripted Fresh Prince of Bel Air full cast reunion special in honour of it's 30th anniversary. And it's on it's way real soon. Like really soon. Like this week soon. This brand new special is set to reunite all star cast one last time to discuss the impact of the show and how it changed all of their lives, as well as influence the depiction of black families in the modern age of media. To celebrate the moment, Will Smith shared the trailer on Instagram with the following message These are the people who made me the man I am today. And I couldn't let this day go by without marking the occasion. So if you can't wait to catch this special for yourself, then I've got some good news for you because today I'm going to take a look back at this cast to remind you of what they were like back then, and what they've been getting up to now. Hey guys and gals, it's Kara back with a brand new episode of a new series we're calling Then and Now. So if you get a kick out of this video, be sure to check out ones that we have coming up. I mean, you can never get enough of Will Smith in your life am I right? Be sure to follow me on Instagram to let me know what you think. Alright, now let's get into this story. Whenever anyone thinks about the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the first person you always think of is Will Smith. I mean how could it not be? Not only was this series his breakout vehicle, he also played a version of himself in it. How often does that happen? Especially for someone who was so new to the game. In a way, it only made us, the audience, feel like we knew who Will was even more as we laughed along at some of his most ridiculous behaviour. When Will first moved into his new mansion in Bel Air, he was a pretty big brat to the family that took him in, but over the years, his love and acceptance for them would grow, and so too would our love and acceptance of him. In reality, Will was actually in a bit of trouble financially speaking when he took on the Fresh Prince gig. In the late 80s, he was an up and coming MC who severely underpaid his income taxes and was looking at a bill of close to 3 million dollars that he owed the government. NBC signed him to a developmental deal and built this series around him. Thankfully for Will, the series was a big enough success that he was able to get out from under all that debt. After the Fresh Prince, Smith would go on to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, headlining movies like Bad Boys, Men in Black, and Independence Day. In fact, he would go on to become the only actor to ever have 8 consecutive films to gross over 100 million dollars in the domestic box office. More recently, you can catch him in flicks like Aladdin, Gemini Man, and Bad Boys for Life. While Will Smith was undoubtedly the star of this series, Alfonso Ribeiro's Carlton was the breakout fan favourite character. I mean, no one can think about this series for more than 30 seconds without this image coming to mind. Carlton was Will's cousin and ultimately his best friend, but his rational, naive behaviour was always the perfect foil to Will's carefree, street-savvy nature. Over the course of 6 seasons, these two would rub off on each other and learn from one another. These days, Alfonso is still shaking his hips at 3, one season, 19 of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, alongside his partner Whitney Carson. Despite getting pigeonholed as a geeky goofball, Alfonso also managed to carve out a career for himself as a game show host as well. He's hosted America's Funniest Home Videos for what feels like decades now, and he's also hosted iterations of shows like Catch 21, Spellmageddon, and Dance 360. Last year, Alfonso and his wife welcomed their 4th child into the world. Cousin Hillary was a whole bunch of teenage boys' favourite character on the Fresh Prince. Why? That's easy. Because Karen Parsons was, and still is, gorgeous. She might have been depicted as dissy and obsessed with money, but as the series progressed, Hillary grew as a character, and began to reflect the real-life personality of Karen who was more or less the exact opposite of that. In fact, since moving on from the series, Karen has founded Sweet Blackberry, an organization that produces children's films about influential black figures throughout history. Karen also wrote her first novel, How High The Moon, a book aimed at middle schoolers and inspired by her mother's own real-life experiences of growing up in the south. In her personal life, Karen married film director Alexandre Rockwell and has two children. Some of us were Hillary fans, while some of us were Ashley fans. Tatiana Ali played Will's other cousin Ashley, who spent the majority of the series looking up to her older cousin. After the success of Fresh Prince, Tatiana attended Harvard University, where she would go on to graduate in 2002 with a degree in African American Studies. She then starred in a number of films for Hallmark, and had a recurring role in The Young and the Restless. In terms of her personal life, Tatiana would meet Dr. Von Rasberry in 2015 on the eHarmony platform, which makes Dr. Von the most successful member in eHarmony history, by my count. They were married in 2016 and have two sons. Joseph Marcel played Jeffrey, the Banks family's sarcastic and scene-stealing butler. Jeffrey was the one cleaning up after Will's many different hijinks, and while this would often get his character exasperated, he was more often than not considered an integral part of the family. After the series was over, Marcel moved back to his native London, where he would go on to have a career in the theatre, and serve on the board of one of the most famous playhouses in the world, the Globe Theatre. In fact, in 2014, at the age of 71, Marcel took on the role of Lear in Shakespeare's King Gilear at the Globe Theatre, where he also starred in Much Ado About Nothing previously in 2012. Now we arrive at the most controversial name on this list, Janet Hubert, the original Aunt Viv, who was let go after 3 seasons. She was reportedly fired at the time for becoming pregnant because her contract specifically forbade such a thing. Her dismissal from the series left an understandably bad taste in her mouth, and she has had a bit of a long-running feud with Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro ever since. In 2013, she told OMG Insider that they did Will and Alfonso, especially Alfonso. He said that I was crazy, and that nobody wanted to go to lunch with me. Janet would go on to have a recurring role in General Hospital, and apparently this feud might now be water under the bridge because Janet is set to make her return in the Reunion special, and her inclusion might be the most exciting thing about it. Can't wait to see if sparks fly. From one Aunt Viv to another, Daphne Maxwell is the woman that was brought in to replace Janet Hubert. At this point in the series, Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil had just had their newest child, Nikki. By all accounts, Daphne was much more popular behind the scenes than Janet was and she stuck with the show through till the end. These days Daphne is married to photographer Tim Reed and starring in the recent biopic Harriet. Jeffrey A Townes played Will's best friend DJ Jazzy Jeff in the series. In reality, he was also one of Will's best friends too. Townes and Smith performed as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince prior to the show ever airing, so in a way you could say Jeffrey was Will's original co-star. His inclusion in the series would lead to one of his most iconic moments, when Uncle Phil kicks Jazzy out of the home. These days, Townes still performs as DJ Jazzy Jeff and recently hosted a virtual block party to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series. He also still collaborates semi-regularly with Will, they performed in 2017 at the Europe MTV Summer Blast music festival, as well as hosting a break in the monotony block party on Instagram together in May of this year. Finally, no discussion about the Fresh Prince of Bel Air would be complete without mentioning the towering presence of gentle giant James Avery. Uncle Phil was a fan favourite character and the emotional heart of the series, and no one will ever forget the chemistry that both James and Will shared with one another. After this series, James would go on to star in a short live UPN series Sparks and make guest appearances on series like CSI, That 70s Show, and Grey's Anatomy. But sadly, James passed away on December 31st, 2013 at the age of 68 from complications following open heart surgery. After his passing, Will responded on Facebook with some of my greatest lessons in acting, living and being a respectable human being came through James Avery. Every young man needs an Uncle Phil. Rest in peace. So while James Avery won't be a part of the reunion special, I would be truly shocked if the presence of Uncle Phil isn't felt in some way, shape or form. He deserves nothing less. Alright guys, I think we'll bring this episode of Then and Now to an end right here. What did you guys think? Let me know either on Instagram or in the comments down below. If you're enjoying this series, leave some ideas for other episodes you'd like to see. I'll catch you guys all in the next video. Bye!