The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 30th anniversary: Where are the cast now?

There are few shows as iconic as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The series, starring Will Smith as a lightly fictionalised version of himself, continues to consistently rank at the top of lists of the best sitcoms of the Nineties.

The Fresh Prince was a massive success. The series ran for six seasons on NBC and was feted with two Golden Globe awards – but even more remarkable is how the sitcom has lost none of its appeal in the years since it finished in 1996. 

A nostalgic audience hungry for simpler times still regularly tune into beloved reruns on television and tuck into well-worn box sets for optimal comfort viewing.

You need only to say the first five words of its theme song ("In West Philadelphia, born and raised…") for everyone in the room to know exactly what you’re referencing. And with a reboot in the works, chances are we won’t be forgetting the show – or its legacy – anytime soon.

While Smith won over fans as the cheeky but lovable protagonist, the show wouldn’t have been half as good without an equally talented ensemble cast. From Carlton’s dance to Hilary’s biting snipes, the success of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was truly a group effort.  

Smith may be a mainstay on the red carpet, but the fates of the show’s other stars are less known. Here is where the series’ cast are now, 30 years after its initial US release. 

Will Smith (Will Smith)

Will Smith was truly Fresh Prince’s breakout star. After the series came to an end, Smith went on to make his mark in action films including Bad Boys (1995), Independence Day (1996) and Men in Black (1997). Since then, Smith has proven his range with critically acclaimed performances in hard-hitting dramas including The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and Concussion (2015). This year, the actor reprised his role as Detective Mike Lowrey in action-comedy Bad Boys For Life (2020) which fared well among the franchise’s fans.

Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton Banks)

After six seasons portraying Smith’s preppy and uptight cousin Carlton, Ribeiro has mostly made a name for himself on reality television. In 2013, the Bronx-born actor appeared on UK screens in I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! He went on to win Dancing With the Stars in 2014 and then served as a guest judge on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 and 2019. Today, he is the host of America’s Funniest Home Videos.

James Avery (Uncle Phil)

Outside of Bel-Air, Avery is best known as a voice actor, lending his deep vocals to shows such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the animated series Iron Man. The late actor also appeared as Officer Kennedy in a few episodes of That 70s Show and made a cameo in Doctor DoLittle 2  (2001). In 2013, Avery died due to complications following heart surgery. 

Karyn Parsons (Hilary Banks)

Karyn Parsons raised the bar for the “snobby brat” stereotype with her performance as Hilary Banks. Since then, the actor has since mostly stuck to television. Parsons created, wrote and starred in the Fox sitcom Lush Life in 1996, which ran for just four episodes before the series was cancelled. The actor did, however, go on to feature in the critically acclaimed but short-lived television series The Job with Denis Leary in 2001. She also made appearances on Melrose Place and Linc’s.

Joseph Marcell (Geoffrey Butler)

Marcell’s sardonic butler – creatively named Geoffrey Butler –  was a beloved addition to the Banks family. Following the end of the series, Marcell, who was raised in Peckham, London, returned to the UK – but not before a brief stint on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. The classically trained actor has since starred in British cult favourites including Doctor Who, The Bill, Holby City, and A Touch of Frost. Most notably he starred in EastEnders as Patrick Truman’s enemy, Aubrey Valentine. Marcell also found fame on the stage in productions of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Look out for him as a patient undergoing a particularly brutal procedure in a psychiatric hospital in Ryan Murphy’s forthcoming Netflix drama Ratched, too. 

Tatyana Ali (Ashley Banks)

Ali stayed busy after leaving Bel-Air. The actor had a recurring role in The Young and the Restless and scored a few feature film credits for Jawbreaker (1999), and Glory Road (2000).  The actor also achieved some success in her music career. Her single “Daydreamin” reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Ali made a sharp turn to academics and went on to graduate from Harvard University in African-American Studies and Government.

Janet Hubert (Aunt Vivian #1)

Rumours circulated after Hubert unexpectedly exited the show after its third season. Speculation arose that the actor was ousted after falling out with Smith and Ribeiro. The actor went on to appear as Chandler’s boss in Friends, and as Michel Gerard’s mother on Gilmore Girls. Hubert currently stars in the daytime soap opera General Hospital. Earlier this year, the actor received a Daytime Emmy nomination for her performance as Mignon in the digital series King Ester.

Daphne Maxwell Reid (Aunt Vivian #2)

Reid shook things up when she entered season four as Aunt Viv. The cast change was briefly acknowledged in its first episode, with Jazz joking that there’s “something different about her” since having a baby, to which Will gives a knowing nod to the camera. After the series wrapped, the model-turned-actor appeared in sitcoms Eve (2003) and Let’s Stay Together (2011). Reid, 72, is now a published author and photographer. Most recently she starred in last year’s critically acclaimed biopic about Harriet Tubman, Harriet, as Miz Lucy.

Jeffrey A Townes (Jazz)

Prior to the Fresh Prince, Townes and Smith performed together as rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. The hip-hop pair won two Grammys in their time together, once in 1989 and then another in 1992. Their backstory formed the basis of Smith’s character on the series, and Townes went on to play Smith’s troublemaking best friend in Bel-Air. Sticking with music, Townes is now a DJ and producer, having worked with high profile artists including Eminem, Jewel and The Roots. Smith and Townes still collaborate on projects semi-regularly. In 2017, the duo performed at Europe: MTV Summerblast Music Festival and Livewire Festival. Most recently, Townes and Smith hosted a “Break the Monotony Block Party” on Instagram when pandemic-related lockdown measures were being enforced in May this year.