Will Smith used his Snapchat show “Will From Home” to reunite the cast members of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” One might call their shared chemistry palpable after all these years once seeing them exchange stories and reminisce.
The reunion was part of a two-part “Will From Home” finale. Part 1 was released on Wednesday, April 29, and part 2 was to be released the following day.
Smith gathered Alfonso Ribeiro, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Daphne Maxwell Reid, and Joseph Marcell, who all joined the reunion from separate locations.
Smith asked his former cast mates if there was ever a time they felt confined in their lives because people expected them to be their characters.
Jeff answered and talked about the popular handshake he and Smith did. It was a quick hand slap, followed by a finger snap and a sound they both made.
Jeff said it irked him that someone always expected him to do the shake, and he’d stop that person dead in their tracks.
“I got really, really annoyed that everybody wanted to do the handshake,” Jeff admitted. “You would see in people’s eyes when they were about to sneak the handshake, and I would just grab their hand and hold it. Besides that, I’m good.”
The group honored James Avery during the gathering, who played Uncle Phil. He died in 2014 at 68 from complications related to open heart surgery.
Janet Hubert didn’t join the cast, probably to no one’s surprise. Hubert played Aunt Viv for the first three seasons before she was replaced by Maxwell Reid.
Hubert has spoken negatively about Smith and her time on the show ever since her contract wasn’t renewed. Smith talked about her exit in 1993 during an interview with Atlanta station WVEE-FM and said she was bitter about him being the star.
“I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be ‘The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show,’ because I know she is going to dog me in the press,” he said. “She has basically gone from a quarter of a million dollars a year to nothing. She’s mad now, but she’s been mad all along.”
“She said once, ‘I’ve been in the business for 10 years and this snotty-nosed punk comes along and gets a show,'” he added. “No matter what, to her I’m just the Antichrist.”
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” ran on NBC from 1990 to 1996.
