Will Smith brought his former cast mates from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air together for the season finale of his Snapchat show, Will From Home, which chronicles his life under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the first time the cast has reunited since their 1996 series finale.
The hit comedy was loosely based on the life of show producer Benny Medina. It premiered on September 10, 1990 and lasted six seasons before ending its run in May 1996.
“Reunited and it feels so good,” Smith wrote on his Instagram page Wednesday (April 29). “It’s been 30 years since the first season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, so I thought we should have ourselves a lil Zoom reunion. Check us out.”
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The reunion was a two-part finale featuring DJ Jazzy Jeff, Alfonso Ribeiro, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Tatyana Ali and Karyn Parsons.
James Avery, who played Uncle Phil, passed away in 2013. He received a special remembrance during the finale. Actress Janet Hubert, who played the original “Aunt Viv,” had a falling out with Smith years ago and she was not part of the reunion.
The reunion revealed some interesting things that the audience never knew about the series. Smith said it was Ribeiro who convinced him to name his character “Will Smith” after himself.
“It was such a deep insight that you had,” Smith said to Ribeiro. “You said, because people are going to call you that for the rest of your life.”
Smith gave fans of the show a snippet from the Zoom chat that reminds everybody about the special bond the actors share.
In a heartfelt moment, the former cast sent well-wishes to Jeff who recently recovered from the coronavirus. “Jeff you had us all scared,” Ribeiro said.
And Jeff responded, “Not as scared as I was… it was a little rough but I’m definitely happy to be on the other side.”
The group also shared lots of laughs. Marcell, who played family butler “Geoffrey” on the series said he is enjoying life under quarantine.
“There’s something amazing about house arrest,” he said. But Smith replied jokingly, “This is probably not your first time (on house arrest).”
You can catch all the love on Snapchat’s Discovery page for the Wednesday (April 29) and Thursday finale episodes.
