All language subtitles for The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Reunion (2020).eng

- Three words to describe

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?"

Um...

Revolutionary.

- Power to the people!

- Hilarious.

- And poignant.

- Here's to

my wonderful family.

- Yeah.

- There will be

no next season

for "The Fresh Prince

of Bel-Air."

- The final episode of

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

airs tonight on NBC.

- What a great run

for that show.

Six years.

- Sure was.

- You know, Will,

this is the last time

we'll ever live together.

[gentle piano version of

"The Fresh Prince" theme]

- Five seconds,

four, three, two.

- The house feels so empty.

- Yeah.

It's kinda creepy.

- Well, it's a part of us.

These walls have heard

our laughter and our tears.

Leaving is like leaving

a grand, old friend.

d

[upbeat instrumental

of "The Fresh Prince" theme]

d
f

[gentle, uplifting

piano music]

- Hey.

Daphne, come here.

- Well, well, well.

- Snazz!

Man.

It's, like, classic.

It's perfect.

- Master William!

- The last time we were here,

we cleared this place out.

- I know.

- And we cried.

- How crazy is it

walking in here?

- The good, old days.

The good, old days.

- The good, old days,

look at this.

- We're missing our TV.

- That was with the,

"Hilary, will you--"

- Marry me?

d

["The Fresh Prince

of Bel-Air" theme]

- d Now this is a story

all about how d

d My life got flipped,

turned upside-down d

d And I'd like to take a

minute, just sit right there d

d I'll tell you how

I became the prince d

So welcome, everybody,

back to the--

the set where a big chunk

of our lives were lived out,

and when I first walked

on this set, I went, ""

You know, you just don't--

you don't realize

how much life

gets spent at work.

- Yeah.

- And it's just

a beautiful thing for us

that this turned into

a real family and not work.

- Right.

- You know?

- We were all from different

parts of the world,

and the camaraderie

was just immediate.

I immediately felt comfortable

and at home.

- It was such a fast family.

You know,

you have fast friendships?

We had a really fast family.

- We have some problems,

but what family doesn't?

All I know is,

when I need these people,

they are right there for me.

- Of all the new TV shows

slated for this fall,

the one drawing

the most favorable attention

is called

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

- I have a TV show coming out.

- And it's--you know, my--

like, the Fresh Prince,

that's--you know, that's

my nickname, the Fresh Prince.

- The Fresh Prince?

I read about you somewhere.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- What do you guys remember

about the pilot?

What are your memories?

- I remember--

- Hey, don't be looking like

you about to tell my business.

- I'm about to.

I remember the pilot.

I was beyond nervous.

I was so scared.

I was praying

for an earthquake.

- Earthquake!

- Wow.

- Earthquake?

- I was so scared.

I came out.

- Were we gonna be safe

in the, like--

- It didn't matter.

It didn't matter.

- I came out,

I'm saying my stuff.

I'm trying to get through

and do--just do my thing

and keep it together,

and you mouthed lines...

Damn!

- Back to me

for the first time.

All rehearsal you never did it.

- I don't--okay.

- All rehearsal,

you never did it.

The night in front

of the audience,

you looked up at me and went--

d

- And I was just going

d

- You did it to me too.

- I did it to you.

- And I was a nervous wreck,

and I was like, "My God!"

- All right, so wait.

So my side of that was

when we were on the set

of the pilot,

that was my first time,

like, really doing dialogue.

- So you did

everybody's dialogue?

- I learned everybody's.

So it's on the episode.

You can see it on the episodes.

Yeah, you can see it.

- I saw one episode, though,

where you're standing,

like, behind the couch

in the living room scene.

- Yeah?

- And it's you

and whoever else.

- Was that Don Cheadle?

- Tray!

- Prince!

Homey, homey!

- They literally had to show

me, and I was like.

- That's the one that was like,

"Okay, we need to change this."

- You don't go to school,

Ice Tray?

Sure I do.

I've been held back

in the tenth grade

three times in a row.

- Three times?

- Yeah, see, my motto is

when I find a grade I like,

I stick with it.

I stick with it.

- That's terrible.

That's terrible.

Wow.

That's painful to watch.

- She was so ugly that

Freddy Krueger used to have

nightmares about her.

- Was it the fifth episode

when you finally had enough

and you were like--

'cause I remember in rehears--

she just looked

and she said, "Stop it!"

I knew everybody's lines.

I would have

played Uncle Phil.

I could have played Aunt Viv.

I was--I knew

everybody's words.

Does anybody remember

their audition?

- I mean, I remember

very little of it, obviously,

but, like, I do remember--

No.

- Alfonso Ribeiro.

- You're ten, you're ten.

- Whoo!

- Okay.

What am I wearing?

What have you been

doing in here?

- Just maxing and relaxing.

- I meant what have you been

doing to this room?

I'm trying to make it

a little more.

Malcolm X, he's my hero.

- Well, he was a great man.

I don't know if I'd call him

my hero exactly.

- Whoa. Wow.

d

- All right,

first, I would say--

- No, no, we're gonna give

that a moment of silence!

- Okay, yes.

I know I didn't go there

wearing a sweat suit

believing that I was gonna

get that character.

I don't know

what I was thinking.

I don't know

how I got that job.

- You know what thought--

- That dude sucked!

- No, no.

- No.

- You are so much fun to watch.

- Yeah, I wanna watch you.

- With everything you do.

- Thank goodness.

I guess somewhere along

the line people were able

to see the magic

that I clearly couldn't see.

- Do you remember

your audition?

- They had me audition

in New York,

and I remember my mom and

my aunties being really excited

because I was auditioning

for Quincy Jones.

That was my second call.

- And they had me rap,

but they had the kids,

like, last-minute,

make up a rap.

- A rap?

- Like, I can sing.

I can't rap.

Like, that's a whole

'nother skill set.

d Hey, there, Lord,

my name is Ashley Banks d

d My family and friends

want to give you some thanks d

d So before this dinner's

all swallowed and chewed d

d Thank you, God,

for this stupid food d

d

And I guess I was probably

so corny and so bad

that that's probably why--

- That's perfect!

- I remember thinking, like,

"This is really horrible."

- Do you remember

your audition?

No, I'm just--

I'm just asking.

Do you--

- Karyn Parsons.

Lord, have mercy on me,

my goodness.

Dad, I need $300.

- Hilary, your cousin

Will's here.

- Hi.

Dad, I need $300.

Like, I'm going on the

Save the Ozone celebrity bus

next Saturday,

and it's gonna be Bruce Willis

and Demi and Rob Lowe

and Emilio Estevez

or Charlie Sheen,

I don't remember which.

- Wow.

That's beautiful.

d

- I auditioned a lot.

- Did you really?

- I auditioned a lot,

and I remember the network one

because it was down to--

there were, like,

you know, two Hilarys,

and I was so nervous,

and I caught my reflection

in something,

and I remember I kinda

started primping and--

And it was like,

I started feeling her.

She started, like,

coming over--

- They're like, "You got it.

You got the role!"

- No, but you could

absolutely see--

see the Hilary.

- That was Hilary.

- Come to life.

Even as little as the way

you held your bottom jaw.

- Yeah, yeah, it's like--

- Right?

Like, it was so just,

like, ha.

- I'm in a bad mood, and

somebody is going to suffer.

- I didn't go to the audition

in 1990 because they said,

"We want you to audition

for this new sitcom

with a rapper."

I said, "Pass."

I said, "Um, um,

thank you, no, no."

And I left,

and I watched

the show come on in September.

I said, "Damn,

that's cute."

- Got this whole town

of Bel-Air buzzing.

- Get a load of me

and my rapping cousin!

- Yeah, you know.

So Quincy Jones basically

steamrolled me

through the whole process

without ever really

auditioning me, right?

So the only kind of audition

I had was the--

Quincy's birthday.

The show was an idea.

Benny Medina had

pitched me the idea,

and it's like,

I was making music,

and they were like,

"Come to Quincy's house.

We have this idea

for a TV show."

I'm like, "Okay," you know?

- "I'll go to Quincy's."

So I got to Quincy's house,

and Benny Medina pitched me

the whole idea of the show,

and he's like, you know,

"We have this--this idea,"

'cause it was based

on Benny Medina's life.

- His life, right.

- He went from Watts

to Beverly Hills.

So I'm like, "Cool,"

so we go to Quincy's house,

and Benny's like,

"Hey, you know, this is--

this is the Fresh Prince."

Quincy said,

"I know who that boy is.

I seen his stuff," you know?

"Hey, come on in. Come on in."

So Quincy, it's his birthday.

He had been tasting

a little bit, right?

So he was--he was

wetting his beak.

He wet his beak, right?

So he--you know, he's like,

"Come on in."

So we go in,

and he said--he said,

"Where you from?"

I said, "I'm from Philly."

He said, "Your character's

from Philly."

Like, "Okay.

Give me a glass of whatever

Quincy's drinking."

Right?

So it's like--

it's Quincy's birthday,

so it's like--

it's a big party,

so everybody's in there,

you know?

So it was Brandon Tartikoff,

who's the head of NBC,

Warren Littlefield,

all of that.

So everybody gets in the room,

and Quincy, he says,

"Hey!

Clear the living room out!

Clear the living room out!

We gonna do an audition."

Man.

- You like go, "Who?"

- Right, I'm saying,

"Who? Who--"

Yeah, "Who's gonna audition?"

And he was like,

"Yeah, you got it.

You got it. You got it."

I said, "Q, Q, no, no,"

and he grabs me,

and he takes me

in the other room,

and he sits me down

in his office,

and there's a 48 million

"Thriller" thing.

There's a "Color Purple,"

and he sits me under this

70 Grammys, you know,

this Em--and I'm sitting under

all of that stuff, like--

and Michael's looking down

on me like--

So Quincy says,

"Okay, what do you need?"

and I said,

"Quincy, I'm the--I don't

know how to--I'm not an actor.

"I just--just give me

two weeks,

"Let me find an acting coach,

and let me work on it,

and then let's just set up

a proper audition."

He said, "So two weeks.

You only need two weeks?"

I said, "Yeah, yeah,

just two weeks."

He said, "So here's the deal.

"Right now everybody

"that needs to say yes

for this show is sitting out

in that living room

right now waiting for you."

- It's now.

- And I was like--

I was like,

"Give me ten minutes."

And he's like, "All right!

Audition in ten minutes!

Audition in ten minutes!"

- Far out.

- They did a deal memo

that night.

That's how we got

to the pilot that fast.

- Whoa.

- How is it possible

I've known you this long

and never heard that story?

- I know.

- I know, right?

- Do you remember,

we were on tour?

- We were in Detroit, yep.

- We were on tour

and had a day off.

- Yep.

- And Will flew and came...

- To go to

"The Arsenio Hall Show."

- And said, "I got a TV show."

Being from Philly,

"I got a TV show"

was a homeboy

with a camcorder.

No one thought anything

other than that.

- It was probably

six weeks later,

we were on the set, right?

- Wow.

- Okay, Will, just come

downstage a little.

Okay, actually,

no, you're fine, and go.

- I remember

our first table reading.

Will and Alfonso

were chasing each other

around the table.

There were network executives

and all kinds of thi--

you know,

really powerful people,

and they were just playmates

from the very beginning.

- Look who's here, Will.

- Hey!

Who is he?

- One of the things I've always

been able to recognize

in my life is chemistry.

- And that really came alive

on the show,

the comedic relationship

that we were able to develop.

The initial focus of

the show was going to be

Will, Uncle Phil collisions.

My God.

- We started to see

the dynamics

between the other characters,

and Uncle Phil, Aunt Viv

were holding the base,

and Will and Carlton

being able to run wild.

- Yo, how you playing me,

Prince?

- What?

- Yo, you dissin' me!

- C'mon, man, stop it!

It became clear very quickly

that that was the most powerful

comedic asset of the show.

[The Sugarhill Gang's

"Apache"]

- We understood that someone

had to be the straight man.

- Yep, absolutely.

- For the other person's

silliness and comedy.

- Absolutely.

d

- It was never

as crystal clear

as "this is a Carlton moment,"

or "this is a Will moment."

- It was always the show

that came first.

- I saved your life!

You owe me!

- We knew that we could rely

on each other,

and there was always

a respect and a trust.

Is that the police?

- Punch it, man.

We in a Benz.

- Are you crazy?

I'd call this a lucky break.

A policeman is our pal.

We can ask him for directions.

The episode where Will

and Carlton get pulled over

made it abundantly clear that

Will came from the streets,

Carlton grew up in Bel-Air.

- Listen to me, Carlton.

When he comes up,

keep your hands on the wheel.

- Good evening, officer.

Carlton Banks.

- Keep your hands

on the wheel.

- Culturally,

we learned how to see

other people's points of view.

- Even when you make

fun of me,

I know you're doing it

out of love.

Influences change people.

Will learned from Carlton.

Carlton learned from Will.

You can't be the same kid

before Will

comes into that house

and be the same kid

six years later.

Admit it, Will.

You care about me.

- I do not.

- You love me.

Hey, my brother,

you wanna take this outside?

How about you do the Carlton

dance real quick?

Do the Carlton dance.

- How about I don't

and say I did?

- I never, ever could do

the Carlton dance.

For whatever reason,

I can't find the--

there's an opposite thing

that he does,

and I can't--I just never--

I never was able to get it.

- The first time,

all it said in the script

was, "Carlton dances,"

and I needed to figure out

how this character

would dance.

What would be the actual move

that hit it perfect?

- You got to do it.

One last time for me, man.

[Tom Jones'

"It's Not Unusual"]

- That final moment

doing it together,

that was, like,

Will finally making

the full acceptance

of Carlton,

and we are in sync

and as one.

d It's not unusual

to see me cry d

d

- We did six seasons

and, you know, 150 episodes,

so it's like, finding

my favorite moment

is really hard.

This is a job

for Sherlock Homeboy.

- My favorite episode

is "Def Poet's Society."

- Ladies and gentlemen,

Mr. Rafael de la Ghetto!

d

- The Rafael de la Ghetto

was fun for Joe

to break character.

- Cannons to the right of them!

- Cannons to the left of them.

Cannons in front of them.

Volleyed and thundered!

Talk about ham acting,

that's brilliant.

- One of my most

memorable moments

was in the first season

when you guys

blackmailed Hilary.

d

I was really worried

about how people

were gonna feel about Hilary

all the time, and I'm like,

"They're just gonna hate her.

They're gonna hate her.

They're gonna hate her,"

which was true,

and I found out

just how much in that episode.

- That's awful.

Is he making you

clean his room?

- No.

- Will you clean mine?

- Do you remember

the audience?

- I do remember.

- The audience, yeah.

- They started

stomping out there.

d

- Hilary!

- Woof!

- A lot of sitcoms

just had the--

You know,

they had the laugh knob

that they would turn up,

and there were moments

on the show

where we had to dial

the laughter back.

- Hilary Banks!

Yes, Trevor?

- Will you marry me?

d

d

- The Trevor moment

was another one of those--

- Yes.

- One of those

sustained laughs.

- I ain't no bungee expert

or nothing,

but I don't think

he's supposed to be slamming

into the ground like that.

- I had my first kiss

on the show.

Like, my first actual kiss.

- I think I'd feel better

if I-I could kiss you.

d

- I was so nervous,

and we're about

to do the scene.

Is it terrible that

I want to kiss you back?

And I swear to you,

I see Alfonso, Will and Karyn

peek out from behind

a camera like, ""

- Can I blow in your ear?

d

- That was all so--

like, I was 11,

having, like, breakdown--

like, "I don't know

what I'm doing.

I don't know how to do this,"

because everything--

- Think of you doing that

as an 11-year-old--

- You gotta act like

you got this tic, right?

Like the Army did this

experiment on you, right,

that just went terribly wrong.

You be like,

"Back up! Back up!

"Mind your business,

that's all.

Mind your business."

Back up! Back up!

Mind your business, that's all.

Just mind your business.

- That's good.

- Me getting tossed out

was written into

the very first show that I did.

When it aired,

everybody loved it.

- When do we eat here?

- We eat here later.

You eat here never.

- Looks like

you eat here often.

One day we filmed maybe

about 150 takes

of me getting tossed

out of the house.

I think they didn't want

to torture me anymore,

so that's the reason why they

started using the same shot,

and then that became a thing,

that every time I walked

into a scene

and I had that shirt on,

the audience kind of knew

what was coming up.

- You know the drill.

- My favorite moment,

I think--

I think--and there's

so many things,

but one that comes to mind

right away of my favorite

is when you lost your mind

and dragged yourself

across that floor.

My goodness.

- That's my favorite.

- Yes.

- That's my favorite scene.

- And into the--

that was, I think--

I've never laughed

that hard in my life.

My gosh,

he's still up there!

My God!

My God!

- I don't know what

you were doing.

- What got into you?

- Like, what--what--

- No, no, no, so--

- But, like, what--

how do you know

how to do that?

- There's a lot of things

that I do

that I don't know

how I do, but--

How could you do it?

God!

No, no, no!

The scene was set up

perfectly for it,

and I was like, "Let's just

break the fourth wall

and go absolutely crazy."

How could you do it?

Never before

had those moments--

- Be allowed to be--

- Be allowed to be on TV.

d

- That was a serious no-no.

You don't break the fourth wall

in sitcom television.

- How could he do that?

My God!

- I'm telling you, that

breaking of the fourth wall

with the audience,

that's a--

that's a really special part

of that connection

that we had with the audience.

- Yeah.

- Look at me

when I'm talking to you.

d

- Run!

- There's something

different about you.

- We so rich.

Why we can't

afford no ceiling?

- That was cute.

- Like, that--

that relationship

with the audience,

it was like they were in

on the joke with us.

- And I always felt like

the audience appreciated...

- Being brought in.

- Being let in.

- Yeah.

- Right?

Like, you're watching this,

and it's written, wink, wink.

- And while we're

on the subject--

- That's kinda fly, right?

Don't you wish you lived on TV?

- When we were doing the show,

I have to say

I always felt like

it was just us

and the audience

that was present.

I had no sense of millions

of viewers beyond that.

- Let alone decades

and generations after that.

- Yeah.

- I just want to sit here

and watch a little TV.

- It was three shows.

It was

"Monday Night Football."

It was "Monday Night Movie."

And "The Fresh Prince

of Bel-Air."

- People would leave

"Monday Night Football,"

go over to

that other channel,

and watch

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

- It's like a beautiful

underdog position

where you're not

really expected to win.

You're not gonna beat

"Monday Night Football,"

but we enjoyed the rumble.

d

Now it's on!

- People loved watching

the show,

which meant a lot

because they didn't have it

on their phones.

You had to actually

watch it to see it,

and then the next day

you would have to read

about it in the newspaper.

- I realized that

this show was bigger

than I could

have ever expected

when there were

80-year-old grandmothers

that would come up to me

and say, "Jazz."

That freaked me out

because I didn't correlate

that people were recognizing

you from the television show.

- One thing special to me

about the show was

we had a really unique

and distinct fashion sense.

- I didn't realize

how much freedom we had

when it came down

to the clothes.

- We always wanted to have

the hottest stuff on.

You know, we were

always trying to find

what was

the hottest new thing.

- It isn't as easy

at it looks.

- This was a very

impactful time

in pop culture,

where, you know,

you wanted to be fly.

It's a little something

I put together.

Jordan would send over

the new Jordans

six weeks before they

were coming out.

- You don't realize, you're

wearing a pair of Jordans

that this picture

is circulated

among sneakerheads

for the past 30 years.

That's what's wrong.

- What?

- Ha ha.

- You know, I think that

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

is a bigger hit now

than it was ever before.

- Yes, it's the cast,

and the cast is fun to watch

and all of that, but I think

it's the idea of it

as the part that, I think,

translates

to so many different places.

- For years, I've had

people come up to me and say,

"This show was

my favorite show,

and now it's my son's

favorite show."

And I think "The Fresh

Prince of Bel-Air"

had a lot of impact.

- The things

that stuck out for me

whenever I've thought

of this show

has always been our Tuesdays

and Wednesdays run-throughs.

- The way the week would work,

we'd come in on Monday.

Everybody's there,

writers, producers,

director, everybody,

and we read the screenplay.

- Why don't you, Mom?

It's all hollow and

meaningless anyway, so--

Did I say it right?

I'm--

- We'd come in on Tuesday,

and we'd kinda block it,

and we'd work it,

but it was our time

to present

our ideas

and our thoughts and,

"Hey, what if it was like this?

What about that?"

- And I just kinda stop

and just watch?

- Yeah, 'cause you supposed

to hear the kids

and turn back around.

- Okay.

- That Tuesday and Wednesday

would be a beautifully

collaborative period

where the actors

would find the soul

and the truth of the moments

for these characters.

- The idea that we,

as a Black show on TV,

one of three at the time,

right?

There weren't really us

in the writers room,

and as an actor,

you never had a voice.

You never had a voice

in the room.

You were a puppet

who was told what to do.

- Take your notes.

- Say this line.

- Yeah.

- Move over here.

- At some point the producers

and the writers

wanted to make Hilary

a strong Black woman.

They wanted to, like,

see that switch in her,

and then I felt like,

you know,

there are some people

who are just flawed

and see things a certain way,

and you can learn a lot

from them too.

Look, I'm a career woman.

I don't have time to dust

and push around that--

what do you call

that big, loud thing

that sucks up everything?

- We were able to share

the experience,

the real experience

and gave those writers

our perspective.

- Yeah.

- You can put your hands

down, Jazz.

- No way.

Dude's got a gun.

Next thing you know, I got

six warning shots in my back.

When we did

the courtroom scene,

there was a level

of truth to it.

That's the reason

why they wrote it.

I'm putting

my hands down now.

- Part of the power

of what we would always do

with "The Fresh Prince,"

there would be

very powerful ideas

under the jokes

and under the comedy.

- You can wear the T-shirts,

you can put up the posters,

and you can shout the slogans,

but unless you know

all the history behind it,

you're trivializing

the entire struggle.

- That is one of those things

that I think

kinda makes people understand

just how groundbreaking

this show was.

- It is as relevant today

as it was 30 years ago,

unfortunately.

- Whenever we would come

across moments

that they wrote that was like,

"This wouldn't happen..."

- Right.

- "Black people don't do this."

- Right.

- Yes.

- Tuesday and Wednesday is

what made this show special,

because we made sure that we

were authentic every episode.

- I had spent a career

being on shows

that showed the variety

of the Black culture,

showing that we were not just

a monolithic group of people

with one idea

and one lifestyle,

and when I got here,

we had the freedom

to express to the writers

the cultural aspects of what

they had in the written word.

I remember a table read

one Monday,

and there was some line that

they had given Tatyana to say,

and I said, "Excuse me,

if Tatyana says that

to her daddy,

she'd lose her teeth."

- Yeah, yeah,

exactly, exactly.

- So no, culturally,

we don't do that.

- James used to sit

where you're sitting...

- Yep.

- That was James's spot.

- During those note sessions,

and that is where I learned

that

what we do is not for us.

It's not about us.

We are here

to bring dignity...

- To represent, to expand,

to push forward,

and I learned that here

at his feet.

- This one takes the cake.

- James is the heart

of the show.

- I love you, Uncle Phil.

- We knew that

he knew the answers

or could guide folks

to the answers.

- Carlton, sit.

- As you wish, Father.

- James had a very deep love

of jazz music,

and I would spend a lot

of times in his dressing room,

and he would give me jazz CDs.

- You know, he got his

Billie Holiday picture

up on the wall,

a little Charlie "Bird"

Parker, you know?

Boy, I'm telling you,

this man got mad flavor.

- The music that

was coming out of his room

was always just amazing.

- Ashley, honey,

this is possibly

the most beautiful music

ever written.

- He was my teacher.

I learned what it means

to be an artist from him.

- Learning that there's

other works,

there's other arts

out there

that would help you understand

yours even better.

- I was watching

this Robeson documentary,

and James used to bring up

Paul Robeson.

He, like, introduced me

to Black art in ways that

I wouldn't have gotten

that education anywhere else,

and I'm watching

this documentary,

and they're talking about him

singing "Ol' Man River."

Him changing the word

from "nigger" to "darkie."

- Darkie, yeah.

- How hard he had to fight

for that one word.

- Yeah.

- It wasn't that long ago.

- And it wasn't

that long ago.

So you think about that,

you think about all the shows

that came before--and I'm

just talking about television.

- Every little step.

- And now what we see,

it's such a privilege

to be a part of that.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- You know, that history,

and those notes sessions,

that's where I went to school,

like, that's--

- And that was--

no, that was the thing.

James, he pushed me so hard.

- You think you're so wise.

Look at me

when I'm talking to you.

Let me tell you something, son.

I grew up on the streets

just like you.

I encountered bigotry

you could not imagine.

Now, you have a nice poster

of Malcolm X on your wall.

I heard the brother speak.

I read every word he wrote.

Believe me,

I know where I come from.

- His thing was that I am

in such a unique position,

and that responsibility,

you must elevate your craft.

You have to represent,

and you are paving a way,

and he just wouldn't

give me an inch,

and I remember in the--

one of my favorite

and most famous scenes

from "Fresh Prince"

is the father episode.

Hey, what's up, man?

Can I get you something?

- No, I'm fine, son.

- Um, if you need--

- So is he a cop?

- He's my father.

So, you know, James Avery

was this 6'4",

300-pound...

- Plus.

- Yeah.

- Stage-trained...

- Yeah.

- Shakespearean beast, right?

And I'm--I'm the little rapper

from Philly under him, right?

And I wanted him to think

I was good so bad.

- You wanted him

to be proud of you.

- I wanted him

to be proud of me,

so the episode comes,

and, you know,

we come to that scene,

and I was like, I'm--you know,

I wanna deliver

this scene so bad,

and if you remember,

in front of the audience,

I flubbed my line

on the take.

- And I messed it up

in front of the audience,

and my mind snapped,

and I'm like, "Aghh!"

I'm like,

"Damn it!"

And James says,

"Hey!

Right here!"

and I was like--and

he was like, "Use me!"

And I'm like--

and I'm right there,

and he takes, and he's like,

"Get yourself together,"

And I get it together,

and I'm looking,

and he says, "Action."

- I'm sorry, I--

You know, if there was

something that I could do--

- Hey, you know what? You ain't

got to do nothing, Uncle Phil.

You know, ain't like I'm still

five years old, you know?

Ain't like I'ma be sitting up

every night asking my mom,

"When is Daddy coming home?"

You know? Who needs him?

And the scene that we do

is the scene that ended up

being in the episode.

I ain't need him then,

and I don't need him now.

- Will, Will--

- Nah, you know what,

Uncle Phil?

I'ma get through college

without him.

I'm get a great job

without him.

I'ma marry me

a beautiful honey,

and I'ma have me

a whole bunch of kids.

I'ma be a better father

than he ever was!

And I sure as hell

don't need him for that

'cause ain't a damn thing

he could ever teach me

about how to love my kids!

d

How come he don't

want me, man?

And I fall into his arms

at the end of the scene,

and he's holding me,

and, you know,

the shot pans off,

and he whispered

in my ear,

he said,

"Now, that's acting," right?

- That's right.

- "That's acting,"

and I was like, ""

You know, every single time.

- I cry every time I see that.

- Every single time,

you know?

And it's like, he just--

he, um--he--

it's like--come on.

Don't do this.

- I know, I'm s--

I'm sorry.

- Tatyana throwing me off.

And it's like, when--

it's like, people do--

people don't even know

when they're shaping you

and forming you

and crafting you.

- He knew.

- In that w--he knew.

No, that's what I'm saying.

- I think he knew.

- He knew what he was doing.

- There's some people

that plant seeds.

- Yep.

- That's what they do.

And they do it to anyone

they come across.

- I mean, he was--

he was proud of who he was.

He was proud of his race.

He was proud of the history

of his race.

- Yes.

- And, you know,

he could see it, you know?

And it fell upon you,

you know?

It fell upon you

to grab the rein.

- Vote for Philip Banks.

Philip Banks.

Break out Lucille.

I've got a few questions

for you.

When you got

this alleged confession

from these two young men,

did they have a lawyer present?

No, so, officer,

just open that damn cell

and let those two boys

out of there,

or I'm gonna tie this place up

in so much litigation

that your grandchildren

are gonna need lawyers!

d

- That's right.

- Nicky, you remember in

"The Lion King" when Mufasa--

- Daddy, did you sit on Harry?

- Yes, but--but--

- That's okay, Dad.

Death is a natural part

of life.

- All right, all right.

No.

- Now, noble Geoffrey,

the gods today stand beside us.

- A lot of good times

in this house?

- A lifetime's worth.

Trust me, Will.

I know it doesn't feel

like it right now,

but what they say is true.

Winning really

isn't everything.

I'm sorry

I let you down, son.

- You could never

let me down, Dad.

- I love you.

Just remember,

happiness comes from inside.

- I love you, Daddy.

- Nobody does anything

without help, Will.

People opened doors for me,

and I've worked hard

to open doors for you.

It doesn't make you any less

of a man to walk through them.

I have something special.

- You always said

that spending time

with me and the family

was the most important thing

to you.

- I'm lucky to have

such a wonderful family.

- Look, Uncle Phil, I just

don't want you to think

that I'm that same

stupid kid I was

when I first

moved out here.

I love you, Uncle Phil, and

I just don't want to lose you,

you know, any of you.

- You're not gonna lose us.

You are my son, Will.

End of story.

- Amen.

Well, guys,

give him a hand.

- Yeah.

- Give him a hand.

- Yes.

James, I miss you.

- James, man.

I think what happens

on family shows like this,

it's one of those things,

you cannot buy

or fake chemistry.

It's just the way that

we all came together

as a group was very special.

So as a family, you know,

we have our things

that we talk about

and then we have our things

that we don't talk about.

- Where are you going

with this?

- Yeah, I know.

- You know?

We never really together,

like, publicly

talk about...

um, Janet.

- And what happened,

and for me,

it felt like

I couldn't celebrate

30 years of "Fresh Prince"

without finding a way

to celebrate Janet.

So she agreed to sit down

and have a conversation

with me,

and Janet and I saw

one another

for the first time in 27 years

yesterday.

- Wow.

- And I wanna show

you guys some of--

My gosh.

- Ooh, wow.

- Take a seat here.

- Okay.

- Thank you very much.

If you need anything at all,

let me know.

- Okay.

- Okay, thank you.

- Tell me if my eyes glow

like a raccoon

'cause they sometimes do.

- Your eyes look spectacular.

It's so good to see you.

- You too, you too.

My God.

Where are you sitting?

Been a long time.

- It's been

a real long time, 20--

- 30.

- My name is Janet Hubert,

and I played the role

of Vivian Banks.

I guess they call me the O.G.,

the original Aunt Vivian.

- The night is young, baby,

and so am I.

My life is great.

This party is gonna be great,

and I look fantastic.

- Janet brought such

authenticity and dignity.

- My name is not Mom.

My name is Professor Banks.

That is how I prefer

to be addressed.

Is that clear, class?

all: Yes, Professor Banks.

- I didn't expect

to get the role

because I had not seen anyone

who looked like me

playing those kinds of roles.

- We just want to make sure

that the person we get

is properly qualified.

- For example,

a college professor

with a PhD who's taught

Black history and literature

at the university level?

- Where are we gonna find

someone like that?

- You're looking at her.

- Janet was this beautiful,

dark-skinned,

talented--she could sing.

She could dance.

- One, two, three.

Ooh.

- I enjoyed it.

I loved it.

I loved the way they wrote.

I loved that

she was professional.

I loved that she was

intelligent, she was refined,

but I also loved

that she could throw down.

This has got to be

the biggest amateur operation

I have seen since

"Mayberry R.F.D."

It was a rare thing

to be able to say,

wearing a $5,000 sweater,

"What? What?

Philip?"

Honey, we 'bout

to get very busy up in here.

"Hold me back.

Hold me back."

- There was a certain

foundational element

that was broken

when Janet left.

- Well...

This has been tough.

- Yeah.

- Has it been tough for you?

Yes, it has.

- Yeah.

I just wanted

to know one thing.

- Why?

Why so far?

You guys went so far.

I lost so much.

- I think what would be...

- How do we heal that?

- Helpful for me is,

like, I know--

- You look good,

by the way.

Thank you. Thank you.

You look beautiful, as always.

- Older, wiser.

- So I think it would be

helpful for me--

like, I don't know your story.

I know.

I know.

- You know?

- I know.

- I don't know--

- You have no idea.

- You know,

I don't know your story.

- It was insane.

Something I would

like to clarify

is during that third season

when I got pregnant,

there was a lot of things

going on in my life

and in Will's life as well.

There was some friction

because I was pregnant.

Home life was not good at all.

I was no longer laughing,

smiling, joking

because there were things

that were going on

that nobody knew about.

The cast had no idea

what was going on.

- You know, during that time

of her pregnancy,

I wasn't sensitive.

I wasn't perceptive,

and, you know, now

that I've had three kids,

I learned some things that

I did not know at the time,

and I would do things

very differently,

but I can see

where I made the set

very difficult for Janet.

- They offered me

this really bad deal

in the third season.

They said,

"You've got two months

"and two weeks of work,

and you cannot work

anywhere else."

So that meant

my salary was cut.

I had a new baby and a husband

who was out of work,

so I said no.

I did not accept their offer.

I was never fired.

So the misconception

was always put out there.

I was trapped.

What could I do?

So they said, "Okay, then

we're gonna recast your role,"

and I said,

"What can I say?"

I was hurt deeply, deeply.

- So talk me through

because I was having

a different experience.

- You were going forward

and getting bigger,

but we knew you were

going to be huge.

I mean, we all knew that.

I even said that, that part

of the success of the show

was because of your success,

but you were destined

for that as well,

but when I left the show,

I had this new baby

and no one.

Family disowned me.

Hollywood disowned me.

My family said,

"You've ruined our name,"

and I wasn't unprofessional

on the set.

I just stopped talking

to everybody

because I didn't know

who to trust

because I had been banished,

and they said it was you

who--who banished me

because you were--

you were Will.

You were a kid.

It was hard.

- Yeah.

I was, 21 years old.

- Yeah.

- You know?

- I know. I know.

- Everything was

a threat to me.

- Why was I a threat?

- Not you, the world.

I was so driven by fear,

and jokes and comedy

and all of that was how--

- Yeah, yeah, you were--

you were live.

- Yeah.

- You were live.

- But what you didn't

realize either,

that I was going through

a lot at home.

Right.

- You didn't know.

- Yup, yup.

- You guys didn't know,

very abusive marriage.

- You know,

I have children.

- Yeah.

- I've been divorced

and have a second marriage.

And I can see now

the level of pain

and the level of struggle

that it was for you

just to show up every day,

and then--

- But you took all that away

from me with your words.

You know, words can kill.

- I lost everything,

reputation,

everything, everything,

and I understand you were

able to move forward,

but you know those words,

calling a Black woman difficult

in Hollywood

is the kiss of death.

It's the kiss of death,

and it's hard enough

being a dark-skinned

Black woman in this business,

but I felt it was necessary

for us to finally move forward.

- Yep.

- And I'm sorry that I have

blasted you to pieces.

- Nah, it's--it is so--

first of all, thank you

for sharing that with me.

Like, I didn't know that.

When I've looked back now,

it's--

you know, it's obvious that you

were having a hard time, and...

I felt like you hated me.

- No.

- You know, I--

I could not do

a 30-year celebration

of this show

and not celebrate you,

celebrate your contribution

to the show,

celebrate your contribution

to my life, you know?

And--

- Come here, you.

27 years, I think--

I think we were just

short of 27 years

that we didn't speak

to one another,

and I'm just--

I'm glad we're talking again.

The person I want to be

is someone who protects you,

not someone

that unleashes dogs on you,

and however--

- I appreciate that.

- You know, it's--

- I appreciate that.

I have to say,

after 27 years,

being here today

and having the conversation

that Will and I had together,

it's healing.

I was watching the dance

episode the other day,

and that's become

one of the crazy,

iconic--

- Yeah.

- They send me videos

from all over the world.

- On the TikTok right now.

- Of their mamas doing it.

- I know, right?

God. Their mamas--

- Listen, the Aunt Viv, boy,

rocking the Aunt Viv.

- The Aunt Viv.

I don't know if it's real.

I feel like this is a dream.

I didn't come here

to have animosity.

I came here to resolve,

'cause it's time.

You still feel like--

- Like I'm little?

- Yeah.

Yes.

- You're still my Aunt Viv.

You're still my Aunt Viv.

- Yeah, you do.

It's so weird.

You know, we've said

such hateful things

about each other publicly.

I know.

- And I'm sorry.

- I'm sorry.

- And I'm sorry too.

We good?

- We good.

- We good.

- We are good.

One of the major things for me,

it was the first time

I was ever able to see

how much pain she is in

and was in and just...

- Jesus.

- What she was carrying,

you know,

what she was trying to hide,

what she was trying

to hold onto,

and, you know,

she set a tone,

and she set a--

set a standard on this show

that's an integral part

of the success

of "The Fresh Prince,"

you know?

So she asked to--

you know, were you guys open

to speak to her,

and, you know, is--

- I've never met her.

- You've never met her?

- I have never met her.

- Wow.

Janet Hubert Whitten,

ladies and gentlemen.

- Hey.

d

What's up?

- Seeing Daphne and Janet,

my two moms,

the two Aunt Vivs

come together,

and they've never met before.

Seeing them meet

for the first time and embrace

was the most incredible thing.

It was like--almost like

something just released.

It was so beautiful.

- That was chilling.

That was a full-circle moment.

- It just--it made my heart

really full.

- I cannot tell you

how unbelievable

and wonderful it feels

that I--I'm overwhelmed.

- I don't wanna be that guy,

you know?

I go out in the world,

and I, you know,

talk about understanding

and human relationships

and then have somebody

that I hadn't spoken to

in 27 years.

I just--I'm so happy

that we were able

to make that reconciliation,

and I hope other people

can take something from it.

What was so great

about this show

was how we became a family.

You kinda fall

into your roles and--

- Hey!

That's so awesome!

- Good to see you.

- Yes, hello.

- Nicky, Nicky.

My gosh.

- Hey, my man.

How are you, buddy?

- My baby grew up.

- Great to see you.

- Good to see you too.

- What's up, man?

- What's up? What's up?

Man, it's so good

to see everybody.

This is so surreal.

I mean, the recreation

of the set is incredible.

I mean, I feel like

a kid again.

Yeah?

As I look back to this show

it just captured a time

in our lives

that is really the golden era

of my career.

Come on,

let's go on inside.

Let's check to see

what's going on on the set,

you know, backstage

and all that.

The Friday night ritual.

What was it like?

- We'd go to Will's room.

He would be jamming in there.

[The Sugarhill Gang's

"Apache"]

all: Ho! Ho! Ho!

- You'd just start

hearing music

coming from

Will's room, booming,

and you'd just start following

like the Pied Piper.

- d Tonto, jump on it,

jump on it d

- We would

have music playing.

We would dance, jam,

have a great time,

singing, rapping, whatever.

- It was just kinda like,

"My God, this is

a Friday night party."

- d Apache, jump on it,

jump on it d

- It was kind of like,

I think, what you would do

before a concert

or something, you know?

The whole band gets together

and says a prayer.

- I just have to say there's

not another group of people

that I would rather be

in this kind of circle with

149-some-odd times.

- Hey.

- Yeah.

- Yeah!

- Yeah.

- Yeah!

- Man.

- Ditto.

Ditto.

Even though James takes up

most of the circle.

- Ditto. As well I should.

- Let's go out there,

and let's just have some fun.

Let's give 'em some!

- We changed the way

sitcoms were shot.

- People would come

to the taping

like they were

going to a club,

and it was

a full-on experience.

Yo, yo, yo!

- We'd have our moment

together,

and then we'd head out.

- And we would get

to our living room,

and there was

a little dairy basket

of musical percussion

instruments.

That's a good one.

That's a good one, hold on.

All right, I think

I'ma do that.

I'ma do that, all right.

So this is how we would do.

This is how--

this is how we do.

[announcer shouting,

cheers and applause]

- We'd each grab one,

and we would start.

- Sometimes it was just sticks.

It was all kinds of stuff

to bang

on the walls

and create rhythms.

- The energy that that created

for a live performance

is not to be believed.

- All right, yeah, yeah,

all right,

we about to go

on stage with it live.

The audience is out there.

- We would just

get the energy

up to here

and then, like, surf.

- Miss Tatyana M. Ali!

- It felt like it was a show.

It wasn't a TV show.

It was a show.

- Alfonso Ribeiro!

There he is.

Ms. Karyn Parsons!

Hilary!

Ms. Daphne Maxwell Reid!

Vivian!

James Avery, Uncle Phil!

- I wanted to hit the stage

like a fighter, you know,

with your theme music

coming and all that.

- Mr. Will, Will Smith!

d

- Will kinda brought

the energy

that we had in doing

music to the show,

crowd participation,

throw your hands in the air.

- Let me hear you say, "Yeah!"

all: Yeah!

- Say, "Hell yeah!"

all: Hell yeah!

- Everybody scream.

- Everyone felt like

they wanted to be

at a "Fresh Prince" taping

on a Friday night.

It was the hottest ticket

in town, as they called it.

- Now everybody scream!

d

Yeah!

There was nothing like that.

- He walked right by.

- Aw.

- Get off me!

both: Mwah!

We knew at the end

of season five

that there would

only be one more season.

- Welcome to the--

welcome to the final reading.

- The final.

- Of "The Fresh Prince

of Bel-Air."

All right, gang, here we go.

Let's give it a read.

We fade in

for the last time.

- It was hard to come

to terms with, you know?

It was six years

of playing house

with people I adored.

- We really did

become family,

and it's something that is

the essence of the show.

- It's so strange because now,

like James was saying

and what Tatyana was saying,

everybody,

we're such a family now,

and it's just so sad.

This is so sad.

This is so hard.

You know, I was an only child,

so here all of a sudden

I have a--

I have a brother

and a sister,

and I had Will,

who was like a brother,

and, you know, James Avery

took being my father

very seriously.

He called me "daughter."

- Alfonso was absolutely

a big brother to me.

Karyn is just a woman

that I look up to and admire.

- A lot of good times

spent in this house.

- A lifetime's worth.

- I'm not gonna miss

the house though.

I'ma--I'ma miss all the people

that lived in the house.

You know, but I want you

to call me on Sundays

when you call

the rest of the--

well, I want you

to call me on Sundays

when you call the rest

of your children.

I love you, Uncle Phil,

and I don't wanna lose you,

I mean, any of you.

- They embrace.

- Think about, like,

people that you see

every single day

for six years of your life,

in the--you see them more

than you see your own family.

- Okay, and we're out.

- This has been very unique

for all of us,

and I can honestly say,

'cause I've been working

about 15 years or so,

I don't know, but this has been

the best experience

in terms of a TV show,

in terms of people

and friends and happiness,

and I've got to stop now.

Okay.

- Thank you.

- All right.

- You know, it was a very

difficult week for all of us,

knowing that we were never

gonna be together again

like that ever again.

- You know, we've been--

we've been blessed in a way

that a lot of people

don't get to experience

and to be able to do

what we love,

but to also put things out

in the world

that display our love.

And I've done a lot

of things in my life,

and I just want

to thank all of you

for making this

the most beautiful job

and life experience

that I've ever had.

Y'all know that this

the final episode

of "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,"

right?

You know, it's sad,

but we had a six-year run,

so we would like

for y'all to sit back

and enjoy the second half

of what you just watched.

Ladies and gentlemen,

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,"

for the last time,

coming at you.

Peace!

d

The final week

was interesting for me.

It was all--it was all--

it's still--

it was fuzzy in my mind.

I think that's part

of my emotional defense.

I always live in the future.

My mind is always

in the next space,

and I think as a child,

that's how I learned to avoid

the pain of a present moment.

- Counting, three, two.

God.

- Good start, good start,

good start.

I've see pictures from

that week and everything,

and it's like,

it was such a deeply...

painful goodbye.

- Being pulled away

from these people

was really difficult.

I loved being with them,

and we'd also gone through

something so life-changing

for all of us,

so we were bonded in this way.

- I wasn't in the last scene.

I was in one

of the early scenes,

and right after I did my scene,

I took a deep breath,

and I waited for the director

to say, "Clear, and moving on,"

and when he said, "Moving on,"

I slowly walked off the set,

went in the dressing room,

grabbed my bag, got in the car,

and drove to the airport

and flew home.

I couldn't--I couldn't do it.

- All of my hu--

I mean, 11 to 17,

it's such a huge--

you know,

you grow so much

during that time.

I did it all with them,

and when I saw

that stage empty,

it was just like--

I could barely breathe.

- It didn't come to a head

until the last scene shooting,

and we knew that

this was the last time

we were gonna hug

these people on this set.

- Leaving is like leaving

a grand, old friend.

- Having to walk off the set,

that was hard.

You know, it was like

I was out of my body,

watching myself walk all

the way out and not stopping,

and then I was out of frame,

and I was done.

- I remember that when

it was all said and done,

I couldn't stop crying.

- You okay?

- Yeah, yeah, no, no, I'm cool.

I'm cool, Uncle Phil.

You know, it's just

when I first came out here,

you know, I was a relative.

Been here for the past

six years, like,

we've been family.

I just don't wanna go back to

being just a relative again.

I mean, I lived

without a father

and without brothers

and sisters and all of that.

I like this life better.

- Hey, who turned

out the lights?

Where is everybody?

d

- I am definitely

gonna miss you, C.

d

- We've been a part

of creating something

that has touched millions

and millions of hearts

around the world,

and on this set

I learned how to lead

my life, you know?

I figured out who I wanted

to be on this set

with all of you

making this show, so...

This was family.

- This is family.

- This is family.

- I love you guys so much.

You have no idea.

I think--no, you do.

- I think the continuing legacy

for "Fresh Prince"

will simply be that

we changed television

in a positive way

and that we will go down

in history

as one of the best

to have ever done it.

- I mean, it's--

it's become legendary.

It has become really,

really special.

- We were so fortunate.

It was like

no experience ever,

but I had it.

- We had no idea

that it was gonna be

the iconic show

that it became.

- While we were filming

this, you know,

Will tweeted out a picture,

and I saw a lot of posts

about the picture,

and a lot of people responded,

and people said,

#BlackExcellence, right?

And it made me think about

what our show meant to people

and why it's lasted

so long,

and I don't want it

to be mistaken

that the excellence part

is the wealth.

That part is the fantasy.

The excellence was the way

that we loved each other.

- You know, the--the thing

that's difficult is that,

you know, we're a family,

you know?

Of course it's a TV show,

and, you know,

we're only playing a family,

but you really develop

family-like relationships.

You know, it was such

a beautiful way

to have these memories

and to be able to say goodbye

to this show

and to this section

of our lives with dignity.

- I think we all--

you know, to an extent,

we've all gone off

and lived our lives,

but there will always be

a piece of all of us

in that living room,

and it was nice

for all of us to share it

for one more day.

- Y'all ready?

Let's go, let's go!

Hit it, Snazz!

["The Fresh Prince

of Bel-Air" theme]

d Now this is a story

all about how d

d My life got flipped,

turned upside-down d

d So I'd like to take a minute,

just sit right there d

d I'll tell you how

I became the prince d

d Of a town

called Bel-Air d

- One thing that always

bugged me about the show--

nothing bugged me

about the show.

Well, I guess the one thing

that bugged me is that--

[Tom Jones'

"It's Not Unusual"]

- We doing it?

- What you got?

What you got? What you got?

- When are we doing it?

- I never could do this.

I never could do this.

- You gotta start right here.

- d It's not unusual

to be loved by anyone d

- d It's not unusual

to have fun with anyone d

- Now do the steps.

- d But when I see you hanging

about with anyone d

- There it is

right there, y'all.

Bring it in right there.

On three.

One, two, three!

Yes!

d
f

- Are we done?

- That's it.

- That's it?

- That's it.

- Thank you.

- See you in ten years.