‘Bel-Air’: Peacock’s Dramatic ‘Fresh Prince’ Remake Announces Cast
Streaming service Peacock has announced the cast for ‘Bel-Air‘, the dramatic reboot of ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’, from Will Smith and Morgan Cooper.
If you don’t know the background to this story, it’s pretty remarkable! Now this is a story all about how… YouTube filmmaker Morgan Cooper inspired original star and exec producer Will Smith to pitch a dramatic remake of the sitcom that made him famous to streaming services. Cooper created and filmed the short movie/trailer ‘Bel-Air’ (watch below) that takes all the ideas from the sitcom but remixes them into a much darker, straight drama. Smith saw the video and loved the idea so much, he contacted Cooper about developing it into a full series via Westbrook Studios, the production company he owns with wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Set in modern-day America, ‘Bel-Air’ is a serialized one-hour dramatic analogue of the 90’s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” that leans into the original premise: Will’s complicated journey from?the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. With a reimagined vision, Bel-Air will dive deeper into the inherent conflicts, emotions and biases that were?impossible to fully explore in a 30-minute sitcom format, while still delivering swagger and nods to the original show.
Newcomer Jabari Banks takes over the role of Will, played by Smith in the original series. He is joined by Adrian Holmes (‘V-Wars’, ‘Continuum’) as Phillip Banks (played by James Avery on the original); Cassandra Freeman (‘Atlanta’) as Vivian Banks (originally played by Janet Hubert/Daphne Maxwell Reid); Olly Sholotan (‘Run Hide Fight’) as Carlton Banks (originated by Alfonso Ribeiro); Coco Jones (‘Five Points’, ‘Good Luck Charlie’) as Hilary Banks (originated by Karyn Parsons); Akira Akbar (‘Good Trouble’, ‘Captain Marvel’) as Ashley Banks (originated by Tatyana M. Ali);
Jimmy Akingbola (‘Most Dangerous Game’, ‘In the Long Run’) as Geoffrey (originated by Joseph Marcell); Jordan L. Jones (‘Rel’) as Jazz (originated by DJ Jazzy Jeff); And Simone Joy Jones (‘The Chair’) as Lisa (originated by Nia Long).
T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson (‘The Chi’, ‘The 100’) serve as executive producers and co-showrunners on the new series, which is directed, co-exec produced, and co-written by Morgan Cooper. Smith, Terence Carter, James Lassiter, Miguel Melendez, Malcolm Spellman, Quincy Jones, Benny Medina and Andy & Susan Borowitz also exec produce. Westbrook Studios and Universal Television (who own the copyright to the original series) will produce the drama.
‘Bel-Air‘ is set to premiere on Peacock in 2022. As was announced recently, Peacock is due to launch in the UK later this year. If you want to keep track of this show you can add it via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
