These days he's a multi-million-selling recording artist and Hollywood action hero. But once upon a time, Will Smith was best known as the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.Children and adults alike loved the rapper-turned actor in the Nineties family show, in which he played a fictionalised version of himself.
And the catchy title tune that launched Will to worldwide fame was repeated on a weekly basis in playgrounds in the US and the UK. So naturally it was with great fondness that the 43-year-old caught up with his co-stars from the programme at a charity event recently.The beaming star was pictured with (from left) Tatyana Ali, who played his cute little cousin Ashley; Karyn Parsons – aka his spoilt cousin Hilary; Alfonso Ribeiro who portrayed cousin Carlton – famed for his bad dancing; and James Avery, the Banks family patriarch Uncle Phil. The crew hardly seemed to have aged since their stint in the hit family show. Missing from the lineup, however, were Joseph Marcell, who played the family's sarcastic British butler Geoffrey, and the two actresses who portrayed matriarch Aunt Vivian. "Got the Holiday season started right with a Fresh Prince of Bel Air reunion," wrote Will in the caption accompanying the photo
"There's nothin' like spending Holidays with fam!" In a testament to the show's continuing popularity, the photo wracked up just short of 50,000 likes in its first day online. The programme followed the adventures of Will, who had been sent to live with his rich and snobby relatives by his mother after he got into trouble in Philadelphia. Will only agreed to do it to pay off tax debts of $2.8 million he had ammased after overspending the money he had earned as a fledging rapper.