'Bel-Air' cast and creators on the show's origins and colorism in Hollywood
The cast and creators of Bel-Air talk to Yahoo Entertainment about their biggest hurdle casting someone to play the iconic role of Will Smith. The cast and crew also talked about the inherent prejudices that they've had in casting and why "Black is beautiful, period."
Video Transcript
- This is a story all about how my life got flipped and turned upside down.
ETHAN ALTER: I'm sure, you never imagined you'd get to this place when you made that trailer. Tell me about sort of the history of the trailer and it coming to Will Smith's attention. What was the process of that?
MORGAN COOPER: Yeah, I mean, the idea came to me, while I was riding down the highway in my hometown, Kansas City, Missouri, and I go to this overpass. And the idea hit me all at once, and I said, wow, like this is something that's very, very, very special. I've got to make it, so I did.
It was uploaded on YouTube in March of 2019, and it really took off. And less than 24 hours after we released it, Will's company, Westbrook, reached out, and they wanted to meet the next day. And I FaceTime with Will, and he was just so excited about my vision and asked me point blank, you know, what do you want to do with this?
And I quick pitched him my vision for adapting my short film as a one hour drama, so I fly to Miami, two weeks later, to break bread with him over the course of three days. And it was kind of, like, an unofficial development session, and I left Miami. And right before I did, we shook hands, and decided to get into business together, and make it happen, and we did.
ETHAN ALTER: Let's talk about how it sort of came together. T.J., tell me about the first time you saw Morgan's original trailer that he made as the pitch for it. What did you think?
T.J. BRADY: Well, I saw it when the rest of the world saw it when it went viral, and all I could do is sit back and say, damn, that's a great idea. I wish I thought of it.
ETHAN ALTER: You both were brought in after a few other showrunners had been on board. What was your big idea coming in? Where did you think the show needed to go once you took over?
RASHEED NEWSOM: Well, I think one of the things we figured out is the show is through Will's POV, but it's really a family drama, that there needed to be an ensemble cast. What was great about the trailer is that it grounded will and his predicament, and we could apply that to every other character on the canvas.
ETHAN ALTER: Well, let's talk a little bit about Will Smith's involvement as well. How exactly was he involved behind the scenes?
RASHEED NEWSOM: He's been incredible. He's been great. The hurdle I was most scared of was casting, right? Like we need to find someone to play the role that made him famous. One of the final say is on whether he approved and signed off on Jabari.
ETHAN ALTER: Tell me a little about the first time he saw Jabari. I mean, what was his reaction when he saw that audition for the first time? What really impressed him about him?
RASHEED NEWSOM: Charisma, swag, likability, and most of all, ability to act. This kid can act. I will go on record as saying that I was, however, a little nervous, because he did not have any professional experience. He was in theater school, and I thought, yeah, he's great. Are we going to put this show on the shoulders of someone with no credits? But he was that compelling.
JABARI BANKS: You just had to lean on to what I knew, and my own experiences, and my instincts. And, Will told me that from the beginning, that that was going to be the case. Because when you think about the original Fresh Prince, it was just him, doing what he knew how to do being himself, so I definitely had to just be myself. Because Jabari is not too far off from Will, so this being my first role is such a blessing to be able to step into these shoes.
ETHAN ALTER: Did you get a chance to meet with Will Smith in person? What were your discussions with him like?
JABARI BANKS: He's taught me a lot. He's taught me a lot, I mean, about my career. He's been telling me, there's going to be a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Through it all, just stay grounded.
He's definitely left the interpretation of this character to my own volition. He trusts me, and he handpicked me for a reason. And I had to lean on that.
ETHAN ALTER: I like how you said you really wanted to make this a family show, so what were you looking for in bringing the Bank's family back together now? What was your guiding force in casting?
RASHEED NEWSOM: We're putting a show together about a Black family. These parents have to look like they made these children. So we had to have a very honest discussion about what complexion are on Viv, and Phil, and how does that manifest itself into the kids.
And we chose that we're going to have a family with a darker complexion, so that plays out throughout the entire Bank's family. I liked it, because, you know, it was one of those issues that, at first, people wanted to talk around. But it's like, guys, if this is going to make sense, we need to confront this, and we need to make a decision.
MORGAN COOPER: I think it's important for us to really interrogate some of the past biases, you know, that we've seen on screen of saying like, this shade of Black is better than this shade. Just because this shade is lighter, that doesn't mean it's more beautiful than this darker shade at all. So, you know, we're here to throw all of that nonsense out the window and say, Black is beautiful, period.
ADRIAN HOLMES: First of all, I'm so happy that we're premiering during Black History Month, and that says a lot as well. You know, we need to tell more positive, Black stories, and they have to be done truthfully and honestly. In order for that to happen, we have to make them ourselves. They have to come from us, for us, by us, and this is an example of that.
