'Fresh Prince' Star Alfonso Ribeiro Believes the Show Ruined His Acting Career

In the 1990s, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was one of the most beloved sitcoms on TV. The hit series introduced many viewers to Will Smith, then a Grammy-winning rapper, and Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Smith's on-screen cousin Carlton.

Prior to The Fresh Prince, Ribeiro was a working actor with roles on shows like Silver Spoons, Magnum P.I., and A Different World. Ribeiro has continued to appear in fictional roles on shows like In the House and Big Time Rush after The Fresh Prince ended in 1996, but Ribeiro's acting jobs largely dried up, leading him to transition into a career as a TV host for game shows and other competition series like Dancing With the Stars.

When speaking with Closer Weekly about sacrifices he's made in his career, he noted that his iconic Fresh Prince role was a double-edged sword.

"Playing Carlton on Fresh Prince became a sacrifice," he said. "I used to always say doing Carlton was the greatest and worst thing that ever happened to me. It was one of the greatest roles that I ever was fortunate enough to play, but it was also the role that stopped me from acting again because people couldn’t see me as anything else."

"The sacrifice was not having an acting career anymore," he added. As for returning to the screen in an actor capacity, Ribeiro didn't close the door. "I’m enjoying being a host and am very happy with it. But, yes, I would go back to acting if it was exactly the right thing," he said.

Ribeiro brought back the famous "Carlton dance" during his winning Dancing With a Stars run in 2014, but it's safe to say he probably wants to look forward rather than back.