Will Smith Reveals What James Avery Whispered During Emotional Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Scene

Will Smith has revealed what James Avery whispered in his ear during a famous emotional scene from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Watch him open up about the touching moment in the reunion trailer here:

Sharing his admiration for the late James Avery, who played Uncle Phil and died in 2013, Smith says: "James Avery was this 6ft 4ins Shakespearean beast, and I wanted him to think I was good."

Smith then reflects on a classic scene from the 24th episode of season four, 'Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse', in which Smith performs an emotional monologue about his absent father, which closes with the line 'How come he don't want me man?'.

Recalling his poignant embrace with Avery, Smith says: "I fall into his arms at the end of the scene, and he's holding me and the shot pans off, and he whispers in my ear 'Now that's acting'."

Hopefully the reunion special should feature plenty more gems like this.

Warner Bros. Television

The crew have got back together to mark 30 years since the show first aired.

The show will be formatted in a similar way to the Friends unscripted reunion - aka the Fresh Prince gang won't be returning for a new episode, but instead are coming together to look 'back at the series and the cultural impact [it] has had since its debut'.

It follows a similar virtual meet-up in April, when the show's cast reunited for Smith's lockdown Snapchat series Will From Home.

Things got very emotional when the cast paid tribute to Avery, who died from complications from open heart surgery.

During the video call, Will said to his castmates: "That just makes me teary. The first couple times that I'm seeing clips of James, you know?"

He added that the reason why he got so emotional was because he is still connected with the cast that he spent nearly six years with.

He said: "You guys are my second family. I've been shaped by my interactions and relationships.

"When I look back, the best times in my life will have been on that set."

The reunion special will be available to stream on HBO Max from Thursday 19 November.

Topics: TV and Film, US Entertainment, Will Smith

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

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