Fresh Prince of Bel Air actor Karyn Parsons has very different career now 20 years after quitting Hollywood
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's star, Karyn Parsons, has been seen in public after leaving the glitz and glam of Hollywood for a more modest life in Rhode Island, and she’s moved onto something surprising.
The Fresh Prince is celebrating its 36th anniversary this year, and if you’re wondering how it has been nearly four decades since it first aired on September 10 1990, you’re not alone.
As the epitope of 90s comedy, Will Smith’s series took viewers through heart ache, love, anger, sadness and laughter within all six seasons, and it also made a cultural impact far beyond its tenure.
The TV comedy showed the differences between rich and poor, white and Black, Carlton Banks and someone who can actually dance, and much more.
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It touched on sensitive moments, racially significant issues, and it also made us laugh at what the characters got up to.
So, while audiences around the world knew Smith as Will from West Philadelphia, Parsons as spoiled Hilary Banks, Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton, and Tatyana M. Ali as their sister Ashley; their private lives are fairly different.
For example, Will is a major actor, with credits in flicks like I, Robot, Shark Tale and Wild Wild West, Riberio went on to star in Silver Spoons and In the House, while Ali featured on Dancing with the Stars and Love That Girl!.
However, when it comes to Parsons, her career began and ended with the Fresh Prince, and cameos in small works.
Instead of pursuing fame, Parsons instead went on to become an author of children’s books, and moved to New England, where the 60-year-old lives a life outside of the spotlight.
After roles in short-lived sitcoms Lush Life and The Job, Parsons gave up acting in 2002, and aside from writing, she produces.
For example, she created the Sweet Blackberry film series, and wrote books like Flying Free, and How High the Moon.
The mother-of-two also attended reunions, but mostly does her own thing.
Recently, she and her hubby, filmmaker Alexandre Rockwell, opened their home in Providence to an aspiring filmmaker who Rockwell had been mentoring, per People.
Matthew Osubor needed a place to stay and the pair were more than happy to let him live in their house - which makes her a bit of an Aunt Viv character, right?
Speaking of Aunt Viv.
Janet Hubert, who was the original Aunt Viv in season one, was notoriously replaced after a rumoured rift with Smith.
She later would claim he was 'probably responsible for her firing', with her stating at the time (via the BBC): "He has a lot of clout. It’s too bad that it’s a Black-on-Black attack. I have tried not to name names. I have more class than that.
"I wish Will would tell the truth. If you’re going to talk, tell the truth. He has gotten me fired from the show, and now he’s trying to get my career snatched away from me."
Smith, for his part, claimed she wanted the show to be all about her, but in the end, the pair did go on to kiss and make up years later.
The pair attended the Fresh Prince reunion special in 2020 to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary, where she and Smith hugged it out.
Topics: Will Smith, Celebrity, TV and Film
Britt Jones