Alfonso Ribeiro Admits ‘Dramatic’ ‘Fresh Prince’ Reboot Is ‘Going To Be Weird’ For Him: ‘I’m A Comedy Guy’
Amid rumors the ‘Fresh Prince’ reboot will be a ‘drama,’ Alfonso Ribeiro told HL that it’s going to be ‘weird’ for him, since he’s ‘a comedy guy!’
The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air always brought the laughs! It was announced in September after much speculation that the Will Smith-led ’90s NBC sitcom would be rebooted on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service. However, this time around, the fan-favorite comedy will have a more dramatic spin, inspired by a speculative trailer by director Morgan Cooper that went viral in 2019. “It’s going to be weird for me, obviously, I’m a comedy guy, right? I love that the show made people laugh, but it certainly had dramatic moments and important, poignant discussions. It looked at things that even today we’re still dealing with,” Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton in the original series, told HollywoodLife in an exclusive podcast interview. LISTEN TO THE FULL HOLLYWOODLIFE PODCAST HERE!
“It’s going to be interesting to see it as as a drama.I think I’m along with everyone else interested to see how that’s going to work out,” he continued. “I have no idea how you take that character and make him serious? I’m hoping that they still have some comedy with Carlton.”
When announcing the Fresh Prince reboot on his YouTube channel, Will Smith teased to fans the storyline possibilities. “The Carlton character, a Black young Republican, modern day? The heat that will be stirred up between these characters,” he said. “It’s like, what’s the Hilary character in a world of Instagram and social media?… Uncle Phil, a Black lawyer turned judge today with young Black kids coming before him,” he pondered. Peacock has already ordered two seasons of the reimagined series and promised hour-long episodes. Will, who will serve as an executive producer, told director Morgan Cooper that he will be “as involved or as all the way out your way, as you guys need me to be.”
On the HL Podcast, Alfonso also discussed his partnership with candy maker Mars Wrigley’s new, immersive virtual experience that allows kids to take part in a new kind of trick or treating this Halloween. “Mars Wrigley wanted to try figure out how we make Halloween as special as it can be given these difficult times,” he explained. “So TREAT TOWN® is an incredible app that will allow families to download the app onto their Android or iOS devices, and kids will be able to go ‘door to door’ and Trick or Treat on the app and get candy credits from their family and friends. Then they can redeem those credits at retail stores that sell the Mars Wrigley candies, which include M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, TWIX® and SKITTLES®!” Click here to learn more!