Will Smith has revealed who will play him in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot.
Jabari Banks will take on the role of Will in the upcoming reboot of the hit TV sitcom.
The character catapulted Will Smith, now 52, to stardom in the early 1990s.
“It is an absolute pleasure to meet you, to be on with you, and from the deepest parts of my heart I want to say congratulations to you,” he told Jabari Banks in a video call.
“You have the role of Will on Bel-Air.”
“I’m ready, I’m so ready,” replied Jabari Banks, who revealed his father had suggested he try out for the part after reading an article about it.
“This is a dream come true,” he added.
Jabari Banks said the show had a huge impact on his life, adding that he once got his friends to join him in dressing up as characters from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air while he was at high school.
The reboot, which will appear on NBC streaming service Peacock, was inspired by a 2019 viral fan video by Morgan Cooper, who re-imagined the comedy as a modern-day drama.
Morgan Cooper was snapped up to work on the new project, produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith Westbrook Studios and Universal Television, where he will now be joined by Jabari Banks.
The original Will told the new one: “You’ve got a fantastic road ahead of you, and I’m looking forward to being an asset for you in this process as you build out your life and build out your career.”
According to Deadline, this will be Jabari Banks’ first TV role.
A resident of west Philadelphia, which is also where the titular character was famously “born and raised”, Jabari Banks graduated from the city’s University of the Arts in 2020.
Jabari Banks is also an accomplished singer-songwriter, rapper, and basketball player.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which ran for six seasons from 1990 to 1996, starred Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself.
Will Smith’s movie Focus has debuted at No 1 on the North American box office chart, knocking Fifty Shades of Grey off the top spot.
However, it was a relatively modest opening for Will Smith, with Focus earning an estimated $19.1 million between February 28 and March 1.
Fifty Shades of Grey fell to fourth with $10.9 million after spending two weeks at number one.
In second place was Colin Firth’s spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Kingsman: The Secret Service took $11.8 million over the weekend, just ahead of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which made $11.2 million in its fourth week of release.
The second highest new entry, horror film The Lazarus Effect, rounded out the top five, taking $10.6 million.
Focus gives Will Smith his first major role since 2013’s After Earth, the Sci-Fi flop that also starred his teenage son Jaden, and went on to win three Razzie awards.
The movie is about a conman who introduces his young lover to the tricks of the trade before breaking off their relationship. Three years later, they meet again in Argentina, where they are both trying to scam the same billionaire.
Some commentators have concluded that Will Smith’s box office pulling power is on the wane given the relatively low takings for a No 1 movie.
However, Warner Bros said Focus, which was made for about $50 million, was only predicted to take about $21 million in its opening weekend.
Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith were big winners at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzie), picking up three prizes for their sci-fi flop After Earth.
Jaden Smith, 15, won the statuette for worst actor, while his famous father won the supporting actor Razzie.
Will and Jaden Smith were also voted worst screen combo.
Taking place on the eve of the Oscars, and just a short walk from the Academy Awards red carpet, the Razzies highlight the worst films of the year.
The worst picture prize went to Movie 43, a comedy anthology with an ensemble cast including Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.
Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith were big winners at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards
Described by one critic as “the Citizen Kane of awful”, the film also won for worst screenplay (written by at least 19 people) and worst director (credited to 13 people).
Tyler Perry was named worst actress for A Madea Christmas, while Kim Kardashian was worst supporting actress for Tyler Perry’s Temptation.
The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp as Tonto, was worst remake or sequel.
Despite its eight nominations, Adam Sandler’s hit film sequel Grown Ups 2 went home empty-handed.
Officially known as the Golden Raspberry Awards, the Razzies were created in 1980 “as the logical antidote to Tinsel Town’s annual glut of self-congratulatory awards”.
Winners generally fail to show up – although Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock have collected their gold spray-painted prizes in person.
As at the Oscars, the Razzies have an In Memoriam section, which this year included former Razzie nominee Peter O’Toole, the film critic Roger Ebert and Blockbuster video stores.
Margot Robbie has created a sensation after pictures of her hamming it up with Will Smith were released.
The photos of Margot Robbie and her Focus co-star Will Smith pulling their shirts up and clowning around in a photo booth last month in New Orleans have been obtained by Star magazine.
A source told the magazine that Margot Robbie, 23, and Will Smith, 45, didn’t even take their photos after they were printed.
Will Smith and Margot Robbie are clearly comfortable with each other. The actor has expressed his fondness for Margot Robbie.
“When we did our audition together, we had a natural chemistry,” Will Smith previously said of his co-star.
Margot Robbie has created a sensation after pictures of her hamming it up with Will Smith were released
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Focus, which is currently being filmed, tells the story of a con artist (Will Smith) who takes a beautiful young women (Margot Robbie) under his wing and shows her what he knows. Things get complicated however when they get romantically involved.
Margot Robbie got her big break starring in the short-lived TV series Pan Am with Christina Ricci. However, her role as Naomi Lapaglia in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio is set to give her acting career a huge boost.
Margot Robbie is believed to be single, while Will Smith has been married to his wife Jada Pinkett for 16 years.
Will Smith and Jada Pinket have been forced to deny that their relationship is in trouble many times throughout the years, including as recently as last week.
Will Smith angrily slapped camp comic Vitalii Sediuk on the face after he tried to kiss him on the lips on the red carpet in Russia yesterday.
Will Smith, 43, was walking the press line in Moscow to promote Men In Black 3 when Ukrainian TV prankster Vitalii Sediuk stopped him to give him a hug and attempted to kiss him.
He managed to dodge two lunges, with each kiss landing on his cheek, before he pushed the professional fool away and gave him a limp tap on the face.
Blockbuster footage from the Russian LifeNews station showed the angry actor and rapper telling him: “Hey man, what the hell is your problem?”
Will Smith angrily slapped camp comic Vitalii Sediuk on the face after he tried to kiss him on the lips on the red carpet in Russia yesterday
Will Smith later laughed about the incident, telling another reporter down the line: “He tried to kiss me on the mouth.
“He’s lucky I didn’t try to sucker punch him. … Sorry, I said that on camera.”
Wind up merchant Vitalii Sediuk is best known for playing a prank on Madonna by presenting the singer with Hydrangeas, her most loathed flower.
Madonna rolled her eyes after graciously accepting the present from the joker before a press conference at the Venice Film Festival last year.
The gullible Holiday star thought he had simply made a mistake, telling an assistant: “I absolutely loath Hydrangeas. He obviously doesn’t know that.”
The prankster is also for known for his love of kissing celebrities when they least expect it.
Will Smith has been touring the globe to promote the latest installment of the Men In Black franchise.
One person who will not be amused by Vitalii Sediuk’s approach is his sexy wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Jada Pinkett Smith was not with her husband as she is currently at the Cannes Film Festival promoting her new film, Madagascar 3.
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