WATCH: Will Smith, Morgan Cooper And Carla Banks Waddles Talk ‘Bel-Air’s Cultural Impact and L.A.'s Vital Role In The Show’s Success
The series’ executive producers discuss why ‘Bel-Air’ deeply resonates with the Black community and its bold approach to social issues ahead of Season 3.
Transcript
00:00Everybody wants to believe that we'd be able to swim in that part of the river.
00:11You know, that just because you have money, you're not better than me.
00:15And just because I don't have money doesn't mean I deserve your disdain.
00:20And is the cross-generational.
00:25You're used to seeing these things with different races.
00:29You're used to seeing these things with outsiders.
00:32But to be an outsider in your own family is just an interesting, timeless concept to watch.
00:46Many shows you see try to do LA and just don't do it right.
00:50You know, tell me about, you know, because it's almost like a love letter to Los Angeles when you guys did this season.
00:56Tell me about shooting LA, showing LA in all its parts.
01:03I always say like LA, the light hits differently here.
01:06You know what I mean? Like a sunny day in LA is not a sunny day in Milwaukee or New York.
01:11It's like a very special tone to the natural light here.
01:14And so, you know, we had early conversations with the cinematographer, Andy, you know, Andy Strayhorn,
01:20of just like, let's really lean into using natural light and using hot light.
01:24You know, this is all about heat. It's a very sexy season.
01:27And so, you know, we want to use the instruments, our filmmaking instruments to really tell that story visually.
01:31And so you're feeling more saturation and more heat in the image.
01:34Why is it important? Tell me about tackling those themes, you know, with this show.
01:40Yeah, I think it's just important. I wouldn't even say it's taboo, but just the reality of life.
01:45And life is life in this season for the Banks family.
01:48And everybody has their characters, their storylines that they tap into.
01:52I think specifically Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv being the rocks of this family and being trying to be there for everybody else,
02:00but realizing they haven't been there for themselves in their marriage and just sort of seeing the realities of what it's like to be in a marriage for so long.
02:09So I think it's really just tapping into the reality of life and not being scared to go there and tell the story.
02:18We've got some surprises along the way this year.
02:20Can you talk about some of the folks you're bringing on this year that people are going to be excited about?
02:26Oh, our cast.
02:28OGG. OGG shows up.
02:33Yeah, Joseph Marcel is making an appearance this season and it's just beautiful.
02:40It is so much fun.
02:44I think this time in the world, this kind of nostalgia is just delicious.
02:55It is so beautiful to feel the merging of these two television worlds.
03:04It is so much fun to watch.
03:08I don't mean to put this on you, and no disrespect, you fell there 30 plus years ago.
03:15I know.
03:16What's it like, you know, just kind of taking, stepping back and watching this kind of flow through you or watching kind of your life here a little bit?
03:25You know, the beautiful thing in watching it and, you know, for us as a cast is to see a lot of the seeds that we planted, you know, take root and flower beyond our wildest dreams.
03:45You know, it was actually 34 years ago when The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air premiered.
03:53You know, so to have the seeds of those concepts and those ideas and those characters that we created be delivered to another generation with this level of care and beauty, you know, it is a deep honor.
04:16For you, I think you and Jabari were about the same age when you started Bel-Air, when you started Fresh Prince, huh?
04:23Jabari wasn't born when we started.
04:25Well, no, no. Yes.
04:27But I mean, now when you started Fresh Prince, you guys are kind of about the same age.
04:32When you were obviously going in, what was it about him that you knew that this is the kid that's going to take on this role?
04:41When I found out that Jabari was from West Philly, I was like, you're kidding me.
04:46You're kidding. I don't need to meet him. He has the job.
04:49Right.
04:52Yeah, it's amazing, man.
04:55You know, when things are just in the great river and they're just flowing, they're going, they're happening, all the people that had to say yes for us to even be able to do this.
05:11And, you know, a real testament to the power of Morgan's vision, you know, that literally every person all the way down the line was like, whoa, you know, Quincy, Benny, Kaz, all producers.
05:28It's like everybody felt how special this could be.
05:33That's special. Why do you think Bel-Air has just resonated within the Black community so much?
05:40I think it goes back to what Will said about care and the love we put in the material.
05:44Like we really love these stories that we tell and we love this cast.
05:49We love this crew. And so I think I think that just finds its way into the art.
05:53Naturally, it could be on a subconscious level of just like, oh, wow, I'm watching something that feels handmade.
05:58You know, so I think that's that's been our approach since day one is like, how can we make this feel handmade?
06:04How can we create something that subverts expectations while also being a salve in this world?
06:11Like we live in such a crazy world that, you know, I always tell, you know, I tell my father, I'm like to be a part of making something that gets people through another week.
06:19That's a blessing. You know, you know, it's about a little more questions.
06:23How do you go in the show like this and make it tight?
06:29Well, you don't because there's so many like you said, there's so many things going on in this world.
06:33And it is pop culture moments at times, sometimes maybe political.
06:37But you do make it timeless and then still resonate with people.
06:42Five, 10, 15, 20 years or now, I don't want to do that.
06:47I think there's really a fundamental human idea at the at the core of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
06:56You know that, you know, we talk about nature or nurture, you know, and you take a kid who, you know, has none of the financial or educational resources that his family has on the West Coast.
07:17He has none of them.
07:18What happens if you pick him up and you put him into that fish out of water circumstance?
07:26And it's such wish fulfillment.