Smith refers to Ribeiro as “somebody who understands you in a way that other people don’t understand you.”
Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro were among the great comedic duos of ’90s television, trading barbs and committing hijinks Monday nights on NBC in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
But in the latest episode of Vice’s docuseries Black Comedy in America, Smith revealed how deep his relationship with the erstwhile Carlton Banks goes.
Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank
Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro
“There’s been a couple of creative relationships I’ve had that have totally transformed my life. And the first one was Jazzy Jeff,” Smith said, referring to his partner in rhyme, with whom he won the first rap Grammy for “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”
Smith continued, “Where you meet somebody who understands you in a way that other people don’t understand you. And they’re able to understand you, then craft things for you to create and shine and explode. And Alfonso was that guy for sure.”
For six seasons, from 1990 to 1996, Ribeiro played Carlton Banks, the bougie, Tom Jones-loving cousin of Smith’s character, also named Will Smith, on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
“When he came in for the audition, there was like no question. That’s the one,” the Bad Boys star says of Ribeiro. “Nobody commits as hard as Alf. We call it the ‘comedic limb.’ You know where you gon’ try this joke and you gon’ go out there with it, and you gon’ risk it all. And one of his big things, why he would commit so hard with the lines, he says, ‘You commit so the writers can know it doesn’t work.'”
Smith goes on to describe Ribeiro “red-lining…giving everything” on a Tuesday, though they wouldn’t be filming until Friday. “The willingness to crash and burn,” he adds, “is the only way you can be funny.”
On the decidedly unfunny Bel-Air, a modern-day dramatic reimagining of The Fresh Prince, Carlton is played by Olly Sholotan, while Will is portrayed by Jabari Banks. Bel-Air‘s fourth and final season will premiere at an unspecified date on Peacock.
While Smith went on to international movie stardom, won an Oscar and almost threw it all away, Ribeiro has been a constant presence on television, and is currently serving as host of Dancing with the Stars, having won the competition in 2014. Though occasionally the duo reunite and hijinks inevitably ensue.
