Jabari Banks says Will Smith is his "hero."
Jabari Banks: Will Smith is my hero
The 23-year-old actor is taking on the role made famous by Will Smith in 1990s sitcom 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' for an upcoming reboot and has called the Hollywood star an "inspiration."
He said: "He's my hero, man, and he's been such an inspiration for me and the show has been such a defining show for my life. So, to be in this position is great."
The young actor went on to reveal that Will has given him "a lot of advice" as he passes on the baton of the role that made him into a star.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Jabari explained: "He’s given me a lot of advice on how to go about this career in general .The biggest thing I think he would say for this role is just to be myself. Because that’s what he was doing up there as the Fresh Prince in the original series that we all know and love. He was just being himself."
Jabari went on claim that his "biggest surprise" when taking on the iconic role was learning how to be himself and is so "blessed" to have the chance to fill Will's shoes.
He added: "He wasn’t trying to be anybody else. So that was the biggest surprise for me was just to lean into my instincts, lean into my upbringing, remember who I am and be authentically me on camera. I’m so blessed to have this opportunity to do that in front of the world and to take on these shoes."
Will originally played self-named role of the teenager sent to live with wealthy relatives and is now serving as producer on 'Bel-Air', set to premiere on Peacock on February 13th.
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