Olly Sholotoan, Coco Jones, and Akira Akbar play the Banks family in the new drama for Peacock, Bel-Air, which is a new spin on the classic show. This is a brand new take on these classic characters and the cast of Bel-Air spoke with Screen Rant to talk about the re-imagined Banks family.
Olly talks about Kanye West inspiring the swag of his Carlton and Coco and Akira also share a fun on the story onset, the young stars talk about the collaboration process with their visionary director, Morgan Cooper.
Screen Rant: Thank you so much for your time. Amazing job on this show. It is fantastic. Look, the first question I have for you is, the original series, what makes it so popular and stands up to the test of time to this day where everybody holds it in such reverence?
Olly Sholoton: I think what makes the original fresh prince so popular is it speaks to the black experience in a way that few other shows at the time did, and it explored these really real and relevant themes through comedy. Obviously, with that, there's the format of the 30 minutes sitcom, and there are limitations on that. I think what's so beautiful about what we do with our version of the show is we explore those themes, but we go way deeper. We have an hour, we're not limited by the show format. We really, really delve into when there is something deep and dark.
Akira Akbar: I want to do like expand on what you were saying with each of our characters. I feel like we just dig into their journals and see what they're really about and what they're really going through.
Coco Jones: Yeah...
Absolutely. Olly, I have a question for you. So as this show starts, the biggest difference is that Will is kind of forced to move to Bel-Air rather than it being a choice. And the one that's affected, it seems like the most is Carlton. Can you talk to me about Carlton's relationship with Will in this version and also how Carlton kind of views his parents since Will is being accepted into the household?
Olly Sholotan: I'd say Will coming into Bel-Air is definitely a challenge to Carlton's blackness as well as his masculinity. Right. In his mind, I also think that Carlton experiences a very fragile sense of blackness because he doesn't feel like he belongs to his people throughout his whole life. He's been told that he acts white or he talks to white or yada yada yada. As a result, he's had to assimilate to his Bel-Air cohort. Will showing up and exceeding at fitting in doing the very thing that Carlton has never really been able to identify with, that touches this deeply insecure part of him. It leads to... I think a really heartbreaking journey, but, as a season goes on they learn to find their differences.
Absolutely look, Coco, these characters feel so genuine. Hilary is one of them. Can you talk to me about the different opinions Hilary has of her father and her mother and the different relationships they have and displayed throughout the show?
Coco Jones: I think Hilary, first of all, her relationship with her father, I will say she definitely gives princess vibes. She's kind of the rebel in a way because she's dropped out of college, she's doing her own thing. She's this CEO influencer, chef, boss, content creator and her mother doesn't really get that. Her dad, she kind of figures out a way to like finesse into like letting her just do her thing, her relationship with Cassandra Freeman, who plays Aunt Viv. It's definitely a push and pulls type of relationship where I feel a lot of moms and daughters will relate to, not really understanding, but having that love, but also just feeling like they know what's best for their daughter, but Hilary is very much headstrong. They get into some interesting situations as their dynamic grows.
Akira you steal a lot of the scenes and you bring your biting wit with you as it comes out of nowhere. As you roast your siblings, where does your influence for the roasting game come from for your character?
Akira Akbar: I would definitely say the influence of roasting my siblings probably comes from Coco. I feel like Hilary, I feel like Ashley really looks up to her sister, and she kind of wants to be just like her in a way. She really just watches everything that she does. The roasting would probably come from Hilary.
Now, Olly, your version of Carlton is arguably a lot cooler than the Fresh Prince version. Who are you channeling with your swag?
Olly Sholotan: Yo, that's interesting. I have never been asked that before, and the answer is Kanye West. A lot of times when I'm building my characters, I very much go music first, and Hold My Liquor by Kanye West is sort of my grounding Carlton song. Kanye's the idea of swag is sort of where I'm coming from.
Coco, how much of the cooking do you do, and out of all the dishes that you've tried, which one is your favorite?
Coco Jones: Oh my goodness. I feel like Hilary in Bel-Air, she's pretty much always in a kitchen. I'm like, man, can I just sit down and be served? Am I always giving waitress? But no, it's her passion. I couldn't even pick a recipe that I think would be my favorite. I probably would love to like her Southern dishes because I'm from the south. So anything fried I'm like you get me, girl.
Olly Sholoton: And Coco for real be cooking. Cause she has this cooking show that Akira and I are trying to get on. Yeah...
Akira Akbar: We really trying to get on it.
Olly Sholotan: Yeah. Like one day, in real life, she'd be flipping it up.
Akira Akbar: You remember that one shrimp that I ate?
Coco Jones: Yeah you did eat that shrimp.
Akira Akbar: It was fried shrimp.
Coco Jones: It was a prop shrimp.
Akira: But it was really good.
Coco Jones: She shouldn't have eaten it though. It'd been out all-day
Olly Sholotan: No.
I would've eaten it too though. I would've eaten it too.
Akira Akbar: I know it was sitting there looking good, so I ate it.
Coco Jones: It sure did, it had makeup on.
You guys have such an amazing director with Morgan. He's fantastic. And he really knows exactly what he is doing in terms of the writing and the directorial process. What does his style add to Bel-Air, Akira?
Akira Akbar: Ooh, I mean...
Olly Sholotan: I love Screen Rant. Thank you, for giving great questions.
Akira Akbar: Can you answer those?
Olly Sholotan: Morgan, he's a filmmaker himself. He started off doing music videos. He very much grew up, he's very well experienced in that Guerrilla filmmaking world, he's a director, DP, sound editor. I think understanding all of that, he's so actor friendly because he's so willing to go there with you. I remember in the pilot that scene where Will and Lisa are doing whatever in the back and Carlton's having his moment. I remember he comes up to me and the way he's just here with you, it adds this beau... And also he loves Jean-Michel Basquiat and Basquiat is just all over the aesthetics of the show.
Coco Jones: I'm screaming. I just want to slightly add that he's so motivating just by his passion. The way that this has all come about, really off of an idea that he just believed in and supported and funded himself. He is walking passion. He's the heartbeat of this show. Even when we've done several takes, he just comes in and he motivates us in a way that recharges us in a way.
Bel-Air is now streaming on Peacock.