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Alfonso Ribeiro is getting candid with fans about his role in the 1990s sitcom ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.’
Ribeiro sat down for an interview with Closer Weekly, which was published on Friday, May 17. During the conversation, Ribeiro spoke about acting on ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’ for six seasons.
The 52-year-old explained that what he loved most about the show was “the cast and spending time with them.”
“Before every show, we would go into Will Smith’s dressing room, and we’d play music and dance and just have a great energy buildup to get ready for the show,” he said. “Those are some great memories of just being together.”
As the conversation continued, Ribeiro was asked if he had to make any “sacrifices” for his acting career. The 52-year-old replied by explaining that “playing Carlton on ‘Fresh Prince’ became a sacrifice.
Ribeiro went on to say that he believes his role as Carlton was the greatest and worst thing that ever happened to him.
However, he seemingly added that the role typecasted him from future opportunities. This was because, he believes, “people couldn’t see” him as another character outside of Carlton.
Ultimately, he shared that he received in his tole on ‘Fresh Prince’ in return for “not having an acting career anymore.”
“Playing Carlton on Fresh Prince became a sacrifice,” he said. “I used to always say doing Carlton was the greatest and worst thing that ever happened to me. It was one of the greatest roles that I ever was fortunate enough to play, but it was also the role that stopped me from acting again because people couldn’t see me as anything else. The sacrifice was not having an acting career anymore.”
Furthermore, Ribeiro explained that he’s currently enjoying his career as a TV host. However, he’s open to returning to the acting world “if it was exactly the right thing.”
“I’m enjoying being a host and am very happy with it,” he said. “But, yes, I would go back to acting if it was exactly the right thing.”
According to IMDb, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ aired for six seasons between 1990 and 1996. After his role as Carlton Banks on the series, Ribeiro went on to star, direct, and write in various TV shows and films, per the outlet.
ABC notes that Ribeiro directed episodes of ‘One on One,’ ‘All of Us,’ and ‘Meet The Browns.’
In 2014, the actor would appear and win season 19 of ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ per Fox News. According to the outlet, eventually, Ribeiro secured a hosting position on the show. Fox News notes that Ribeiro is also the host of fellow ABC shows ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ and ‘Jack Hanna’s Passport.’
