Will Smith, who played the character on the original, personally broke the news to Banks that he'd landed the star role on the show. On the NBC sitcom, James Avery played the Banks family patriarch. The role was played by Janet Hubert for the first three seasons, and then Daphne Maxwell Reid for the final three seasons of the original series.According to Sholotan's Instagram, he's also an accomplished musician. Karyn Parsons played Hilary on the original Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Tatyana M. Ali originated the role on the NBC sitcom. The role was originally played by Joseph Marcell. Smith's real-life bandmate DJ Jazzy Jeff played the role on the NBC sitcom. According to Jones' Instagram, she recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University.