Is Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Based on Will Smith's Life? How Much Is Real
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is partly based on a true story, but despite using his real name in the show, it's hardly about Will Smith's life.
Is The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air based on the life of Will Smith? Now streaming on HBO Max, the popular 1990s sitcom launched its star's acting career, and created more diversity on network television - and the true inspiration for the NBC series can be found in the iconic opening credits sequence.
When The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air premiered in 1990, Smith had already released three albums (and one won Grammy Award) as part of the hip-hop group DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. He was also just 21 years old upon making his TV debut, and ultimately proved himself on camera over the course of six seasons before transforming into a movie star. Decades later, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's theme song remains timely and relevant, both musically and within culture as a whole. But whereas the lyrics mirror Smith's real-life story, the series' premise was inspired by someone from the east side of Los Angeles - not the west part of Philadelphia.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is based on the life of executive producer Benny Medina, who's best known as a former member of the group Apollo, and for later working directly under music mogul Berry Gordy at Motown Records. By the late 1980s, Medina was an accomplished musician and businessman before age 30, and his life story was pitched as a TV series in collaboration with the late Jeff Pollack, who later directed the 1990s films Above the Rim (starring Tupac Shakur), Booty Call (starring Jamie Foxx), and Lost & Found (starring David Spade). Ultimately, NBC greenlit The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a show about an black teenager who leaves Philadelphia to live with his rich uncle in Bel-Air, CA. In real life, Medina moved from east Los Angeles to live with a wealthy friend and his family in Beverly Hills.
With the narrative foundation in place, a few tweaks were made for dramatic purposes. Smith joined The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast as a fictionalized version of himself: he's from west Philadelphia, and the character has the same name. Crucially, however, the TV version of Will is a teenager with a troubled past, whereas the real-life Will had been making hit records as a teenager. In fact, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince won the very first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 1989. So, Smith wasn't quite plucked from obscurity when Medina and company chose him as the series lead. In addition, Medina is gay and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Will is straight.
The primary story in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air derives from another true story spin. In reality, Medina moved in with a white family rather than a black family. For the sake of originality, and to broaden the series' potential, the host family was changed from white to black. Incidentally, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air addressed deep issues that much of mainstream America wasn't quite familiar with. Through a mix of comedy and drama, Medina introduced new conversations about race and class in the United States, and offered a platform to a variety of up-and-coming performers. Smith is now one of the most most successful American movie stars ever, and his former season 4 co-star, Tyra Banks (Jackie Ames), evolved into an industry mogul (under the guidance of her manager, Medina) upon creating the groundbreaking series America's Next Top Model.