‘Bel-Air’ Star Jabari Banks on Being Compared to Will Smith and the Power of Gen Z Artists
Selome Hailu Jabari Banks is leaning into the comparisons to Will Smith.The 23-year-old stars as Will in Peacock’s “Bel-Air,” which reimagines Smith’s famed ’90s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” as a drama, but he began modeling his career goals after Smith’s long before the project’s conception.“It’s cosmic. I don’t know how to explain it,” he says of the uncanny similarities among his story, Smith’s and the fictionalized Will’s. For example, there’s the last name Banks, which he shares with Will’s aunt, uncle and cousins in the show, as well as their shared Philadelphia upbringing.There’s also the breadth of both Banks’ and Smith’s artistry.