Watch Will Smith Break Down How He Got the Life-Changing Role on ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’

Watch Will Smith tell his come-up story

Did you ever wonder how Will Smith made the transition from Grammy-award winning rapper to star actor?

Will Smith breaks it down in an excellent new video he released on his YouTube page. In the video, Will hilariously tells the story of how he got the starring role on The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air.

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In the video, Smith breaks down the scenario. The year was 1989, and Smith was broke. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince has just put out And in This Corner…, an album that flopped. And Smith never got around to paying the IRS, so they seized a bunch of his cars and property.  

Later that year he gets invited to Quincy Jones’ house, who was executive producing the show. Jones hands Will a script and tells him he has ten minutes to study the lines for a rehearsal. Smith tells him he doesn’t think he’s ready, and Jones says the words that changed Smith’s life forever:

You can take ten minutes right and change your life forever.

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And next thing you know, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is in development.

Watch Will explain his Fresh Prince story below.