Beloved actress, admired activist, and acclaimed “renaissance woman,” Daphne Maxwell Reid is a woman of many talents. Perhaps most famed for her role as Aunt Viv in the beloved 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (now slated for a modern dramatic revival produced and directed by original star Will Smith), Reid has had a long and storied career in Hollywood and beyond – but it’s far from over. It was my great pleasure and privilege to chat with her (virtually, of course) about her years in the industry, her current passions, and her hopes for the future.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
While perhaps lesser known to our generation, the ‘90s sit-com The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was an overnight sensation, mixing humor, pathos, and just a touch of political messaging on issues still relevant today – especially in the wake of the explosive chapter in the Black Lives Matter movement last spring. Reid, who starred in the show as Aunt Viv, modestly credits her fellow cast members with the show’s initial success.
“They had messages that they were delivering through humour,” Reid explains. The show, which follows a young Will Smith playing a fictionalized version of himself, tells the story of a street-smart kid from a rough neighborhood in West Philadelphia who gets sent to live with his aunt and uncle in their very affluent Bel-Air community after he gets into a fight. The resulting culture clash sits at the crux of the show’s humor, but the overarching themes of love and family are what gave it its lasting impact. “It was a show about a universal thing that we all have, hopefully, which is family,” says Reid. And, in her opinion, that’s what made it so special.
However, like any family, Fresh Prince wasn’t without its conflicts. Indeed, it was only through one such disagreement that Reid joined the cast, famously replacing the original Aunt Viv, played by Janet Hubert. “It was already a big hit by the time I got there,” Reid says. It was certainly an unusual position for an actress to find herself in, but Reid explains that the two interpretations of Aunt Viv “very simply had nothing to do with one another.” In other words, she found a way to make the role her own. “I could only bring what I am,” she says. “Her performance and her style and her personality are very much hers. I wasn’t hired to imitate it, I was hired to meld into the family.” And meld she did, fitting seamlessly into the Banks family from Season 4 onwards. “I had great chemistry with James Avery, who played Uncle Phil; that’s probably why I got the part,” Reid explains. “But I wasn’t trying to be her [Hubert], I was just trying to be the mother of that brood.”
30 years later
The “brood,” as Reid describes them, has stayed incredibly close over the years. “Through weddings, and the births of babies, and sadly a funeral” (referring to the 2013 passing of James Avery), Reid describes the things that keep them connected. The cast recently reunited for a TV special, which debuted towards the end of 2020. “It was tremendously like a homecoming,” she says. “We are very much like a family,” she explains fondly, a feeling unique to the Fresh Prince cast. “I’ve had other families on other shows, but we didn’t stay in touch the way this family has stayed in touch,” she says. The reunion brought to the cast that which seems more rare and precious than ever since the onset of the pandemic – a feeling of togetherness.
However, the special had a deeper significance even than its heartwarming cast reunion. 30 years later, the show still fits “very comfortably” into our current cultural narrative, addressing themes of racial prejudice and cultural divisions. “It’s an iconic show that dealt with things that are still apparent in our community today,” Reid says. “There are lots of themes that we had going throughout the show – being stopped by the police because they’re Black, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as well as just dealing with each family crisis as it came up.” (Yep, all sounds pretty relevant to 2020 to me). For many, the reunion served as a reminder that the issues addressed in Fresh Prince are every bit as relevant today as they were 30 years ago. As if to underline this point, Ms. Reid emphasizes that, while the show is now on its third generation of viewers, “I get as much of a response from the third generation as I do from the first generation.” A bittersweet legacy, to be sure.
Words of wisdom
However, Reid is nothing if not an optimist. In her rich and storied history as a performer, she’s been met with her fair share of adversity, but every time refused to take no for an answer. Instead, she views each rejection as a chance to “make my own opportunities and explore a different journey” – a true ‘silver lining’ mentality I’m sure we all could benefit from.
“It has been the purpose and reward of my life to just explore and see what could be made of them,” Reid says of the many different talents she feels she was gifted with. And she has unquestionably explored each new talent to its fullest extent. From her acting career, to her political activism, to her books of photography, to her own fashion line, Reid is a true renaissance woman. However, she pairs her love of optimistic exploration with some very grounding words of wisdom: “Don’t let the successes go to your head, and don’t let the failures go to your heart,” she says. “It continues to be the way I live my life.”
I hope everyone is taking notes!
When asked what she’s proudest of, however, Reid steers away from her many talents, and the lengthy list of accomplishments that accompany them, and returns instead to the thing that made her Fresh Prince career so significant in the first place: family. “I am very proud of the family that I created in my real life,” she says. “I’m a well-rewarded woman as far as family is concerned, and that really is the most important thing to me.”
As far as her career goes, while she loves to perform, she says, “That’s just something to do, it’s not who I am.” And it’s far from the only thing she’ll be remembered for. “I want my legacy to be that I am a giving, kind, loving person…who happened to have all these talents!”
Looking ahead
When it comes to the year ahead, Reid’s outlook is characteristically sunny. “I’m looking forward to some refreshment,” she says, alluding of course to our new president. “And I’m looking forward to policy to come out of all the protesting we’ve been doing.” Policy she hopes might help turn Fresh Prince from relevant to relic. But her final words were directed not towards those in power, but rather at the next generation – our generation. “I’m looking for you young guys to stay on course, and make the changes you know need to be made,” she says. “It really is up to you guys now.”
And to Reid, I say, we’ll do our best.