In 1990, Benny Medina decided his life story would make for a great TV show, and along with his business partner Jeff Pollack, started to shop the idea around Hollywood. Rather than retell his story entirely, however, Medina changed multiple aspects, most notably by making the Banks family Black rather than white in order to, as he told Ebony magazine, “explore Black-on-Black prejudice” and “Black class differences.”
It was Medina’s idea to cast Will Smith on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Up until that point, Smith had enjoyed a successful career as a rapper. Soon, legendary music producer Quincy Jones and NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff became interested in the project, and Smith was brought in for a live audition. Smith impressed, and the show was greenlit.
Why, then, if “The Fresh Prince” was based on Medina’s experiences, did the show feature so much of Smith’s life? Well, as far as the name goes, the actor explained during a BBC interview that the idea to use his real name came from actor Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton on the series. “When we first started the show, we were trying to come up with names for the characters,” recalled Smith. “[…] Alfonso pulled me aside, he said, ‘Man, let me tell you something.’ He said, ‘Whatever your character’s name is, people are gonna call you that for the rest of your life.’ He said, ‘Make your character’s name Will Smith.’ He was so right.”
Smith also revealed in 2018 (via People) that during his first meeting with Quincy Jones, he told the record producer, “They call me the Fresh Prince,” to which Jones replied, “All right, good, that’s what we’ll call the show.”
