'Fresh Prince' Actress Tatyana Ali Joins 'Bel-Air' Cast for Season 2

Bel-Air has added another familiar face.

On Thursday, Peacock confirmed that Tatyana Ali has joined the series’ second season. The show is a reboot of the 1990s Will Smith-led sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which Ali played the youngest daughter of Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv, Ashley Banks, throughout its six-year run.

Deadline reports Ali will take on the role of Bel-Air’s Mrs. Hughes, an English middle school teacher “who sees something special in Ashley (Akira Akbar), often giving her books from her personal collection.” The actress addressed her new role via Twitter, writing, “Cats out the bag. There’s no going back now. … Buckle up!”

The post directed followers to the Season 2 trailer, which gave fans a first look at Ali’s Mrs. Hughes.

The show is executive produced by Smith, and stars Jabari Banks as Will, Olly Sholotan as Carlton Banks, Coco Jones as Hillary, Jimmy Akingbola as Geoffrey Thompson, Cassandra Freeman as Aunt Vivian, and Adrian Banks as Uncle Phil. The latter spoke about his role in a 2022 interview with Complex, saying his goal was to channel the spirit of James Avery, who played Uncle Phil in the OG series.

“When you’re in the moment, you can’t be thinking about, ‘OK, what would James Avery do?’” Adrian Banks explained. “You just got to go in there and have fun and trust your instincts, trust yourself, and be truthful and honest in the moment. That’s why James Avery was so amazing in that role. And all the other actors in the original series…they brought parts of themselves to the characters. And that’s what we’ve all done on this show as well.”