Tatyana Ali on 'Fresh Prince' Reunion Lunch: Expect 'Warmth, Laughter'

By Zach Dionne Posted Feb 24th 2011 02:25PM

A handful of 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' stars will soon reunite for the winner of a Charitybuzz auction, and both Tatyana Ali and Karyn Parsons tell PopEater it'll be an experience to remember.

Parsons, who played Hilary Banks, put the auction together for her non-profit, Sweet Blackberry, an educational organization committed to bringing little-known tales of African-American history and achievement to children.

Of the 'Fresh Prince' reunion lunch, Parsons recently told us: "It's a dining experience with Alfonso Ribeiro [Carlton], Tatyana Ali [Ashley], James Avery [Uncle Phil] and myself, and a meet-and-greet with Will Smith. Will's gonna come by and hang for a minute and meet the winner."

Now Tatyana Ali has chimed in to explain more of what the winner can expect. "Any time on 'Fresh Prince' when we all had to sit down at the table together, we called them table scenes. We couldn't get up, so we'd be there for hours. In those scenes, the outtakes are ridiculous," Ali tells us. "We would literally be laughing 'til we cried. So I would expect somebody coming into that to expect to be at a table scene."

Ali, who recently returned to sitcom television with 'Love That Girl' [Mondays at 9PM on TV One], said she can't remember the last time a group of her 'Fresh Prince' co-stars found themselves "just sitting down at a table together for any extended period of time."

Which is good news for the Charitybuzz auction winner. "Expect a lot of laughter, a lot of warmth. We're all individually pretty warm people," Ali says. "And I'm pretty sure we're all really looking forward to it."

The auction runs through Monday, Feb. 28, and stands at a hefty bid of $7,500. But Ali contends the price is very worthwhile for the right fan. "You can't find a better example of what it was like to actually be on the set while we were filming," she says. "Plus it's going to an amazing charity."

Sweet Blackberry, which Ali serves on the board of, creates educational animated DVDs telling lesser known stories of black history, like that of Henry "Box" Brown, a slave who mailed himself to freedom in 1849.

"The DVDs Karyn creates for kids are beautifully done," Ali tells us. "They're really sharing these great African-American stories for all children. It really brings the stories to life. I think it's very important and very apropos -- 'Fresh Prince' did this too -- for us to realize the commonality, how much we share in common."

Parsons voiced a similar sentiment in our earlier conversation: "I wanted to [do] a series of books for children that tell stories that we don't hear about. Obviously it's important for black children, but it's important for all of us to understand this together, to see our value and our neighbors' value and how we relate and how our culture is all of our culture and its history is all of our history. It should be all together for all of us to understand that."

Asked for some quick dish on 'Love That Girl,' now midway into its first season, Ali says executive producer Martin Lawrence is likely to appear in "a couple episodes."

Martin or no Martin, Ali is having a great time being back on TV. "I haven't done a sitcom since 'Fresh Prince' -- that was an experience that would really spoil you. We all really loved each other. We're all still family. But 'Love That Girl' feels good -- we ad-lib a lot on set, we're constantly playing and laughing, and it's becoming a family."

► Karyn Parsons Talks 'Fresh Prince' Reunion for Non-Profit Org Sweet Blackberry
► Tatyana Ali Chats 'Love That Girl,' Her First Sitcom Since 'Fresh Prince'

See a Sweet Blackberry clip:

Follow the 'Fresh Prince' Auction -- And Bid Through Feb. 28!

Tags: Fresh Prince, Love That Girl, Tatyana Ali

Comments

(3)

Sunday 27 February

By angerISFORlosers

Vote down Vote up Report this

damn, shes was always attractive but now shes gorgeous, good stuff

Saturday 26 February

By pnut166

Will Smith is too good to have dinner with them now ? Jerk. If I won, I`d tell him don`t bother.

Tuesday 01 March

By Gwenn

What a remarkable way to teach children history. Their little minds are like sponges at this age, I hope when they get older it will lead them to teaching, much as my history teacher did for me. There is no color barrier here, we all need to learn this aspect of American History. Much success to your organization. Thank you for these lessons.

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