Alfonso Ribeiro is currently best known for his hosting duties on the long-running Dancing With the Stars, but for many, he’ll always be Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
In a new interview with Closer Weekly, however, Ribeiro highlights the negative impact the role had on his career.
“Playing Carlton on Fresh Prince became a sacrifice,” Rebeirotoldthe outlet. “I used to always say doing Carlton was the greatest and worst thing that ever happened to me.”
By the time of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Ribeiro was already an experienced actor, having had a long run on the sitcom Silver Spoons and appearing inTV showslike A Different World and Magnum P.I.
But his role as naive Carlton Banks, in which he largely served as the straight man toWill Smith’sover-the-top character, is easily his most famous. Ribeiro appeared on the show for all six seasons and became something of a cultural phenomenon.
While Smith went on to have an explosive film career in the likes ofBad BoysandI Am Legend, the rest of the cast didn’t have quite as much luck; Ribeiro had a long-running stint on the sitcom In the House and ventured into voice acting but never found the same success as he did on Fresh Prince.
“It was one of the greatest roles that I ever was fortunate enough to play, but it was also the role that stopped me from acting again because people couldn’t see me as anything else,” Ribeiro explained. “The sacrifice was not having an acting career anymore.”
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In fact, many fans today may not even realize they recognize Alfonso Ribeiro’s Carlton Banks. His iconic “Carlton Dance” exploded in pop culture in recent years. It even briefly became aFortnite emote, though Ribeiro had no role in that creation. In fact, he’s said he hates when fans ask him to do the dance.
While Ribeiro may not be starring in new sitcoms these days, there are still plenty to keep up with. If you’re looking to find something to make you laugh, you can check out all our coverage on Young Sheldon, including thefinale’s biggest Easter eggor itsupcoming spin-off.
Christopher Baggett was a TV & Movies Writer on Dexerto’s US team and a comics expert, across DC Comics and Marvel. He also has bylines at ComicsBeat, Comic Book Resources, and The HomeWorld.
