By , ,
Published May 15, 2018
The lyrics to the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme song — in a way — translated to actor Will Smith's life at the time he joined the iconic cast, the actor revealed in a vlog posted to his YouTube page last week.
According to Smith, "an ex-girlfriend, Arsenio Hall, Quincy Jones and flowing libations all led to the creation" of the hit '90s TV sitcom.
Smith was just a teenager when he and DJ Jazzy Jeff released their smash album "Parents Just Don't Understand." The pair won a Grammy, the album went triple platinum and "The Fresh Prince" rapper then spent his money on luxury items such as cars, motorcycles and designer labels.
Their next album, however, was not so successful. In fact, Smith described it as a "flop."
"It went, like, double plastic," Smith recalled in his YouTube video, which has garned more than 2.1 million views as of Tuesday evening.
The failure came as a shock to Smith, who had spent most of his cash already. When Tax Day rolled around, he missed the filing deadline.
"I didn't forget, but I didn't pay the IRS. In my mind, I wasn't trying to avoid paying taxes ... I was just like damn they need their money," Smith said. "Being famous and broke is a sh---y combination."
So, Smith said his former girlfriend urged him to go to "The Arsenio Hall Show," and that's exactly what he did.
“I met a dude named Benny Medina. Benny Medina is the real-life Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” Smith said. “I meet Benny and he pitches me the idea for this show, and I’m like, you know, ‘I’m not an actor.’”
In December 1989, Smith agreed to meet Medina's co-producer Quincy Jones. Jones complimented Smith's work and asked what is rap name was.
"They call me 'The Fresh Prince,'" Smith said.
He replied, "Alright good, that's what we're going to call the show."
Jones asked everyone to move the furniture out of a room in his home and a crowd of celebrities cleared the way so Smith could do an impromptu audition for the part.
"You could take 10 minutes, right now, and you could change your life forever," Jones said.
After Smith's performance, the room roared with applause and a contract was created right then and there.
"So, we had the lawyers draw up something ... We took the picture and we signed the basic deal for 'The Fresh Prince' and three months later, we were shooting the pilot," Smith said. "And that's the story of how I became the 'Prince of Bel-Air.'"
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/will-smith-reveals-how-he-landed-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-lead-role-as-a-broke-kid