10 TV Characters You Forgot Were Recast
4. Aunt Viv - Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air
Will Smith was at the top of the world, he was the star of the most popular sitcom of the time, he had a budding rapping career and was the crush of so many 90s teens. And with all that success, comes a whole lot of narcissism.
While everything seemed to be going swimmingly on screen, there was drama brewing behind the scenes of The Fresh Prince. Coming into its fourth season, it was announced that the actress Janet Hubert, who played Will's aunt on the show, would be replaced with a new actress: Daphne Maxwell Reid.
From there the drama naturally boiled over. Smith went onto a radio show at the time to slander the actress, which led Hubert to accuse Smith of being the one to get her fired. And that seemed to be the story behind her character's recasting for a very long time.
It wasn't until The Fresh Prince Reunion in 2020, that the two seemingly made up and discussed how BOTH of them played a part in the actress' departure and that, more than anything, the studio's handling of Hubert's pregnancy was what really put the nail in the coffin for her.