Will Smith Admits He 'Can't Bear to Watch' His Early Days on 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'

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The 49-year-old actor relived his sitcom days for an upcoming appearance on 'The Graham Norton Show.'


We may love rewatching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but for Will Smith, it's a bit of a struggle.

During his upcoming appearance on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, the 49-year-old actor talks about his early acting stints, with his role as the NBC sitcom's title character being his major break.

“It was my very first role, and I was very, very focused on being successful, so I learned the whole script and everyone else’s lines," Smith explains. "If you watch the first four or five episodes, you can see I’m mouthing other people’s lines. It’s terrible and I can’t bear to watch it.”

Looks like we need to go back and watch the pilot!

Smith played the character of the same name for six seasons, from 1990 through 1996. While many other '90s sitcoms, like Full House and Roseanne, have gotten reboots, despite rumors, it doesn't sound like Fresh Prince will have that same fate.

"Man, I’d have to be Uncle Phil in that one now -- I’m nearly 50!" Smith jokes.

In fact, he told ET back in August that there were no plans for a revival, saying, “Stuff had to go really wrong for there to be a Fresh Prince reunion special. Like, I don't know what would have to happen! Nah man, you can't touch stuff like that. It's so nostalgic for people -- I'm not going nowhere near that.”

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The one role the father of three might take on, however? Barack Obama! Smith actually spoke to the former president, who had requested that the rapper-actor play him. “We were talking about it and he said, ’Well, you certainly have the ears for it!'" he recalls on the late night U.K. talk show.

Smith also spoke to Norton about his new movie, Bright, which will begin streaming on Netflix on Dec. 22.

"[Bright is] Training Day meets Lord of the Rings," he says. "It’s really a fun and bizarre action movie. It takes some time to get your head around. Joel Edgerton plays an Orc and had to spend four hours a day in makeup and I’d just turn up ready to go. It made him cross."

Smith also admitted that there was one major selling point to not having a tentpole movie out in theaters: “It’s a relief not having to rely on just one opening weekend at the box office to see if your film is a hit or not.”

For more on Bright, watch the video below.

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