It’s no secret that Alfonso Ribeiro did what he needed to do in order to so expertly portray Carlton on the popular 90’s sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Thanks to a recently uncovered video going viral, many of us are just now learning how different Ribiero might’ve been from his silver spoon-gripping television counterpart!
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The video floating around of Ribeiro is from the 1990s, when the then-20-something actor –who had been on the show for about four years at the time –was spotted out at a nightclub in New York City.
Stopping to give a quick interview for Street Funk TV, Ribeiro can be heard sounding like the complete opposite of his well-spoken (and lowkey corny) character on “Fresh Prince,” with his Bronx accent and New York swag shifting into high gear.
Naturally, once the clip began to make the rounds on social media, folks watching the actor talk about the show, getting back into music and singing in his actual speaking voice shook people to their core. Most of the reactions were from people who just now finding out that Ribeiro was from around the way and people who realized just how well he acting on “Fresh Prince.”
“Growing up is realizing Alfonso Ribeiro is a god tier code switcher,” said one user.
“The video of Alfonso Ribeiro going viral for the interview he did back in the day while in the Tunnel is hilarious because ppl really think Carlton Banks is his true self lol. Nah he’s a master at code switching on top of being an actor. Typecasting is a mfr I guess,” another noted.
Added another: “Alfonso Ribeiro is a Trinidadian from the BX, I really should’ve expected him to sound exactly like this, but here I am SHOCKED.”
In another hilarious post, one user commented: “It’s wild because now that I’ve seen how Alfonso Ribeiro talked when he was in a room full of ni**as, it was probably easier for him to portray ‘C-Note’ than it was for him to portray ‘Carlton.’”
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