In a recent appearance on the All Bets Are Off podcast, actress Karyn Parsons revealed that her now-celebrated character Hilary Banks almost never made it into The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The sitcom premiered in September 1990, but Parsons said Hilary was nearly cut from early drafts.
Parsons recounted that Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC at the time, thought the daughter role “redundant.” According to her, Tartikoff told creators Andy and Susan Borowitz during the final network audition, “I think we should get rid of the daughter character. I don’t… it just seems redundant.”
The Borowitzes, she said, asked for patience. “Just wait. Wait until this girl comes in,” Parsons recalled them telling executives. Parsons then auditioned, “did my whole weird affectation that I guess nobody else was doing.” That performance persuaded decision-makers to keep Hilary in.
From Sparse Page to Iconic Persona
Parsons says the initial character outline was slim. “The character that was on the page when I got the show was very thin,” she said. “It said she was a model type, and it had her talking about Bruce and Demi and stuff. It didn’t have a whole lot going on.”
To fill the gaps, Parsons drew on people she knew. She cited growing up in Santa Monica, watching Malibu kids, and mixing traits from her friend Leanne and her cousin Garland. She also credited Judy Richmond, the show’s costume designer, for helping the character come alive. “Once I put the clothes on, my body started to change… my whole hips kind of fell and this lazy attitude just started to take over,” Parsons said.
Parsons admitted that her Hilary persona felt over-the-top initially. “At first, maybe it’s too much. But it kept carrying me. It worked.” She added that portraying Hilary was a joy because the role allowed her to be uninhibited in ways she wasn’t in life. “I was raised very much the good girl… and Hilary was the opposite,” Parsons explained. “She said whatever, unapologetic, I want this… she just said it and that was never me, so it was so fun to be able to be that person.”