It’s a reunion like no other! Jada Pinkett Smith is joined by her former A Different World castmates on the latest episode of Red Table Talk.
Smith wanted to celebrate the show that launched her acting career and had Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Cree Summer, Dawnn Lewis, Glynn Turman, Debbie Allen, and more join her.
While at the table, they all spoke about the show’s impact and gave Allen her flowers for influencing their lives as the show’s director.
Allen would go on to say, “This was a time where there was a separation between the writers and the actors. If they said, ooh, instead of ahh, they had to stop the cameras and do it again. I worked really hard to break down that barrier between writers and actors.”
The cast members went on to talk about the difficulties they experienced on set with the lack of communication and detachment issues.
Hardison said, “You just get your lines, do your best and hope they don’t make you do it too many times.” While Jasmine Guy added, “And we were filming until one in the morning. I was like, ‘Why are we doing this again? I don’t even know what I’m doing wrong.’ Why are we just doing things over and over until if it was funny at any point, it was gone?”
Jada chimes in about her time on the set and commends Debbie Allen on allowing her and the rest of the cast to have a voice.
“By the time I got there, it was already a groove happening, because we go to Debbie ‘This is not working, no Debbie, can we do this?’ I felt like I had a voice.” She continued, “So going any place else and not having a voice is like ‘Wait a minute, hold it.’”
The cast goes on to tell more stories from the set and their experiences on other sets since being on A Different World. This episode of Red Table Talk is streaming now on Facebook Watch.