WILL Smith and the rest of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast broke down in tears remembering their late costar James Avery in an emotional show reunion.
The cast paid tribute to James – who died in 2013 aged 63 from heart surgery complications – when they reunited for a Zoom chat 30 years after the hit sitcom’s first episode aired.
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Will, 51, was the first to become emotional, as they watched an old scene with James, who played Philip Banks, on his Snapchat series WFH Will From Home.
Wiping away tears, the actor admitted: “Wow. That just makes me teary. The first couple of times I’m seeing James.”
The rest of the cast – Tatyana Ali, Alfonso RIbiero, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Karyn Parsons, Janet Hubert and Joseph Marcell – became similarly upset as they watched the heartfelt montage.
The tribute showed a scene where Will’s character hugs Philip and says, “I love you, Uncle Philip!”
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In another clip, Philip says: “I have something special – just remember happiness comes from inside.”
During a heart-to-heart with Will, he adds: “Nobody does anything without help, Will. People open doors for me and I open doors for you, Will. It doesn’t make you any less of a man if you walk through them.”
The montage ended with several black and white photos of James smiling with the cast.
Daphne Reid, who played the second Vivian Banks on the show, said tearfully: “I loved that man.”
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Wrapping up their reunion, Will – who is married to Jada Pinkett Smith – said: “I’ve been shaped by my interactions and relationships with you guys.
“My best times have been on that set.”
He joined forces with the actors who played Carlton, Jazz, Ashley, Hilary, Aunt Vivian and Geoffrey to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the show.
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In the first part of their chat, Will recalled how Alfonso told him to keep his real name Will Smith for his character on the show.
The Men In Black star said: “It was such a deep insight that you had. You said, ‘Because people are going to call you that for the rest of your life.'”
He also reminisced with DJ Jazzy Jeff over their famous handshake on the show.
Jeff admitted: “I got really, really annoyed that everybody wanted to do the handshake.
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“You would see in people’s eyes when they were about to sneak the handshake and I would just grab their hand and hold it.”
The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air ran for 148 episodes across six seasons from 1990 through 1996 and catapulted Will to fame.
The Bad Boys actor shared a preview of their reunion on Instagram and wrote: “Reunited and it feels so… AHHHHHH!
“It’s been 30 years since the first season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air so I thought we should have ourselves a lil Zoom reunion!!”