THE FRESH Prince of Bel-Air star Karyn Parsons has resurfaced in Rhode Island, decades after she found fame as spoiled teen Hilary Banks opposite Will Smith on the hit 90s show.
The mother of two, now 58, was seen running errands in a stylish black trench coat and white sneakers in Providence on Tuesday, April 15.
The stunning actress-turned-author went makeup-free as she walked into an office building.
Karyn rose to fame as the oldest daughter of the wealthy Banks family, who took in young cousin Will from West Philadelphia.
Fresh Prince was a massive hit and ran for six seasons on NBC, from 1990 to 1996.
While co-stars including onscreen cousin Will and brother Alfonso Ribeiro went on to have lasting Hollywood careers, Karyn made a big change.
After roles in short-lived sitcoms Lush Life and The Job and comedy The Ladies Man, Karyn stopped acting in 2002 and became a producer and children’s author.
She created the Sweet Blackberry film series, which celebrates Black history.
Her books include Flying Free, a biography about record-breaking Black female aviator Bessie Coleman, and How High the Moon, a novel based on her mother’s childhood in the south.
Karyn married director Alexandre Rockwell in 2003, and they share two children: Lana, 21, and Nico, 18.
The family lives in Providence.
The busy writer is still close to Alfonso and TV sister Tatyana Ali, who played youngest sibling Ashley Banks on Fresh Prince.
She even met up with Joseph Marcell, who played Banks family butler Geoffrey, in October 2023.
“I love hanging out with this guy!” she gushed.
In 2021, she supported onscreen cousin Will at a party to celebrate the release of his memoir.
“Will made me cry with some of the intimate and revealing shares from the book,” she captioned a photo of her TV family.
The Fresh Prince had an official reunion to celebrate the premiere’s 30th anniversary in a special for HBO Max in 2020.
Karyn is expected to attend another reunion with Tatyana, Joseph and TV mom Janet Hubert at Nickel City Con in Buffalo this June.
While much of the cast remains close, Banks family patriarch James Avery tragically died in 2013 at 68 from complications of open heart surgery.
