Over three decades ago, on July 9, 1993, A Different World (the NBC spinoff of The Cosby Show) completed its six-season run — now where is the cast of A Different World?
In the beginning, the sitcom followed Lisa Bonet’s Denise Huxtable, a character who crossed over from The Cosby Show, as she enrolled at the made-up Hillman College.
But the program quickly changed. To begin with, a pregnant Bonet departed the program after the first season. When Debbie Allen joined as a producer, the program became more representative of HBCU life. The Hillman students, including Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley (Jasmine Guy) became the center of the plot. A Different World quickly even outperformed The Cosby Show in terms of ratings.
A Different World‘s cast members are still in high demand in Hollywood thirty years later. With the tragic exception of Lou Myers (Vernon Gaines), who passed away in 2013, we’ve procured updates on Bonet and the longest-running cast members of the program.
A Different World Cast Now
Jada Pinkett Smith (Jai Sanders)
The chat show Red Table Talk, which Pinkett Smith co-hosted, was canceled in 2022. Last year, she appeared as a guest on The Equalizer. She played Niobe again on the big screen in the 2021 movie The Matrix Resurrections.
Jasmine Guy (Whitley Gilbert)
Guy played Sheila “Grams” Bennett in more than twelve episodes of the fantasy drama The Vampire Diaries. She has since made guest appearances on The Quad, Grey’s Anatomy (with Allen), and Harlem.
Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne)
On the comedy series K.C. Undercover, which ran from 2015 to 2018, Hardison portrayed Zendaya‘s on-screen father. He appeared in the science fiction series Moonhaven and the teen comedy-drama Teenage Bounty Hunters more recently.
Lisa Bonet (Denise Huxtable)
In a 2016 storyline on Ray Donovan, Bonet, a former cast member of Life on Mars and The Red Road, played Marisol Campos. Along with that, she has been bringing up the two teens she had with her ex-husband Jason Momoa.
Cree Summer (Freddie Brooks)
On recent seasons of Queen Sugar, Woke, and Better Things, Summer frequently appeared. She has continued to work as a voice actress, with roles on shows like The Loud House, Rugrats, and The Patrick Star Show.
Darryl M. Bell (Ron Johnson)
Bell made his acting debut in the show-within-a-show Kev’yn on Insecure in 2018. He currently works as a professional speaker and runs his own independent production firm, according to his website.
Sinbad (Coach Walter Oakes)
Sinbad has mainly stayed with voice roles in animated shows for kids and adults during the past ten years, however he did appear as himself in an Atlanta episode from 2022. He is also making progress after having a stroke in 2020 and “taking the steps necessary to learn to walk again,” according to his family, who posted about his recuperation on a website.
Glynn Turman (Colonel Brad Taylor)
With parts on FBI: Most Wanted, Women of the Movement, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, and Queen Sugar in the past 18 months, 76-year-old Turman is as busy as ever. In the upcoming biopic movie Rustin, he will also play activist A. Philip Randolph.
Charnele Brown (Kim Reese)
“The Black Man,” written by Brown, made its Houston debut in March at the Midtown Arts & Theater Center. She also appeared with Mo’Nique in Lee Daniels’ horror movie The Reading from this year.
Dawnn Lewis (Jaleesa Vinson)
Lewis has been providing the Captain Carol Freeman voice since 2020 for Star Trek: Lower Decks, as well as guest appearances on Young Rock and Grey’s Anatomy. In the Broadway production of Tina, she also appeared as Zelma (Tina Turner’s mother).
Story was originally posted on July 16, 2023
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