‘Bel-Air’ Star Olly Sholotan Reflects on the Show’s Success and Initial Doubters: ‘A Lot of People Didn’t Think It Was Going to Work’

As Season 3 of “Bel-Air” lands on Peacock on Thursday, star Olly Sholotan reflected on the series’ success and those who initially doubted how well the show would do.

“There’s a lot of weight to a show like this. Even when we were coming into the first season, a lot of people didn’t think it was going to work,” Sholotan told TheWrap. “I think in order to find that, in order to have it work, it’s so important that we have a cast that feels like a family.”

Morgan Cooper’s reimagining of NBC’s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” has carved out its own lane next to the original series. In May 2022, the series was crowned Peacock’s most-watched original after it reached a total of 8 million accounts following its series debut in February 2022. And even with Season 3, faithful fans are still cheering the show on.

“With this season, we’ve found our wings and now we’re going for it,” Sholotan said. “I think the first two seasons was really about what is this show and how does this show exist next to the original but also establishing itself as its own thing. Now with the third season, the entire cast, we’ve all grown into our characters so well, and even our days on set move so much quicker. We’re so on it that we know what the other person’s thinking.”

Sholotan credits the success of the show to the family-like dynamic he and his cast have with one another.

Jabari has become one of the closest people to me. Jordan [L. Jones] is like a brother to me,” Sholotan shared. “Cassandra Freeman [who plays Aunt Viv] and I FaceTime every single day. I can promise you, after this interview, I’m going to FaceTime Cassie, and we’re going to talk about whatever. Jimmy is like an uncle to me. There’s something so beautiful about the fact that we’ve found family in each other.”

In Season 3 of “Bel-Air,” it’s summertime and school is out, which means Carlton and Will are embarking on new adventures, challenges and even new love interests. For Sholotan, he says he’s happy that he was able to show watchers an improved version Carlton.

“This season I get show a different side of Carlton too, which I’m really excited to do,” Sholotan explained. “The first two seasons, we met Carlton at a very rough time in his life, so it’s really cool to be funny this season and we get to showcase Carlton having a little bit more fun, even amidst him working on reconciling, admitting to the whole school that he’s an addict.”

However, the actor said Carlton isn’t completely off the hook, as he still has to get back into his little sister Ashley Banks’ (Akira Akbar) good graces after he manhandled her last season in effort to stop her from revealing his drug addiction to his family. Ultimately, Carlton came admitted to his vices in front of the entire body of Bel-Air Academy.

“When we were shooting that scene last season, where Carlton grabs her by the locker, we all had a very honest conversation of once we do this, Carlton is going to have to work real, real hard to get Ashley’s trust back,” Sholotan said. “And working with Akira’s so great, she’s so young, but also smart and with it. It’s crazy to me that as young as she is, she might be the most professional actor on set.”

Season 3 of “Bel-Air” premieres on Thursday, August 15 with three episodes at launch, only on Peacock. New episodes drop weekly on Thursdays with three episodes on Aug. 22 and two episodes on Aug. 29 and Sept. 5

The post ‘Bel-Air’ Star Olly Sholotan Reflects on the Show’s Success and Initial Doubters: ‘A Lot of People Didn’t Think It Was Going to Work’ appeared first on TheWrap .