Jada Pinkett Smith auditioned to be now-husband Will Smith’s love interest in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’.
The 45-year-old actress has revealed she was turned down by the producers of the popular US sitcom – which run from 1990 to 1996 – because she was "too short" to be the 48-year-old hunk’s on-screen girlfriend on the show which he portrayed himself.
Jada – who married Will the year after the programme came to an end in 1997 – told TV show ‘Extra’: "I auditioned for ‘Fresh Prince’, and they told me I was too short to play Will’s girlfriend only for me to become his wife!"
The ‘Magic Mike XXL’ star – who has 19-year-old son Jaden and 16-year-old daughter Willow with Will – also revealed after becoming a successful movie star they invited her back to the show, but she turned it down.
She said: "You know, once I got on my feet, and you know I was doing my thing … I had done a couple of movies and I did ‘Different World’, then Fresh Prince wanna come back and be like, ‘We need you on the show.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m a movie star, I don’t have time.’"
Will – who also has 24-year-old son Trey with his ex-wife Sheree Zampino – reunited with his ‘Fresh Prince’ cast mates in March.
The Hollywood star was joined in a photo by Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Daphne Maxwell Reid and Joseph Marcell.
However, one notable absentee from the photograph was actor James Avery, who played Philip Banks on the show, but passed away in December 2013.
Alfonso, who appeared as Carlton Banks, captioned the image on Instagram: "Always amazing to spend an afternoon with my Fresh Prince family. Wishing that James Avery was still with us to make this complete."
Ever since the show went off the air in 1996, there has been frequent rumours of a reunion.
But Will has previously insisted a much-discussed reboot of the sitcom will only happen "when Hell freezes over".
Asked last year about the prospect of a reunion, Will said: "I don’t think ever – like, pretty close to when Hell freezes over. Pretty close, like, we’re gonna leave that one alone."
In total, the original ‘Fresh Prince of Bell-Air’ ran for six seasons and aired 148 episodes.
Jada Pinkett Smith auditioned for The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air
