Lena James is back at her alma mater
Credit: Jada Pinkett Smith/Instagram; Gary Null/NBC via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Jada Pinkett Smith joined the cast of A Different World in its penultimate season as Lena James
- Smith is the latest cast member to announce that she will be reprising her role in the show’s sequel series, which is currently filming
- A Different World aired for six seasons, from 1987 to 1993
Jada Pinkett Smith is heading back to Hillman.
On Wednesday, March 11, Netflix shared a photo of the actress, 54, standing in front of a trailer with the show's logo and her character's name on the door.
"Another icon is returning to Hillman. Jada Pinkett-Smith is joining the cast of the A Different World sequel," the caption confirms.
Smith posted the photo as well, captioning the shot, "She back 😜#ADifferentWorld✨."
Debbie Allen was among the commenters, writing, "Yeeeeees Lena ❤️🔥❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️."
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Smith joined the cast midway through the original show's run, something that made her feel some pressure to "earn your stripes," she revealed during a 2024 episode of the Lemonada Media podcast, Legacy Talk with Lena Waithe.
"There was already this deep camaraderie, you know what I mean? With Kadeem [Hardison] and Jasmine [Guy] and Cree [Summer] and the whole cast," she said. "We're the new blood, so they were kind of like, 'All right, whatever.' Not in a funky way, but definitely like, 'Earn your stripes.' "
In the conversation, Smith called Lena "an extreme version of Jada."
"Four-camera sitcom, you gotta catch the rhythm. You gotta catch the rhythm of your cast members — versus when you're doing one-camera drama, that's a different game."
Smith recalled her first day filming on set. Because she had never really seen herself as a "comedic actress," she was anxious.
Credit: Frank Carroll/NBC via Getty
"Be funny. You got to earn your place," she said of the energy on set. "You got a live audience and so it wasn't no play-play. Everybody had to hold their own.”
Smith knew what she was doing was working when the longtime cast members — specifically Guy, Hardison and Summer, all of whom are also returning for the sequel series — started embracing her.
"I just remember how the older cast was now starting to relate to me," she said, adding, "That's when I knew — I was like, 'Okay, I'm good.' "
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