#Olly sholotan forehead tv#

She had to deal with a lot of calls and emotions. “I think it was an unfair relationship to Lisa. “As Olly, the mature, smart person, I don’t think that that coupling is necessarily good for either of them” he says. But even Sholotan says he’s not necessarily rooting for Carlton in this love triangle. On top of that, Carlton is dealing with the usual, over-the-top emotions that come with being a hormonal teenage boy, particularly as he watches his cousin cozy up to his ex Lisa Wilkes (Simone Joy). And it’s something that all of us deal with, right? I was just like, this is the perfect conduit because, again, what other way to show the issues of mental health in this kid who is grappling with the idea of Black exceptionalism?” “I just think mental health in the Black community is not something that’s discussed a lot. “From the get-go, I just loved it,” Sholotan says about that particular subplot.

It’s a subject that’s often framed as taboo or rendered nonexistent among older generations within the Black community but has increasingly become more accepted as a reality for Black people. In an early episode, we see him snort white powder that he claims is Xanax but is later alluded to being something unprescribed, and we later find out that he abuses drugs to abate his anxiety. Carlton speaks to sort of the fragility of Blackness in a way.”Īs much as Carlton’s presence can be grating, he’s given equal opportunities for sympathy. “Every Black person with aspiration has experienced this idea of someone in your life telling you that you act white or you’re trying to be white. In a later episode, one of those teammates ends up calling the police on Carlton after they get into a fight at a party. In one episode, he defends his white lacrosse teammates rapping along to the N-word to Will, who’s appropriately shocked. Likewise, Carlton’s efforts to fit in with his white, bro-y classmates at his bougie private school have not been well received by viewers. show by Will Smith and now by Jabari Banks), on the reboot, he exists as more of a threat to Will’s new privileged livelihood and, at one point, his life.Ī main conflict on Bel-Air is the tension between the two cousins and the politics they represent within the Black community. While the original Carlton was more of a funny foil to his carefree cousin Will (played on the O.G. Bel-Air, however, gives Carlton a darker, more antagonistic edge. Anyone who watched the original ’90s NBC sitcom remembers Alfonso Ribeiro’s hysterical take on the snobbish yet delightfully dweeby Banks son and, of course, his iconic dance moves. In particular, viewers can’t stop talking about Carlton 2.0, played by 23-year-old actor and singer Olly Sholotan. But Peacock’s Bel-Air-Morgan Cooper’s modern, dramatic take on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air-has seen a different fate, establishing a loyal audience and becoming one of the funniest trending topics on Twitter.

#Olly sholotan forehead tv#

Most remakes of beloved TV shows invite you to pick them apart and tear them to shreds.