Tatyana Ali Now And Then: From Ashley Banks To Harvard, Hollywood And Beyond
If you grew up watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, chances are Tatyana Ali feels less like a celebrity and more like someone you watched grow up right in front of you. Ali stepped into the role of Ashley Banks in 1990 at just 11 years old, joining one of television’s most memorable families. As […]
Black News 
If you grew up watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, chances are Tatyana Ali feels less like a celebrity and more like someone you watched grow up right in front of you. Ali stepped into the role of Ashley Banks in 1990 at just 11 years old, joining one of television’s most memorable families. As the youngest Banks child, Ashley was sweet, funny, occasionally rebellious and very much figuring out who she wanted to be. Ali has transformed her role as Ashley Banks into a full-fledged career across acting, TV, music advocacy, and so much more. So let’s take a look back at Ali’s career from then until now.
Tatyana Ali: Now And Then: The Evolution of Ashley Banks.
Over The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s six-season run, audiences watched Ali go from a little girl hanging around the Banks mansion to a teenager dealing with school, friendships, dating and the pressures of growing up, a role she did not understand the power of until she grew deeper into the iconic series.
Banks said there was one particular moment during the show’s run where it hit her that she was famous – and a moment of fear followed.
“I was scared,” Banks said during an interview on A Spoonful of Paolo in March. The actress said she remembered a bunch of kids pointing at her in awe as they got off a school bus, a moment she would later realize was significant of her success on the show. “I remember being like did we do something wrong? It felt like an attack,” the star, who won an NAACP Image award in 1996 for her role, chuckled.
While her acting career blossomed, Ali said her parents made sure education was a focus throughout. While onset, she was still required to do homework in between studying her lines.
And while Ashley was finding her voice on screen, Ali was discovering hers off screen, too—literally.
Her singing talent became part of Ashley’s storyline on The Fresh Prince, eventually leading Ali to launch a music career of her own. In 1998, she released her debut album, Kiss the Sky, which featured the hit single “Daydreamin’.” The album went gold, and Ali later toured with major acts including NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.
Read more about Tatyana Ali’s career from then until now after the flip.
