Daphne Maxwell Reid On The 'Fresh Prince' Reunion, And Continuously Fanning The Creative Flame

Much More than Fresh Prince’s Aunt Viv, Daphne is a pioneer in entertainment and social justice, and yet never accepts the ‘pioneer’ title.

If Phyicia Rashād is the last example of a television star being “America’s Mom”, then it is easily argued that Daphne Maxwell Reid became “America’s Aunt” in the last three seasons of the now perennial sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. Daphne sat down with FilmSpeak’s Managing Editor, Michael Winn Johnson to talk about her experiences with the show, and her artistic endeavors in the three decades since Fresh Prince began.

Daphne also speaks about many of the experiences years ago that shaped her as a Black woman, and how she believes those experiences need to be shared to help others in the Black community grow and create. She would deny the title of trendsetter or pioneer, but after speaking with her, it is easy to see how many consider her to be just that.

Michael Winn Johnson (MWJ from here on out)

Let me just say, right off the bat, I wanted to congratulate you and Tim [her husband, Tim Reid], on almost four decades of marriage at this point.

Daphne

The funniest thing that happened was on our 25th anniversary, I said, “Oh, we could renew our vows”. And what he told me was, “oh, they've expired… I’ve got an out?” He's not the romantic guy. (laughs)

MWJ

You are two very creative and driven individuals. How's the pandemic been going for you two? Are you at home creating? Are you driving each other crazy at all?

Daphne

No, he has a studio, and it's just he and his associate in the studio most of the time. So he goes to work, and I stay home and be creative. So he's all over the place, but what he's missing and what I'm missing is the travel; The world travel that we used to do. We are used to being either a part by country by state, or together in the house, and he's got his section of the house and I have my section, and we'll we can operate pretty easily that way. We've been very busy this year. It's been a blessing. We've just been very busy, and I'm very grateful for it.

MWJ

What have you been creating during this time?

Daphne

Well, I have been creating masks, and masks and masks. I have been sewing since I was nine years old and have quite a collection of fabric. So I've been going through my pile and say, Oh, this will make a nice mask. And I've been making custom masks and beautiful designer masks and having a lot of fun doing that. It was a lot of experimentation. At first, I would say the whole month of April. And may was oh, I don't like this pattern. How about this one? Does this fit well, but it was a process of elimination till I found the pattern that I really liked. And then I just started banging them out and having a blast selling them online selling them in the grocery store, sell them anywhere that I am.

MWJ

That's great, what a service that is obviously needed in the world we are today. That's important. So speaking of anniversaries, or at least one sneaking up… last month (September) was 30 years of The Fresh Prince …hard to believe.

Daphne

Yeah, that was a shocker. It doesn't seem like that 30 years has passed. But when I think about what was contained in those 30 years… we got a lot done. So time has moved by very swiftly. And it was an honor that they invited me to come back and celebrate with the whole cast. It was fantastic.

MWJ

Well, speaking of which we can expect the reunion on HBO MAX. What can we what can we expect from that?

Daphne

They’re keeping everything a secret, and the whole process was a secret. I got an email and they said “don't tell anybody, would you like to come back and do it?”, and they kept everything kind of separated. They kept each of us in separate hotels. So we wouldn't really ‘reunion-ize’ before we get to set and just treated us like kings and queens. Then we met on set and had an actual a real reunion. We haven't been together, all together, for many, many years.

MWJ

That show not only still remains popular to people of my age, but it's found new life. Kids these days, teenagers, are really into 90s culture and Fresh Prince is massive.

Daphne

We are on our third generation, there are young kids whose teenage parents [at the time it originally came out] are showing [it] to the kids as they're growing up now. So it's remarkable, the legs that this show has, but not surprising with the popularity of a well-written show and a well produced show.

MWJ

Well said. When you joined the cast, it was three years into the run. And the reason I bring that up is because there was a bit of a funny story that you had told where when you actually had an audition, when the show originally was being produced--

Daphne

I didn’t audition, I didn't go.

MWJ

Oh, why not?

Daphne

Because it was with a rapper, and I wasn't interested (laughing). Rap has just had just started back in the late 80s. And I wasn't a big fan of where it was going. So for me to be working with a young rapper on a sitcom, I just didn't think that was going to be a fun thing to do. So I moved to Virginia with my husband and watched TV that fall and said, “Oh, what a cute show. Oh, that's the young rapper”. So three years later, when they called me there was no hesitation. I was on a plane ready to go.

MWJ

We're so glad you did. There was another part of that “Will at home” reunion (on social media) that if you're human, you get teary eyed just like the cast did.

Daphne

Oh, yeah. And we’re going to do it again.

MWJ

Oh, no. Okay, here we go…

Daphne

We give a great tribute to James Avery. And I mean, he's the rock, the soul, the heart of that show, besides Will’s character. He was the rock that brought the whole family together, kept the family together, taught the family and was the object of a lot of humor.

MWJ

So what was James like as a partner, in terms of the show?

Daphne

Oh, well, I fell in love with James at the audition… about the third audition. I got to work with him on the scene, and we just clicked. He just was the best. He was huggable. He loved to dance, he loved jazz, he loved to read. He was erudite. He was he was just a wonderful human being. And I guess the chemistry that we found in that audition, translated because I got the job, thank goodness. And then [in our] lives, he was my standby husband whenever Tim couldn't do something where I needed a partner. I'd asked James's wife Barbara, “can I borrow your husband? I need a husband”. She’d say “yes go ahead, take him”. So we did a lot of things together. So I had relationship outside of the show with he and his wife, and just a divine friendship. But what the four of us had, it was just lovely.

MWJ

He will be missed, I'm sure. I'm going to preface my next question. With what I've just recently discovered. I had the opportunity to speak with George Newbern, who a lot of people know from scandal and father of the bride and he spoke of his Northwestern University days. Wow, the amazing alumni that came out of that university and now doing more research because the young Daphne also went to that school.

Daphne

Before he did --

MWJ

Yes. Fair enough. I wasn't going to bring it up. But--

Daphne

Oh, well, I will. (laughing)

MWJ

But I want to hear about young Daphne because she was a trendsetter. She was (to use a word that I will use in another question a little later) A pioneer in a lot of senses. Can you talk about some of the things that you accomplished during your time in Northwestern?

Daphne

Well, I was one of a class of 36 black students that entered university in a class. I mean, the school had 5000 students, but only 36 black students, and it was the middle of the 60s. So there was a cultural shift going on at the time, and I butted up against a lot of it, but remained above it, and succeeded on many levels, to teach the new culture to the students who were surrounding me, and to move Northwestern forward, whether they wanted it to be or not.

I was elected to the student government my first year. And then I started modeling I got discovered by Eileen Ford in New York. So I was flying back and forth between New York and Chicago while I was in school, and my roommates decided one day to put one of my modeling pictures up for Homecoming Queen my sophomore year, and they selected me. And then they voted, and I won, which was very, very odd, because I didn't want to be there for homecoming weekend because my then boyfriend, who became my husband, was playing football he had graduated was playing football for the Steelers, and I wanted to go to the game that weekend. And they said, “You’re Homecoming Queen”. So I had to stay at Northwestern. And they were as unhappy about it as I was. They just disregarded homecoming that year, they crowned me, and the President [of the school], as he crowned me said, “I just have to hold this here while they take pictures”, and he turned and walked away.

And then I went to a reception with the Alumni Association, at the big Scott Hall. And they announced each of my court before woman, women who were in my court, one of them who was still crying. They announced them and you heard from backstage, you heard the applause of the audience. Oh, very nice. And then it they announced the queen and I walked out on the stage and it was dead silent. And I said, Oh, thank you. And I left, but held my head up high. And I persevered through that. And then we took over the bursaries office at Northwestern University. And we demanded that some changes be made.

So I pioneered in that there were a lot of students who were in that demonstration who were afraid of losing their scholarships or getting expelled. But when I called my mother to tell her that I was doing a sit in, in the bursaries office, and I'd be here probably for the next day or two, she said, “Well, just let me know if you need some bail money”. So I was supported in my efforts to change things I come from a family who has been very active, my mother was very involved in community affairs and in the peace movement and in civil rights.

So all my life, I went to the March on Washington as a 14-year-old with my church group. I mean, I've had a lot of experience with change. And sometimes I was at the forefront of that change. But you know, pioneers are the ones that get shot in the back. So you know, we don't seek to be pioneers, you just move toward your purpose. And you happen to turn out to be a pioneer. And that has happened to me. So many, many times. I was the first black woman on the cover of Glamour magazine back in 1969. I was still in school at Northwestern. But Northwestern didn't respect me. So for many years, I didn't respect them back. And there was some apologies that needed to be made. And when they were made, then we got back together.

MWJ

Excellent. I'm glad to hear they were made. And I'm glad to hear progress was made as well. At least--

Daphne

Yes, it has been not enough, but they're working toward it.

MWJ

Well said. On that note, Fresh Prince dealt with some very important issues [as well].

Daphne

Yes, they had great writers. And we also had a great freedom around the table. When we would get the script on Monday and do a table read. We were allowed to insert cultural nuances that the writers did not have the information to put into the script. So we were able to say “Stop this line (that was going to happen with Tatiana talking back to her father and saying something really smart). We don't do that in our culture”. So we were able to express those things and make it more relevant to a culture. Although the writing staff was not all of one culture. But we were able to bring those nuances in. And I think that that was a great situation to be in.

MWJ

I'm glad to hear that. To kind of paraphrase what you had just said in a previous response about Northwestern, the direct quote that I got from you at one point was, “One does not choose to be a pioneer”, which I think is an amazing quote. But I know how education has become part of your life as well. How important is it for you to speak to those within the African-American community, or within the artistic community who do consider you a pioneer?

Daphne

I am here to say what has happened to me, and to encourage people to look for the bright side of things that they can make happen, and to move toward making change that needs to happen, to move toward fully quality, to move toward opportunities for everyone to do what they have a passion to do, and to be accepted for that. And to know that we continually have to reteach the history of America, because the part that we were so involved in was not written by the people whose books that they sold about the history of America. And there are a lot of young African-American children who don't know that their people were anything but slaves. And whoa, that just sends me up a wall. So to get Black history, in the mainstream of history, and not just in February, I'm always constantly pushing any kind of group or University or system to make sure that the entire history of America is told properly.

MWJ

Brilliant response. For those seeing this interview who may not know, the ‘kids’ from the show, if you want to call them that, went on to some amazing success stories. For instance, Tatyana (Fresh Prince Costar Tatyana Ali) went to Harvard. I know that Karyn (Parsens) I think at one point, created a line of African-American centric animated films.

Daphne

The animated films that she's created with “Sweet Blackberry” [were great]. Now hardcover books that are coming out, I think, November 1, so I'm really proud of her [and] that they're all very adept at what they pursued. And the passion that they brought to the set of Fresh Prince is also the passion that they took to her their other projects. And Tatiana is just the movie queen. I mean, she does so many TV movies. And now she's writing and she's been producing. So it's exciting. It's exciting to watch my extended family.

MWJ

You have also spent your time you've been a mentor, you know, virtually, I guess you can say through the television. But you spend a lot of time with Virginia State as well—

Daphne

I was on the board of Virginia State University for eight years. And when my terms were up, they decided to set a new category is called “Board member Emeritus”. So I said “Ah, so you can call on me anytime you want” (laughing). I represent the University sometimes on television or in alumni association meetings or events, and constantly keep up with the students that I was there and mentoring and now they are blooming in their fields of study. And, I like being around a university. We now live in the heart of Richmond right near Virginia Commonwealth University. Like the energy that young people have with their energy of curiosity. And as they're learning, they are just putting out new ideas that I want to call from. And I just love the environment.

MWJ

Yeah. Well, can I ask you a massive this is kind of a personal favor, because my day job right now is actually teaching photography. And I know that's connection to you personally, because of your father and how he kind of passed on the ‘photog bug’. Can you say Hi, to Mr. Johnson's photography class? They’ll get a kick out of that.

But please let them know; What does photography mean to you? What did your father pass on in terms of photography? Why is that so important to you?

Daphne

My father was an amateur photographer, but he took pictures all the time, he had a camera, and I've had a camera since I was probably eight years old. And I don't know a time in my life through my entire journey through my life, when I did not have a camera, and a sewing machine. Those are my two tools.

And what I found out recently about, I guess, about 10, or 15 years ago, I decided to become a photographic artist. And I had to figure out, first of all, what does that mean? Then, I decided to share my viewpoint through my lens. And my viewpoint turned out to be a journey, to encourage people to dream and to notice the details of their journey. Because getting from A to B is nothing. It's what's in between getting there, it's all the details, they get you from A to B, that make your life rich. I don't want you to zoom past the details, and not find all the richness and purpose that you find on that path, and sometimes that path will lead you someplace else, that is far more exciting than the journey you planned.

I think that's what life should be about learning, growing joy, curiosity. So I take pictures of details. And my first series of collections for years was all about doors, and I traveled internationally. So all I did was take pictures of doors. But I realized that I had taken pictures also have windows and knockers and flowers, and the metal grates in the ground, that are very artistic, if you pay attention to them. All sorts of details is what I was attracted to. So I kind of collect details, and then I'll put out a calendar or set of note cards, or I've done four books on specific details.

So I encourage people to look at the details in their lives. And I'll continue to take pictures of the details and share those

MWJ

Excellent. You in a lot of respects are a modern day Renaissance woman, I think, at least when it comes to the arts, but also just the fact that you are an educator in a lot of respects that you share your time and you try to inspire young people. What do you want to try, because you've dipped your toes in so many artistic waters. What do you what do you think is the next challenge?

Daphne

My next challenge is getting my memoir off of my computer out of my head onto the computer and then published. I have not garnered the courage to get past the first 20 pages yet, [but] I will put that on my purpose calendar and hopefully get that done. That's my next challenge, but otherwise I'm designing and making custom clothes and making masks and shooting pictures, and I've got a cookbook that I'm selling, and I just spend a lot of time talking to people about sharing meals with people and the value of sitting around a table and exchanging ideas. It's not just a cookbook of “Yeah, Okay, another recipe”. It's a book of stories. It's a mini-memoir.

It takes you through about 40 years of the people that I've met along the way and what they mean to me and the meals that we shared and recipes that they gave me, and a lot of encouragement for people who have never cooked before, how to set up a kitchen, what this term means how to measure things, the pots and pans you'll need to set up a kitchen, what you need to keep in your pantry at all times, [etc].

So you don't have to run out to get a meal you can reach in the cabinet and fix a meal from the things that you keep in there all the time. So it's a cookbook more of a primer for the beginning of your life, on your own, as well as family tradition setting, which is something I really like.

MWJ

That's amazing. So you kind of touched on it already, but anything else we can expect from you in the near future?

Daphne

I'm still working on TV. I have another movie coming out a TV movie on December 1st called “The Business of Christmas”. And I'm still glowing from the movie Harriet that I got. I had the honor of being in people can still get that somewhere. I guess. I'm just excited about what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't plan too much past that. I haven't gotten to the end of the year and planning yet, because I don't know what the situation is going to be travel wise or anything. So I take each day as a gift and do it day by day.

MWJ

Right. And I believe that “The Business of Christmas” is coming out on Netflix?

Daphne

No Netflix got bought out and the project [was] bought out by BET.

MWJ

Perfect. Thank you so much for your time. We all look forward to seeing you in all your future projects, but especially the reunion around the holidays.

Daphne

Oh, and hello to the photo class of Mr. Johnson pay attention. He's got a lot to give you.

MWJ

Thanks Daphne.

Click below for a specific section of this interview, where Daphne breaks down her thoughts and feelings about Fresh Prince.
The Fresh Prince Reunion is available now on HBO MAX, and you can re-watch all your favourite Fresh Prince episodes on that service as well. You can see what Daphne’s been up to in terms of books, fashion and acting, on her website: www.daphnemaxwellreid.com