Janet Hubert is a beloved actress most known for her work on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Unfortunately, her time working on the show was cut short after three seasons, and people have spent the last 20 something years asking what happened to her. Luckily for fans of Janet Hubert, you won’t have to keep asking because she is experiencing a career resurgence at the moment that will keep her on your screens and working for the foreseeable future.
Janet Hubert’s exit from The Fresh Prince came on the back of some pay conflicts. She admits now that she was pressed for money and began demanding a raise by the network to help her because she was a new mom and her husband was not working. Unhappy with NBC not giving her more money, she became a nightmare to work with and was eventually fired.
Janet Hubert admits that she spiraled into depression following this and even thought about taking her own life. She thanked her son for inspiring her to keep pushing. Eventually, the Fresh Prince went into syndication, and that helped her out with some money. She scored some small roles here and there, including the Emmy nominated Issa Rae-backed webseries, King Ester.
Finally, the world was able to put all the Aunt Viv mess behind them when HBOMax and Will Smith partnered to do a reunion special. Hubert was able to make amends with the cast and tell her side of the story. Hollywood came in knocking hard after that, thrusting Hubert back into the world of a working actress. She thanked her fans and Gabrielle Union in a since-deleted post where she expressed how happy she was to be working again. Although she did not plan on moving back to Los Angeles because it “drains her soul,” she did plan on continuing her working streak for as long as she could. Union and Hubert will star together in the Netflix film The Perfect Find which also features LaLa Anthony and is based on the novel by Tia Williams.
So what else has Janet Hubert been up to? Well, the original Aunt Viv is currently on HBO’s series Love Life where she plays lead actor William Jackson Harpers’ mother. She is a concerned mom on the show who is trying to play matchmaker for Jackson’s character against his will. Hubert talked about how exceptional the cast and writing are and how she saw a lot of herself in the character since she is the mother of a black son in real life. “She’s a little of a hover mother, but aren’t we all?” she told Pix11.
The actress also joins the cast of The Last OG as a series regular playing Miss May Miller. The show is produced by Jordan Peele and stars Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish. Her character is “One of Roberta’s (Anna Maria Horsford) oldest and dearest friends and weekly bid whist partner. She talks about how much love and light Tracy Morgan brings to the set and compares him to Robin Williams.
The next project Janet Hubert is working on is JG and BC Kids. It is an animated feature she plans on completing this month and has been a passion project for her for a few years. She talks about how it is educational and features music for kids. The interviewer mentioned how happy everyone was to see Janet Hubert back out and working and hoped she stayed “booked and busy” following the Fresh Prince reunion. According to Hubert, that is her plan is to continue working well.
