Jada Pinkett Smith has signed on to Netflix‘s upcoming A Different World sequel series, reprising her role of Lena James.
Smith teased her return in an Instagram post Wednesday, with the caption “She back 😜#ADifferentWorld✨” next to a photo of her trailer with her A Different World character Lena James name tacked onto the door. Netflix subsequently confirmed on its Instagram stories.
She will join original series alums Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Cree Summer, and Darryl M. Bell who also are returning for the upcoming sequel series.
As we previously reported, The series centers on Deborah Wayne (Maleah Joi Moon), the youngest daughter of Hillman College’s finest, Dwayne Wayne (Hardison) and Whitney Gilbert (Guy), as she enters her freshman year at their HBCU alma mater and finds the shadow of her parents difficult to escape. She sets out to build her own legacy – while having the time of her life – alongside a whole new generation of Hillman’s best and brightest.
Summer returns as Freddie Brooks and Bell as Ron “Ronaldus” Johnson, as Whitley would call him. The new cast also includes Alijah Kai as Rashida, Chibuikem Uche as Kojo, Cornell Young IV as Shaquille, Jordan Aaron Hall as Amir, and Kennedi Reece as Hazel.
The A Different World sequel comes from Felicia Pride,Debbie Allen, and Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Reggie Bythewood. Allen, Werner, Prince-Bythewood, and Bythewood all worked on the original multi-camera series, which ran on NBC for six seasons with Carsey-Werner producing. Bill Cosby created both shows.
