Akira Akbar is not any stranger to the digital camera. She has a background in commercials, 9 years of modeling expertise, and beforehand, she appeared in collection reminiscent of “Prison Minds,” “This Is Us,” “We Can Be Heroes,” “Household Reunion,” and different TV reveals.
When she realized that Morgan Cooper’s viral “Bel-Air” short film received picked as much as be was a TV collection, Akbar knew she needed to audition.
“My mother cherished the present,” Akbar mentioned, of the unique collection “The Recent Prince of Bel-Air.” “Seeing how completely different [“Bel-Air”] was drew me to it. It was a drama and never a comedy, so I used to be like, ‘That is gonna be actually cool.’”
Within the span of two weeks, Akbar landed the position of Ashley Banks in Peacock’s reimagining of the beloved “Recent Prince” collection.
Now, Akbar, 16, has returned in Season 2 of the collection, reworking the ’90s TV darling right into a modern-day youth activist and dealing alongside stars she grew up watching. She was significantly keen on Coco Jones — who stars as her sister Hilary in “Bel-Air” and in “Let It Shine,” the 2012 musical movie.
Moving into her first collection common position at age 16 is not any small feat, not to mention following within the footsteps of Tatyana Ali, who performed the lovable Ashley Banks within the authentic “Recent Prince of Bel-Air.” In Season 2 of “Bel-Air,” Ali stars as Mrs. Hughes, a passionate English literature trainer who’s penalized for giving Ashley books by Black authors which might be “not part of the curriculum.”
“I positively assume working with Tatyana was one of the crucial memorable moments,” Akbar mentioned. “She gave me plenty of life recommendation and performing recommendation, however she additionally advised me that I used to be doing such an incredible job portraying the position of Ashley. She favored how I put my very own spin on it and the way I’m bringing her into life once more.”
As hysteria grows surrounding “critical race theory” — a scapegoat for conservative white dad and mom to take care of and uphold white supremacy in Okay-12 schooling — there’s growing pushback and laws throughout the nation. In states reminiscent of Florida, Gov. Ron Desantis has handed the “Don’t Say Homosexual Act,” launched an assault on AP African American research and Black historical past, and handed laws subjecting school librarians to legal penalties for merely doing their jobs.
In Season 2 of “Bel-Air,” the Black Pupil Union at Bel-Air Academy, the place the Banks youngsters attend, organizes a protest in solidarity with Mrs. Hughes. Akbar mentioned that was a superb second to light up the struggles that each Black college students and educators undergo.
“It’s a second for Black lecturers to appreciate that they aren’t alone on the journey,” Akbar mentioned. “Black storytelling is mainly an important factor to the world of ‘Bel-Air.’ On this season, Ashley finds herself on this new place, and the storyline positively offers the viewers a path to Ashley’s activism.”
For Akbar, she mentioned she introduced plenty of her personal takes to Ashley. It made her replicate on her experiences with Black lecturers within the classroom or moderately, lack thereof.
When she’s not attending premieres and awards reveals or sipping on a juice field from craft companies throughout filming, the actor is a daily teenager.
“I’m nonetheless a younger woman who goes to highschool, who lives a daily life, however I positively assume folks have handled me in another way, which can also be why I have a tendency to hang around with my cousins more often than not. Individuals are simply bizarre. They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s the well-known woman.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m simply making an attempt to exist,’” Akbar laughed.
Though she’s the youngest on set, Akbar is the second oldest of six siblings. Hailing from Orange County and now residing in Temecula, California, she has one older, college-aged sister and 4 youthful siblings. Akbar’s complete household is concerned within the arts and leisure enterprise; her mom is a hair and wardrobe stylist.
Maarten de Boer/NBCUniversal
“My sister,” Akbar mentioned, “She performed the youthful model of me in ‘Captain Marvel.’ My mother put my little brother in [the business] when he was tremendous little. He performed a child in ‘Lucifer’ or one thing. I’m not likely the odd one out.”
Akbar additionally hopes Ashley is a vessel not just for her experiences, however to additionally present Black queer youth that they should be represented on display. Along with leaning into her activism, Ashley begins to unpack her sexuality extra this season, Akbar mentioned.
“I’m glad that the present is placing tales, LGBTQ+ tales like Ashley’s within the present, as a result of it’s necessary for folks [of] Ashley’s age to appreciate that they’re not alone,” Akbar mentioned. “I actually really feel honored that I get to discover her and her coming-of-age story.”
In Season 1, Ashley discloses to her sister Hilary that she has a crush on her good friend Lucia. When Akbar first learn that the character was fascinated about her sexuality, she did count on there to be some form of discourse online — however she didn’t pay a lot consideration to the negativity.
“I don’t assume I actually cared what folks thought that a lot,” Akbar mentioned. “However I really feel like there have been largely good ideas — that individuals thought that it was a very good change for Ashley.”
In Akbar’s phrases, Ashley is open-minded and selfless, usually caring extra about others than her personal self. However on this season, Ashley begins to take a stand for herself and her values. As excited as Akbar is to see Ashley blossom right into a younger girl, her hope for her character is that she pours into herself as a lot as she pours into others.
“I believe Ashley pays consideration extra to what’s happening with the world and ensuring that different individuals are okay earlier than she is,” she mentioned. “So, I simply wish to see her have extra enjoyable.”
Examine the next generation of Black Hollywood right here.
