‘A Different World’ Ended 30 Years Ago: Where’s the Cast Now?
It was A Different World three decades ago, as The Cosby Show’s spinoff ended its six-season run on NBC on July 9, 1993.
The sitcom originally followed Lisa Bonet’s Denise Huxtable, a crossover from The Cosby Show, as she matriculated at the fictional Hillman College. But the show soon evolved. For starters, a pregnant Bonet left the show after its first season. Debbie Allen came aboard as a producer and made the show more authentic to HBCU life. The focus of the storyline shifted to Hillman students like Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison), pictured above. And soon, A Different World even bested The Cosby Show in ratings.
Thirty years later, several of A Different World’s cast members are still in demand in Hollywood. We’ve gathered updates on Bonet and the longest-serving stars of the show, with the sad exception of Lou Myers (Vernon Gaines), who died in 2013.
Lisa Bonet (Denise Huxtable)
Bonet, an alum of the shows Life on Mars and The Red Road, last acted on TV in a 2016 arc as Marisol Campos on Ray Donovan. She has also been raising the two teenagers she shares with ex Jason Momoa.
Jasmine Guy (Whitley Gilbert)
Guy appeared in more than a dozen episodes of The Vampire Diaries, playing Sheila “Grams” Bennett on the fantasy drama. Since then, she has recurred on The Quad, Grey’s Anatomy (alongside Allen), and Harlem.
Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne)
Hardison played Zendaya’s onscreen dad on the 2015–2018 comedy series K.C. Undercover. More recently, he starred on the teen comedy-drama Teenage Bounty Hunters and the sci-fi series Moonhaven.
Darryl M. Bell (Ron Johnson)
Bell popped on Insecure in 2018, playing an actor in the show-within-a-show Kev’yn. These days, he’s running an independent production company and working as a professional speaker, his website touts.
Charnele Brown (Kim Reese)
Brown wrote the play The Black Man, which debuted at Houston’s Midtown Arts & Theater Center in March. She also joined Mo’Nique in this year’s horror film The Reading, produced by Lee Daniels.
Cree Summer (Freddie Brooks)
Summer recurred on Better Things, Queen Sugar, and Woke in recent years. She has also kept up her voice acting career, with parts on Rugrats, The Patrick Star Show, and The Loud House.
Glynn Turman (Colonel Brad Taylor)
Truman is 76 and as busy as ever, with roles on Women of the Movement, FBI: Most Wanted, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, and Queen Sugar in the last year and a half. He’ll also portray activist A. Philip Randolph in the upcoming biopic film Rustin.
Dawnn Lewis (Jaleesa Vinson)
Since 2020, Lewis has been voicing Captain Carol Freeman on Star Trek: Lower Decks and recurring on Grey’s Anatomy and Young Rock. She also hit the Broadway stage in 2019, playing Zelma, Tina Turner’s mother, in the musical Tina.
Sinbad (Coach Walter Oakes)
Over the last decade, Sinbad has mostly stuck to voice roles in children’s and adult animated series, but he did play himself in a 2022 episode of Atlanta. He’s also recovering from a 2020 stroke and “taking the steps necessary to learn to walk again,” as his family said on a website about his recovery.
Jada Pinkett Smith (Jai Sanders)
Pinkett Smith co-hosted the talk show Red Table Talk until its cancellation last year. She also guest-starred on The Equalizer last year. On the big screen, she reprised her role of Niobe in the 2021 film The Matrix Resurrections.
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P
Jada Pinkett Smith character was Lena James, as I recall and remember.
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G
Jada Pickett Smith’s character was named Lena.
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B
Hi it can be rough, but it is better than the alternative.
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