‘A Different World’ Returns: See Cast Members Then & Now
Nearly 40 years after A Different World debuted, Hillman College is ready to welcome a different generation of students with Netflix’s reboot, premiering on Thursday, September 24.
As those new students matriculate, here’s the roll call that showrunner Felicia Pride recently shared with TV Insider: “We have Deborah Wayne (Maleah Joi Moon), who’s the daughter of Whitley and Dwayne, and she’s an artist trying to figure herself out, and she grew up with some privilege. Then we have Rashida (Alijah Kai), who is a first-gen college student and all about her books and her business. Then we have Shaquille (Cornell Young IV), who is the son of Ron Johnson; he’s an athlete from Detroit. We have Amir (Jordan Aaron Hall), who is out and queer, comfortable in his skin, a psych major from Harlem, and a little rough around the edges. We have Kojo (Chibuikem Uche), who is Ghanaian-Nigerian by way of London; he’s an entrepreneur and into fashion. And then we have Hazel (Kennedi Reece), who is from a small town, Elgin, Illinois, and is about church and was raised in the church.”
And if the names of those Hillman parents ring a bell, you must have been a fan of NBC’s Different World, which began as a spinoff of The Cosby Show. Many of those original characters will be back on your screens with the Netflix reboot, as you’ll discover below. Scroll down to see eight of the returning actors, then and now, and to learn more about their reprise appearances.
A Different World, Reboot Premiere, Thursday, September 24, Netflix
Jasmine Guy & Kadeem Hardison then
In the original version of A Different World, Guy played Southern belle Whitley Gilbert, a character who was based on executive producer Susan Fales-Hill, according to Vanity Fair. Hardison, meanwhile, played math and engineering student Dwayne Wayne, Whitley’s eventual husband.
Jasmine Guy & Kadeem Hardison now
In the reboot, Whitley is the boss of a skincare business, and Dwayne is an interim provost at Hillman, where their daughter, Deborah, is a student. “What’s fun is that we get to see Whitley and Dwayne as parents,” Pride told Entertainment Weekly. “Now they’re empty nesters, and they’re finally looking back inward into their own relationship and making sure that it still gives them the butterflies that they had from the original series.”
Darryl M. Bell then
Bell played Ron Johnson, Dwayne’s roommate and best friend, who’s also a musician, an ROTC student, and a bit of a serial monogamist on the Hillman campus.
Darryl M. Bell now
Like Whitley and Dwayne, Ron also has a child at Hillman: his son, Shaquille. And he’s also the manager of Shaquille’s football career. “It’s really fun what Ron is like as a father because Ron had a very important relationship with his own father,” Bell told Tudum. “So it’ll be interesting to see what Ron looks like as a parent raising a son and walking the same path that he did.”
Charnele Brown then
Brown portrayed A Different World’s Kim Reese, an ambitious medical student and a roommate of both Whitley and Freddie.
Charnele Brown now
As for Kim’s reappearance, expect the unexpected. “It’s really wonderful, but our storylines are different,” Brown, seen here at the 2024 BET Awards, said of the reboot in an appearance on Good Morning Texas earlier this year. “I know — that kind of freaked us out as well. We’re not going the way you think we’re going!”
Cree Summer then
Summer, meanwhile, played Freddie Brooks, a flower child whose activist spirit leads her to becoming a law student in the original series.
Cree Summer now
Freddie has become a law professor by the time of the reboot, and she takes Deborah’s roommate, Rashida, under her wing. “She’s here to continue to fight the man and to inspire young people to stand up for what’s right,” Summer said of her character in the Tudum feature.
Dawnn Lewis & Glynn Turman then
In the first Different World, Lewis played Jaleesa Vinson, an older Hillman student who eventually falls for Turman’s character, math professor and ROTC instructor Col. Brad Taylor a.k.a. Dr. War.
Dawnn Lewis & Glynn Turman now
Lewis and Turman, seen here at the A Different World HBCU College Tour in 2024, are both returning for the reboot. “Jaleesa and Colonel Taylor are still together, and we have moments where Colonel Taylor is able to talk to the new incoming freshman,” Pride told EW. “I love about their storyline is it’s also to show the support that alumni have and see the relationship that our favorite OG characters still have with our favorite school.”
Jada Pinkett Smith then
Pinkett Smith notched a big role early in her screen career when she joined A Different World in the role of Lena James, a journalism student who gets a job at The Pit.
Jada Pinkett Smith now
“She back,” Pinkett Smith said on Instagram this March as she posted of her Different World reboot trailer, labeled with Lena’s name. In the comments, Lena Waithe and Gabrielle Union celebrated Pinkett Smith’s return to the role.
Debbie Allen then
Allen, seen here in 1990, was a producer of all but one Different Worldseason and the director of a whopping 83 episodes of the sitcom. She also recurred on the show as Dr. Langhorne, a counselor Whitley visits.
Debbie Allen now
Allen returned to the role of Dr. Langhorne — now an academic advisor for Deborah — and she’s an executive producer and director of the reboot. “The success of A Different World had tremendous reaction worldwide,” Allen observed to Vanity Fair. “I think Netflix was already poised to come in with a response that was very positive.”
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