Don Cheadle Was Set To Star In A Shelved ‘Fresh Prince’ Spinoff

Prior to garnering a successful acting career, Don Cheadle admittedly had dreams of a career in jazz music. This played a role in a potential spinoff opportunity he had in the early ’90s.

One of his earliest credits was a guest role on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air as Ice Tray, an old friend of Will Smith’s from Philadelphia. Though the appearance didn’t evolve into a permanent role, it did lead to Cheadle filming a loose spinoff of the series titled In The House—not to be confused with the LL Cool J-led television series of the same name.

“I shot a pilot. I think you can actually find it online,” the Wonder Years narrator told Vanity Fair for their A List series. He used this chance to sing and write the theme song along with his producer-friend, Kenny Finch, for the now-shelved pilot. “I never completely dropped the idea of music. It was always in the sidecar, and I wanted to take a crack at the theme song. They’re like, ‘Go ahead.’ I don’t know that ultimately we would’ve used it, but I’m singing and you hear it.”

According to a video of the theme song, the series was set to follow Cheadle, “a recent college grad”, who returns to Detroit with “dreams and schemes of the entrepreneurial fast lane,” but his father, played by Bruce A. Young, wanted him to take the more “sensible” route to success. It was supposed to air right after Fresh Prince and also starred Loretta Divine, Hugh Dane, Gilbert Lewis, Leilani Fields, Troy Allan Burgess, and Vivica A. Fox.

In terms of where the future of his career is, the Oscar nominee shared, “There is no plan. You keep your head down, you keep working. I think I’ve been very fortunate that the things I was drawn to went and that I’ve been blessed and been very right place, right time.”

Watch his full sit-down below.

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