Happy birthday, Will Smith!
The actor, who turns 47 Friday, is now a two-time Oscar nominee and four-time Grammy winner, but we'll never forget the role that made him a household name: Smith, of course, played a fictionalized version of himself for six seasons on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
Shortly before the NBC sitcom's premiere 25 years ago this month, he visited TODAY to discuss his character, which he said was very similar to the real Will Smith.
"There's not that much difference at all," he explained. "And I got that from my mother. She watched and said, 'Baby, you're not doing nothing you never did around here.'"
Smith added that the part was "Not a stretch at all, which makes it good since I have no formal theatrical training. I'm taking my first shot, and it was fun."
The "Fresh Prince" theme song seems to have become more popular than ever. Jimmy Fallon recreated the show's intro earlier this year, while Smith himself performed a spirited rendition on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." See our favorite tributes here.