Jada auditioned to be a guest star, but after one interaction with Allen she was promoted to main player.

Jada Pinkett would only have appeared in two episodes of the sitcom's classic episode, "Different World."

For a special episode on "Red Table Talk," Debbie Allen, the legendary series producer and director, reunited with Jada, Dawnn Lewis and Jasmine Guy. Allen shared her impressions of Jada's first impressions.

Smith shared, "When I met Debbie for the first time, it was amazing because I went to audition to be a guest star."

"The AIDS episode. She came in, and let me just tell you, she walked in. I told her, "Wow, you're amazing, where are you from?" Allen recalled the conversation before Jada replied, "I'm next Debbie Allen!"

"I'm like, 'Oooooo! "She said it, and I fell in love with her that instant," she continued. I said, "Hire her now. We can't allow her to have AIDS because there is no cure. So I said, "Let's make her a regular series regular."

Jada was eventually offered the part, but Tisha Martin Cameron won it. Tisha appeared on two episodes as Josie Webb in Season 4. Jada was cast as Lena James for the fifth season of the series. She remained with the cast until Season 6.

After Debbie shared their story, Jada stated that it was a dream come true to see someone you idolized in their field and meet them. "So much so, she was like, "We're going to put you on this program."

Monday's Red Table Talk will feature video messages from Marisa Tomei and Patti LaBelle who both appeared on the show.

The episode will be available on Facebook Watch at 9 AM PT

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Title: Different World Reunion: How Jada Pinkett Smith Convinced Debbie Allen to Give Her Series Regular Role (Exclusive)
Sourced From: toofab.com/2022/12/19/different-world-reunion-jada-pinkett-smith-debbie-allen/
Published Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2022 15:00:44 +0000

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