The Original Stars of A Different World Reprise their Roles in Sequel Series’ First Look
- Kris Avalon
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
School is almost back in session for a new crop of Hillman College students, and Netflix Monday dropped our official first look of Hillman's newest enrolling class and original series returnees.
via: EW
Netflix released official photos of the upcoming series Monday, sharing the first proper look at the original stars reprising their roles for the continuation from creator, showrunner, and executive producer Felicia Pride. Not only are Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) back on campus to usher in their daughter’s tenure at their beloved college, but other legacy favorites will also make appearances, such as Kimberly Reese (Charnele Brown), Freddie Brooks (Cree Summer), and Ron Johnson (Darryl M. Bell).
Jada Pinkett Smith will also make an appearance, reprising her role as the outspoken, street-smart Lena James, who joined during the original’s penultimate season.
The OG stars aren’t the only ones making a return for the sequel series. Debbie Allen (Grey’s Anatomy, Fame), Reggie Rock Bythewood (Get on the Bus, Swagger), and Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King, Love & Basketball), who wrote on the original series, are also returning as executive producers alongside Mandy Summers (That ‘90s Show, The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh) and Tom Werner (The Conners, Rosanne, A Different World).
Allen also directed the season’s first episode.
The series will serve as a continuation of the iconic ’90s sitcom that began as a Cosby Show spinoff series in 1987. It’s set at the same fictional HBCU and centers on Tony winner Maleah Joi Moon (Hell’s Kitchen) as Deborah Wayne, the youngest daughter of Hillman College’s finest, Dwayne and Whitley.
The official synopsis describes Deborah as the couple’s lovingly sheltered youngest daughter, a free spirit with a flair for the spotlight with a big heart who’s still figuring out her own path at Hillman. She heads to Hillman College with a new generation of students stepping onto campus “that reflects the breadth of Black life on campus.”
That includes Rashida Duvall (Alijah Kai), a first‑generation criminal justice major; Shaquille Johnson (Cornell Young IV), a five‑star athlete choosing legacy; Amir Rodale (Jordan Aaron Hall), a sharp psych major better at fixing everyone else’s problems than facing his own; Hazel Henry (Kennedi Reece), a church‑raised small‑town girl defining her own values; and Kojo Achebe (Chibuikem Uche), a Ghanaian‑Nigerian fashion entrepreneur finding the courage to follow his vision.
Also costarring are Vincent Jamal Hooper as Ellington, Elijah J. Roberts as Jalen, Renee Harrison as Candace, Famecia Ward as Nellie Gaines, and Dasan Frazier as Xavier.
“Set against the rituals, humor, and nuances of an HBCU, A Different World is a hopeful dramedy, full of heart and unapologetically centered on the richness and complexity of the Black experience,” the synopsis reads.
A Different World premieres on Netflix Sept. 24, exactly 39 years to the day of the original’s premiere on NBC.
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