“Bel-Air” showrunner Carla Banks Waddles opened up about how she was able to nab heavy-hitter Black entrepreneurs to make a cameo in Season 3, Episode 2: “Pivot.” Those guest stars were Entertainment Studios founder Byron Allen, Uncle Nearest cofounder Fawn Weaver, and Mielle Organics’ CEO Monique Rodriguez and COO Melvin Rodriguez.
As the episode’s title suggest, “Bel-Air’s” two lead characters, Will (Jabari Banks) and Carlton (Olly Sholotan), set off on a new journey into entrepreneurship. On top of trying to come up with a good idea for a start-up to pitch to venture capitalist Quentin (Vic Mensa), they’ve both taken summer jobs at a local country club. In an effort to inspire them, and to provide real-life examples of what successful Black business owners look like, Uncle Phil (Adrian Holmes) called on some of friends. Ultimately, the quartet appears towards the end of the episode at a celebratory event for the grand opening of Uncle Phil’s law firm.
“Given the storyline for Will and Carlton this season — wanting to start a business and looking for inspiration — it just feels so real and so true to our show, and who these characters would have in their orbit, who they would have access to, who would be on the list to actually come to a law firm grand opening for Uncle Phil,” Banks Waddles explained to TheWrap. “But [it’s also] really inspiring to Carlton and Will, knowing that they were setting on a journey of entrepreneurship in seeing successful Black entrepreneurs who had done it and probably started where they are. It just felt so organic and so fun.”
As far as reaching out to and selecting who would be the perfect owners/founders for the show, Banks Waddles said Allen was one of her top picks.
“We had a list. So many people when you reach out are excited to do the show but just not available, or they aren’t in L.A. right then, so it was a matter of the list. Byron Allen was at the top of the list, knowing he’s in L.A. Fawn Weaver we had talked about but we were like, ‘I don’t think she lives here. Is she gonna be here?’” Banks Waddles noted. “So as we were starting to just do really cold reach outs because we didn’t know any of them, but knew our casting and having this wish list of we would love.”
She continued: “They all were great. Our cast was also just genuinely excited to meet them. All the writers came down to the set to take pictures with them, like we were just excited that they were there. But [the entrepreneurs] also seemed genuinely excited to be there. And Byron had shared that his kids watched the show and he came with his wife, so it just really felt like it was a good feeling that day on set.”
In a separate conversation with TheWrap, Banks opened up about what his experience was like working with the group of moguls, sharing an anecdote about how some of the business owners’ lines had to be thrown out.
“So it’s funny, because this isn’t their element at all. I know Fawn was super nervous, and we had to just scrap the lines,” he shared. “And [then we were] just actually talking about themselves and their companies — we had to scrap the lines. It ended up just being like me and Olly talking with Fawn while the cameras rolling, and she’s telling us about her company and her story. That was a dope moment, for sure. And it was just very, very wholesome to see that while you’re very, very successful in this one thing once, you pivot and go to this other thing. People are good at the things that they’re good at. It’s so funny, but she was a joy to work with as well.”
Banks continued: “Also, Byron is great alongside that. He murdered his lines. He shot it out three times — done. I was like, OK, all right. Like, let me get my bag up. He’s trying to take my job.”
Season 3 of “Bel-Air” premiered Aug. 15 with three episodes on Peacock. New episodes drop weekly on Thursdays, with three episodes set to air Aug. 22 and two episodes on Aug. 29 and Sept. 5
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