Fresh Prince of Bel Air's Karyn Parsons now has completely different career 30 years after show ended

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air's Karyn Parsons has opened up about worries 'people would laugh' at her before launching her new career, nearly four decades on from the show's premiere in 1990.

It’s hard to imagine The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air without Karyn Parsons as the iconic Hilary Banks.

The actress became a household name playing the effortlessly glamorous, hilariously out-of-touch Banks sister - but almost 40 years after the beloved sitcom first hit screens, Parsons has taken on a very different role.

And while stepping into a new career might sound exciting, the star has admitted she had one major worry before taking the leap: that people would laugh at her.

The 59-year-old is now an author, with five books for children and young readers already on her roster.

And earlier this summer, speaking with FOX 32 Chicago, the star opened up about what inspired her to leap into the world of storytelling in a whole new way.

"After the show, after Fresh Prince ended, a friend of mine encouraged me to take a writing course," she explained.

The iconic actress now has a completely different career. (Warner Bros.)

"I grew up in libraries. My mom was a librarian. I'm a big reader. I like writing, but I always identified as an actor.

"So even when I was writing, I never thought of myself as a writer, but I went."

The mom-of-two added: "My friend was pushing for me to go to this course, and so I went and I fell in love with it. And I found myself kind of... this renewed, renewed storytelling and character, deep dives and all these things that I did when I was acting, when I was learning, you know, and going to workshops for acting.

"Now, I was doing that with writing stories, and I loved it so much."

The actress has opened up about her inspirations behind her books. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

Parsons' most recent book is the young adult mystery novel 'Blue Beach', which was published on June 9, 2026.

Set in Santa Monica in 1929, the story follows 15-year-old Blue Collins, whose family owns the only black beach in the region.

But when Blue and her friend Ben discover the body of a white girl, Dottie Whitehouse, on the beach, they panic and move her body to a nearby white beach - putting Ben directly in the firing line when suspicion falls on him.

The synopsis describes it as 'a discovery that will reveal the racism rampant in her world'.

Parsons noted that she felt it was important for children to read about history, as she added: "This is not just black history, this is part of American history."