# Karyn Parsons
**Karyn Parsons** (born 1966 in [Hollywood, Los Angeles](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-los-angeles), California) is an American actress, author, and founder of the children's media nonprofit Sweet Blackberry. She is best known for playing Hilary Banks, Will Smith's spoiled and quippy cousin, on the NBC sitcom *The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air* from 1990 to 1996.[1](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/) After leaving acting, she built a second career writing children's books about little-known figures of Black American history.[3](https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-happened-to-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-star-karyn-parsons-hilary-banks-2019/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Signature role | Hilary Banks on NBC's *The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air*, 1990–1996[1](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/) |
| Born | 1966, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/) |
| Feature films | *Class Act* (1992), *Major Payne* (1995), *The Ladies Man* (2000)[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/karyn_parsons) |
| Sweet Blackberry | Nonprofit founded in 2005 to bring little-known stories of Black achievement to children through animated films and books[5](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/about) |
| Books | *How High the Moon* (2019), *Flying Free* (2020), *Saving the Day* (2021), *Clouds Over California* (2023), *Blue Beach* (2026)[6](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/the-writer) |
| Family | Married director Alexandre Rockwell in 2003; two children, Lana and Nico[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/bio/) |
| Home | Providence, Rhode Island, with her family[8](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/karyn-parsons/) |
## Acting career
Parsons decided to go into acting at age 13 and had her first television role in the NBC drama *The Bronx Zoo* (1987).[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/bio/) Before her break she worked as a model, appeared in nearly two dozen television commercials, and supported herself as a restaurant hostess in Hollywood while taking acting classes and going on auditions.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/karyn_parsons) • [9](https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/364079701/how-d-karyn-parsons-get-her-gig-on-fresh-prince-brattiness)
**The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.** In 1990 Parsons auditioned for the role of Hilary Banks, auditioning three times for producer [Quincy Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/quincy-jones), and was cast in the pilot filmed that summer.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/bio/) The series ran for six seasons, from 1990 to 1996.[9](https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/364079701/how-d-karyn-parsons-get-her-gig-on-fresh-prince-brattiness) Hilary, the self-centered, shopping-obsessed eldest Banks cousin who eventually stumbles into a career as a talk show host, became the role Parsons is still identified with; she has said the experience changed her life and that she would not be who she is without it.[3](https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-happened-to-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-star-karyn-parsons-hilary-banks-2019/) • [9](https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/364079701/how-d-karyn-parsons-get-her-gig-on-fresh-prince-brattiness) She played the same character on two other series, *Blossom* (1990) and *Out All Night* (1992).[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/bio/)
During the show's run she took film roles, playing the female lead in the teen comedy *Class Act* (1992) opposite the rappers Kid 'N' Play, and Emily Walburn opposite [Damon Wayans](https://www.edgepedia.org/damon-wayans) in *Major Payne* (1995).[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/karyn_parsons) After the sitcom ended she co-created and co-starred with [Lori Petty](https://www.edgepedia.org/lori-petty) in the short-lived Fox sitcom *Lush Life* (1996), which lasted seven episodes.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/karyn_parsons) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/) She had her first lead film role in the independent *Mixing Nia* (1998), played Julie in *The Ladies Man* (2000), and appeared as Toni in [Denis Leary](https://www.edgepedia.org/denis-leary)'s short-lived 2001 detective comedy *The Job*.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/bio/) • [3](https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-happened-to-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-star-karyn-parsons-hilary-banks-2019/) She later returned to acting selectively, including a role as the mother in her husband's film *Sweet Thing* (2020).[10](https://www.boston.com/culture/books/2026/06/09/fresh-prince-karyn-parsons-westport-providence-book-blue-beach/)
## Sweet Blackberry
While Parsons was on *Fresh Prince*, her mother, who was head of book resources at a college library, told her the story of Henry "Box" Brown, an enslaved man who mailed himself in a small box from Virginia to Pennsylvania to find freedom.[11](https://www.essence.com/news/karyn-parsons-the-fresh-princess) The story stayed with her; years later, when she was pregnant with her first child and thinking about her responsibility as a parent to pass on Black history, she began writing it down, and it became the impetus for her organization.[12](https://www.audible.com/blog/karyn-parsons-blue-beach-interview)
In 2005 she founded Sweet Blackberry, a nonprofit whose mission is to bring little-known stories of Black achievement to children through short animated films and books.[5](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/about) Parsons writes and produces the films herself, and the series features narration from actors including [Alfre Woodard](https://www.edgepedia.org/alfre-woodard), Queen Latifah, Chris Rock, and [Laurence Fishburne](https://www.edgepedia.org/laurence-fishburne).[5](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/about) • [1](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/) The films have screened on HBO and Netflix and are used in schools and libraries across the country.[1](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/) Subjects include [Bessie Coleman](https://www.edgepedia.org/bessie-coleman), the first Black woman to earn a pilot's license, who sailed to France in 1921 because no American instructor would teach her, and Garrett Morgan, the inventor of the traffic signal.[13](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/24/lifestyle/she-starred-fresh-prince-bel-air-now-she-writes-films-books-about-black-achievement/) Parsons also visits classrooms to screen the films and talk with students about the stories.[5](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/about)
## Writing
Parsons began taking writing courses after *Fresh Prince* ended, including a class with Jim Krusoe at Santa Monica City College that she credits with changing her life.[10](https://www.boston.com/culture/books/2026/06/09/fresh-prince-karyn-parsons-westport-providence-book-blue-beach/) She wrote the Sweet Blackberry scripts before considering herself a writer; a friend who had become a literary agent encouraged her to attempt a novel, which became her debut.[12](https://www.audible.com/blog/karyn-parsons-blue-beach-interview)
Her middle-grade novel *How High the Moon* (2019), about a 12-year-old girl living in the Jim Crow South in 1944, was loosely inspired by stories of her mother's childhood in the Jim Crow South.[6](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/the-writer) • [14](https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/karynparsons) She followed it with two picture-book biographies illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, *Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman's Dreams Took Flight* (2020) and *Saving the Day: Garrett Morgan's Life-Changing Invention of the Traffic Signal* (2021), both adapted from Sweet Blackberry films.[6](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/the-writer) • [13](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/24/lifestyle/she-starred-fresh-prince-bel-air-now-she-writes-films-books-about-black-achievement/) *Clouds Over California* (2023) is a semi-autobiographical middle-grade novel about growing up in 1970s Los Angeles.[6](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/the-writer) Her young adult debut, the historical mystery *Blue Beach*, was published in June 2026.[6](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/the-writer) • [10](https://www.boston.com/culture/books/2026/06/09/fresh-prince-karyn-parsons-westport-providence-book-blue-beach/) In December 2025, former President Barack Obama was photographed reading *Flying Free* to students at a Chicago school, an event Parsons described as an honor.[15](https://www.rimonthly.com/karyn-parsons/)
## Personal life
Parsons moved to New York in the late 1990s, where she met the independent filmmaker [Alexandre Rockwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandre-rockwell) at a mutual friend's restaurant opening; they married on February 8, 2003.[3](https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-happened-to-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-star-karyn-parsons-hilary-banks-2019/) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/bio/) They have a daughter, Lana, and a son, Nico.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/bio/) She lives in [Providence, Rhode Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/providence-rhode-island), and spends summers in Westport, Massachusetts.[8](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/karyn-parsons/) • [10](https://www.boston.com/culture/books/2026/06/09/fresh-prince-karyn-parsons-westport-providence-book-blue-beach/) She rejoined her former castmates for *The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion*, which streamed on [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max) in 2020.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/karyn_parsons)
## References
1. [Karyn Parsons | Actor, Author, and Founder (official website)](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/)
2. [Karyn Parsons, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/)
3. [What Happened to 'Fresh Prince' Star Karyn Parsons?, VICE (2019)](https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-happened-to-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-star-karyn-parsons-hilary-banks-2019/)
4. [Karyn Parsons, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/karyn_parsons)
5. [About — Karyn Parsons (official website)](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/about)
6. [The Writer — Karyn Parsons (official website)](https://www.karyn-parsons.com/the-writer)
7. [Karyn Parsons Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663854/bio/)
8. [Karyn Parsons, Hachette Book Group](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/karyn-parsons/)
9. [How'd Karyn Parsons Get Her Gig On 'Fresh Prince'?, NCPR/NPR (2014)](https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/364079701/how-d-karyn-parsons-get-her-gig-on-fresh-prince-brattiness)
10. [Former 'Fresh Prince' star Karyn Parsons has fully embraced writing, Boston.com (2026)](https://www.boston.com/culture/books/2026/06/09/fresh-prince-karyn-parsons-westport-providence-book-blue-beach/)
11. [Karyn Parsons: The Fresh Princess, Essence](https://www.essence.com/news/karyn-parsons-the-fresh-princess)
12. ["Blue Beach" is a YA mystery steeped in a little-known chapter of Black history, Audible interview (2026)](https://www.audible.com/blog/karyn-parsons-blue-beach-interview)
13. [She starred in 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,' and now she writes films and books about Black achievement, The Boston Globe (2020)](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/24/lifestyle/she-starred-fresh-prince-bel-air-now-she-writes-films-books-about-black-achievement/)
14. [Karyn Parsons: From Fresh Prince to Sweet Blackberry Press, New York State Writers Institute (2025)](https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/karynparsons)
15. [The Sweet History Behind Karyn Parsons' New Book, Rhode Island Monthly (2026)](https://www.rimonthly.com/karyn-parsons/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames O to Pa*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license