Jimmy Akingbola wants to inspire you youth.
The actor, who plays Geoffrey in the “Fresh Prince” remake “Bel-Air”, has a new documentary coming to British TV called “Handle with Care”.
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In the doc, Akingbola goes on a journey to meet with other Black people who, like him, grew up in the care system in the U.K., including “Save Me” star Lennie James and athlete Kriss Akabusi.
He also speaks with his own foster family, as well as his biological siblings about their experiences.
“I have had to overcome a lot of difficulties but overall my experience was positive,” Akingbola told Deadline about growing up with his white adopted family, after he left his Nigerian parents at age 2.
“I felt like I hadn’t seen an inspiring, positive care story on TV and instead there is this trend of only putting something on if it is really harrowing,” he added. “I wanted to go the other way and think how I could inspire a 14- or 15-year-old version of myself. So whenever my fear [of making the show] got to a bad stage I thought if I can just help one young person then that’s enough.”
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In the U.K. the number of children in care is 500,000, having risen 28 per cent in the last decade. More than 40 per cent of the kids awaiting adoption are Black, and Black foster families are a relative rarity.
“There is nuance here — we need to go beyond the clickbait and ‘black and white’ view of these stories,” Akingbola said.
That experience also related to how he viewed Black characters on TV, including Will Smith in the original “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”.
“When I was younger it was like watching [Smith] play me,” Akingbola said. “And now here I am telling my story and playing Geoffrey at the same time. You can’t really make it up. I was told the other day that he’s the mist iconic British TV character in the U.S. and am so proud to be playing him.”