a different world might have started as
a cosby show spin-off
but over the course of its six seasons
it established itself as a major success
in its own right
we're taking a look at what the cast
have been up to since a different world
ended
lisa bonet played denise huxtable
daughter of the central family on the
cosby show
when the character graduated high school
she was spun off into her own show
leaving philadelphia for hillman college
in virginia
denise spent the first season of a
different world navigating the trials
and tribulations faced by many college
freshmen
including making new friends dealing
with romantic entanglements
and most prominently struggling to
maintain her grades
denise huxtable yes sir you live in
gilbert hall and you currently have a
1.7 grade average
i'm working on it sir bonnay's time on
the show would be fleeting
as a pregnancy led to her departure
after just one season
she briefly returned to the cosby show
but creative differences arose
and she parted ways with it once and for
all in 1991
from there she embarked on a complex
career with notable roles in films like
2000's high fidelity
and on tv shows like life on mars and
ray donovan
she's also been fairly famous for her
personal life first marrying rock star
lenny kravitz
and later partnering with game of
thrones and aquaman hunk
jason momoa in an interesting bit of
synergy
her daughter with kravitz zoe plays the
lead in hulu's series adaption of high
fidelity
originally a different world was
conceived as a show about a white girl's
experience
attending a historically black college
it was retooled
making denise the lead and her best
friend maggie lauten the fish out of
water white girl
cast in that role was a young actress
who would go on to become a household
name
marissa tomei a military brat maggie was
one of denise's roommates as well as a
journalism major
involved in a long-distance relationship
showrunner debbie allen wanted tommy to
continue on the show in season two
but the actress decided instead to
depart and maggie quietly disappeared
from the cast of characters
tomei however went on to bigger things
four years after leaving a different
world
she won the academy award for best
supporting actress for her hilarious
turn in my cousin vinnie kicking off a
film career that spans three decades
she was nominated for two more oscars
for 2001's in the bedroom
and 2007's the wrestler and has applied
her craft successfully
in both comedies and dramas she returned
to tv in 2007
on the dennis leary led series rescue me
and also had a notable role on empire
she's even worked her way into the
marvel cinematic universe as aunt may to
tom holland's take on spider-man
season one of a different world
acquainted us with whitley gilbert
a snobby hillman student whose stuck-up
attitude was
often played for laughs in contrast to
her more down-to-earth classmates
i mean my dad is a judge and
your daddy's a what a dentist the
character however proved popular and
when bonet left the show
whitley was moved into a central role
her personality was also mellowed and
given added depth
and her opposite to track romance with
the nerdy dwayne wayne
became one of the series central arcs
whitley remained involved with hillman
as a dorm director even after graduating
and ended the series married to dwayne
wayne in carrying the couple's first
child
jasmine guy was awarded multiple naacp
image awards for her portrayal
of whitley this success led guide to a
long and active career as an actor
dancer and choreographer as well as a
director of stage productions
she remained very active on tv showing
up on 90 staples like melrose place and
nypd blue
before landing a lead role on showtime's
dead like me
in the early aughts more recently she
had recurring parts on the vampire
diaries
and disney channel's kc undercover
with his trademark flip up sunglasses
nerdy charisma and rhyming name
dwayne wayne seemed destined for pop
culture residents from his first
appearance on a different world
the characters started out in a
supporting capacity but became central
to the show in season
2 fueled largely by his on-again
off-again romance with whitley
as the years went on he lived in japan
became a math professor
and in the end staged a grand gesture to
win the love of his life
the character was praised in the press
and remains fondly remembered
kadeem hardison's performance as dwayne
wayne made him one of a different
world's breakout stars
and the actor has gone on to a long and
incredibly prolific career in film and
television he's appeared in literally
dozens of movies between 1992 and the
present day
in scores of tv spots including a recent
reunion with jasmine guy
on casey undercover well i don't know to
whom you are referring
drop the phony southern accent you're
not fooling anybody you're not the belle
of this ball
hardison also appeared in the film
paddleton and played a starring role in
the showtime series black monday
as funny as dwayne wayne was he had too
much heart in leading man charm to serve
as a different world's classic fool
fortunately ron johnson was ready and
willing to leap into that archetypal gap
an rotc student and duane's best friend
ron fancies himself a ladies man and is
always up for a get rich quick scheme
he might not have been the most serious
student but he comes out okay
as a manager and co-owner of his own
nightclub despite primarily serving as a
comic role
he did experience his share of drama
coping with a racist incident
and navigating romantic travails with
fellow hillman students kimberly and
freddie
daryl embell who played ron jumped right
back into sitcom work when a different
world ended
booking a lead role on upn's sci-fi
comedy series
homeboys in outer space unfortunately
the show was a critical flop
and was canceled by the network after
one season
bell bounced back with a three-episode
run on the cosby show follow-up
cosby but subsequently moved away from
acting on a regular basis
he remained connected to the industry
however through his friendship with
hardison
who cast spell in his 2013 film the dark
party
he also got a boost from his long-term
relationship with cosby show alum tempus
bledsoe
with whom he'd appear in the 2009
reality show
house husbands of hollywood with whitley
thrust to the fore in a different world
second season
there was a need to expand the cast of
supporting characters
thus we were introduced to kimberly
reese whitley's roommate and eventual
best friend
a biology major she was employed at
campus eatery the pit
and also performed in the banned
expression managed by ron
kimberly was the center of a couple of
the show's more serious arcs
facing a false alarm pregnancy and
choosing to give up a much needed
scholarship
due to the sponsoring corporation's ties
to apartheid era south africa
after graduation she enrolled in medical
school and found love with a fellow
student there
kimberly was portrayed by charnell brown
who came to a different world from a
broadway stage career
after the show ended she did spot work
on tv showing up in episodes of martin
and living single
she also worked as a singer and a
fashion designer and the past decade has
seen her enter the world of film
production
she returned to the front of the camera
in 2020 with an appearance in an episode
of fifth ward
most of the hillman students on a
different world were your typical
college kids
except for jaleesa vincent taylor i'm
denise you must be 26.
oh i didn't mean that you don't look 26
you know you don't even look a day over
why don't we just
start over at 25 having enrolled after a
failed marriage
she brought a level of maturity to the
proceedings that provided a contrast
with some of her more fresh-faced
classmates
a business management major she worked
part-time at the hillman library
and as the assistant dorm director of
gilbert hall
one of her central plot lines saw her in
a relationship with coach walter oakes
but that would end with the two calling
things off at the altar
jaleesa wound up starting her own temp
agency and marrying colonel bradford
taylor
jalisa was played by dawn lewis who
brought more to the show than her acting
chops
an accomplished singer she also co-wrote
the show's theme song
a feat she would repeat with a little
help from r b group in vogue for her
next gig
hanging with mr cooper her resume is
stuffed with roles in films like dream
girls
and a metric ton of television work in
particular
lewis found a lucrative avenue in voice
work lending her talents to everything
from futurama and the boondocks
to rick and morty and the simpsons most
recently
you might have caught her in a pair of
reboots as marsha langdon on the 2019
return of veronica mars
and as the voice of the chief in
netflix's animated take on carmen san
diego
for many young people the college years
are about social consciousness and
political activism
such was the case with freddie brooks
who arrived in the season 2 premiere as
jalisa's roommate
a free spirit whose mother was a 60s
hippie freddie became a student activist
during her time at hillman
advocating for a number of different
environmental community and charitable
causes
that's not to say she didn't have time
for personal matters though
as she spent her early time at school
pining after dwayne wayne
only to eventually end up in a
relationship with ron
freddy ended the series completing her
first year in law school
cree summer who played freddie didn't go
on to the most successful live-action
career
appearing in only a handful of films and
tv shows per decade
her voice acting resume however is
straight up staggering
she was already established in the
business prior to a different world
having originated the voice of penny on
inspector gadget
after the series wrapped up she
continued down that avenue
contributing her vocal talents to all
kinds of classic shows captain planet
gargoyles superman the animated series
kim possible
star wars the clone wars and rugrats
just to name a few
frankly if you have enjoyed animation at
all in the last couple of decades
you have enjoyed summer's work she's one
of the most important and influential
voice actors of the modern era
introduced in season two lieutenant
colonel bradford taylor started out as a
recurring character
but eventually moved up to become part
of the main cast
a career military man and veteran of the
vietnam war
he had previously served in the same
unit as pit proprietor vernon gaines
and remained martially minded enough
that the students nicknamed him dr war
some people like to call him dr who are
people who major in indoor outdoor
breathing
everybody calls him dr ward aka student
enemy number one
at hillman he headed up the rotc unit
that included ron johnson
and worked as a professor of mathematics
which led to him crossing paths with
dwayne wayne
eventually he ended up marrying and
fathering a child with jaleesa vincent
taylor
colonel taylor was played by glenn
turman who had already been acting in
film and tv for over 25
years before arriving on a different
world he remained very active after the
show wrapped
if you've watched tv or seen a movie in
the past 30 years
you've likely caught one of his
performances notable recent efforts
include the wire
in which he played baltimore mayor
clarence royce jj abrams 2011 film super
8
shonda rhimes thriller series how to get
away with murder and the stephen king
adaptation mr mercedes
not many people at the college level
could manage coaching the football
basketball baseball and track programs
but then
not many people are walter oaks this
colorful character was another recurring
personality
that eventually became a part of the
main cast a graduate student
he was a mentor to some of the younger
characters and appear to the more mature
jaleesa with whom he would embark on a
long and winding romantic relationship
walter would ultimately depart hillman
to return to his hometown of
philadelphia and manage a community
center
while david atkins better known as
simbad was a relatively
unknown stand-up comedian at the time he
was cast on a different world
this show would serve as his launching
pad to a prolific career
first he crushed it in comedy recording
a series of successful specials for hbo
for two years he served as the host of
the venerable variety and talent show
showtime at the apollo from there he was
given the opportunity to head up his own
sitcom
as the star of the sinbad show which
unfortunately only lasted a single
season
in my opinion you don't split up a
brother and sister come on you don't
break up a family look what happened to
the jacksons
that didn't serve to diminish sinbad's
momentum however as the actor has
appeared in numerous films and shows
since
more recently he played the titular
character's father on rel
and lent his voice talent to steven
universe playing mr smiley
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