Former Fresh Prince Of Belaire Star Tatyana Ali is all grown up and was recently interviewed by "King" Magazine. She opens up about her decision to leave Hollywood to attend Harvard, Her acting career, and her life.
KING: It’s very rare to see a child actor flee from Hollyweird to get a higher education. Those “don’t do drugs” campaigns must have seeped in.
TATYANA: College was my opportunity to be around my peers, which you don’t get to do when you’re a child actor. And I wanted to be normal and see what else was out there, see what else I was good at. And there are some other things that I’m good at.
KING: Such as?
TATYANA:I’m good at the sciences, I love learning about plants. You know, I’m a dork…it’s cool. I’ve come to terms with that and I dig it a little.
KING: A sexy botanist? Works for us, but nobody in Harvard stopped you in the halls?
TATYANA: Sure, they did, but they also did that to the Latin scholars across the hallway and the number-one math student who was walking down the street. In Harvard, everybody was extraordinary in the town that they came from. When you get there, nobody is more extraordinary than anyone else.
KING: More extraordinary than seeing you get jacked up in the upcoming flick Hotel California?
TATYANA: [Laughs] I do get jacked up. I’m known more for lighter stuff, obviously for comedy, but this is really very dramatic. And my character experiences a lot of violence and gets caught up in a situation where she has to fight for her life.
