Alfonso Ribeiro reveals he hates it when fans ask him to do the iconic Carlton Dance.
In a new interview, the 50-year-old actor discussed his role as Carlton Banks in the classic sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
He played the role for six years in 147 episodes, and the series remains popular, frequently shown in re-runs and available in streaming platforms.
Alfonso Ribeiro says it’s not unusual to get requests for the Carlton Dance
The actor appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss various topics, including his famous Carlton Dance.
The host, Jimmy, compliments the actor’s name, Alfonso, before he jokes about being referred to as his iconic character’s name.
“It is, it is! My mama named me that, and I like it better than Carlton,” he said in response to Jimmy saying he has a “great name.”
Kimmel then assured the Ribeiro that he wasn’t going to ask him to dance, prompting the actor to respond: “oh, thank God!”
Kimmel suggested Alfonso must “wanna kill people” who requested he does the Carlton Dance, to which he responded.
“You know, I won’t say kill, but I don’t have a love for it like they do, you know?” he said. “I typically get asked to do the dance pretty much every day of my life if I go outside. If I go anywhere, it’s like, you know, I just randomly hear people, ‘Do the dance!’ And you’re like, ‘I’m…I’m not dancing for you, I’m a Black guy, I’m just not dancing for you. It’s not gonna happen.”
Kimmel lamented on the “strange inclination” for people to assume Ribeiro is willing to bust the dance moves at the drop of a dime, with the actor adding:
“The weird part for me is trying to understand what’s happening in their head,” he said. “Like, what makes you think that you just gon’ ask a random person to dance for you, and they’re gonna be like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been waiting for you to ask! Hold on a second, lemme get into character?’ Like, it’s not…I don’t get it, it’s not gonna happen.”
Ribeiro’s breakout role was as Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He portrayed the cousin of Will Smith’s character who said with his family.
Carlton was known for his dance moves to Tom Jones’s song, It’s Not Unusual.
Riberio’s dance moves helped him beat the competition and win Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars with professional partner Witney Carson.
He performed the iconic dance during his appearance on the competition reality series.
Alfonso tried to copyright ‘The Carlton Dance’
In 2018, the actor filed a lawsuit against Epic Games because the “Carlton Dance” was available as a buyable dance for Fortnite players.
The U.S. Copyright Office denied him copyright for the dance on January 13, 2019, and he dropped the lawsuit a few months later as he could not sue for copyright infringement.
Ribeiro also discussed with Kimmel what fans could expect from the 32nd season of America’s Funniest Home Videos, which premieres Sunday on ABC.
Ribeiro just concluded his seventh season as host of the long-running series.