The second season of the Peacock original series Bel-Air has seen Will (Jabari Banks) rebuilding fractured trust with the Banks family while also finally grabbing a moment for himself to shine on the basketball court. But while Will and Carlton (Olly Sholotan) had been on better terms, things are back on a bit of shaky ground and Will is again in a position of having to figure out what his priorities truly are.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Banks talked about what he learned from making the first season, how different things felt going into Season 2, the ongoing journey of finding his character, how Jazz (Jordan L. Jones) is Will’s Jiminy Cricket, exploring the camaraderie between Will and Carlton, how much he loves the organized chaos of the scenes when Will is with the whole Banks family, having Tatyana Ali do a guest arc, and what he’s hoping to see in Season 3.

Collider: I want to start first with the most important question about this season and ask, is Will ever going to get Drew’s name right? Obviously, he knows who Drew is, but is there something fun about having a running joke that continues for as long as you can possibly carry it out?

JABARI BANKS: I don’t think he ever gets it right. That’s a great question

Were you starting to add different things on your own, just to have fun with him?

BANKS: Oh, that wasn’t in the script, at all. I felt like I needed to find a way to dig under his skin, and that was the best way possible. It was like, “Who are you again?” I loved it.

Since you were new to all of this for Season 1, I would imagine you did a lot of learning on the job. What was the most important thing you learned about making a TV show, about acting, and about yourself, over the course of the first season?

BANKS: An attitude of gratitude and just really showing up with great energy, every day. There are people who show up three hours before I do, and leave two hours after, so it’s just about leaving my problems at the door and showing up ready to work. Being prepared is one of the things that I always want to be known for in this industry. I always wanna absolutely be on top of my game, in a way that’s shocking for people so they never have to worry about whether I know my stuff. I wanna show up ready. That’s who I wanna be, and that’s who I’ve been for the past two years.

What was it like to go into Season 2 with more knowledge of who you are, as an actor, and how to do all of that? Did completing the first season inform the second season, in a different way for you than it did before?

BANKS: Yeah, for sure. I felt it in my body. You learn how it feels when you wake up at five and you leave the day at 6pm. You learn how it feels to constantly do this every day, and then go home knowing you have to do it again the next right. I learned how all of that felt. I also know how to adjust now. It’s like boxing. You have to take some of those punches, just to know how they feel, so that you know for the next time and can be prepared for that. That’s how I came into Season 2.

You went through quite a roller coaster of emotions in the first season. Did you know what his full journey would be, going into Season 2? Did some of it also surprise you? Since you don’t typically get to know everything on a TV show, how much did you actually know about what you would be doing?

BANKS: The only thing I knew, coming into Season 2, was that Will was not gonna be in Bel-Air. That’s it. That’s all I knew. Everything else was a surprise to me. I’m so grateful for our writers and our showrunners, and the fact that they have taken me on this beautiful journey this season. It’s been amazing.

When you found that out that Will wasn’t going to be in Bel-Air, what did you think about that? What were the questions that you immediately had? What were the things you were hoping to dig into with this character? What were you looking forward to exploring this season?

BANKS: I was like, “Okay, so who is he gonna be staying with?” I figured he might be staying with Jazz, so when I found that out, I was like, “Okay, I got that right.” I knew he would explore himself outside of L.A. and get back to his roots. The family absolutely lost his trust, at the end of the first season, so by Season 2, he was trying to find himself and find his community outside of Bel-Air. But I also knew that the show is called Bel-Air, so at some point, he had to go back to Bel-Air.

Because this Will and Jazz have a bit of a different relationship in this series than in the original series, it was fun to get to see Will living with Jazz and to get to see more of that, at the beginning of this season. What are you most enjoying about what you’re continuing to learn about that dynamic, as it evolves?

BANKS: Jazz is like a big brother to Will. Me and Jordan [Jones] have this running joke that Jazz is Will’s Jiminy Cricket. He’s his conscience, in a way. When Will is on a different path, not doing what he’s supposed to do, Jazz always magically shows up like, “Listen, this is what you need to go do,” and Will goes and does it, and everything works out beautifully. That’s who Jazz is to Will. He’s a big brother figure, and Will appreciates him for that.

Did you have a point, during the first season, where you felt like you really found your groove, as an actor, and got this character? Did you have a moment where it all clicked, or has it been an ongoing evolution?

BANKS: It’s an ongoing journey. I think it clicked in episode one of Season 1, a couple scenes in. I was like, “Okay, I’ve got it. This is how you do it.” Because when I first started, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just going along, rolling with the punches. I definitely caught my stride, but it was a roller coaster. It’s a journey, and there are hills and valleys, ups and downs, throughout the whole journey. I have to respect that because that’s a part of the process. As an actor, you’re not always gonna be 100%, but the beautiful part about it is that, even when you’re not at 100%, you can use that. Someone’s always gonna take away something from my performance, so my biggest mission and my job is to show up and give something, every day, even if I can’t give 100%. I still have to give something. That’s my job.

While Will went on his own emotional journey over the first season, so did his relationship with Carlton. You went into Season 2 with a very different dynamic. What do you most enjoy about that relationship?

BANKS: I love the camaraderie between Will and Carlton. That’s something that is a part of the original, and it’s my favorite. So, to see that brotherhood come together, because they’re two vastly different people from two different upbringings and two different walks of life, and they can come together and love each other for who they are, is such a beautiful thing to see between two young Black men on screen. At the end of the day, that’s his cousin. That’s his family. He has to love him, regardless.

Because they are constantly teaching each other and opening each other up to new things, what would you say Will teaches Carlton in Season 2, and what does Carlton teach Will?

BANKS: Will hopes to teach Carlton, and I feel Carlton learns a bit. Carlton is a stubborn dude. Will tries to teach Carlton how to maneuver a little bit differently in Black spaces. Carlton hasn’t had the opportunity to do that as much, growing up. You see Will and Carlton getting outside of Bel-Air. Carlton also shows up as his authentic self, and it works for him, which I think is beautiful. What does Carlton teach Will? Carlton ain’t gonna teach Will nuthin’. No. Carlton teachers will how to show up authentically as himself. The cross between South L.A. and Bel-Air, and us being in those two spaces together, they can help each other out.

I really appreciate that this show addresses issues head on, and it shows that there can be consequences, even when you do the right thing. Episode three, this season, was really powerful, with the walkout and Will’s “Black Teachers Matter” moment. What was that episode like to read, and then to shoot? Did it feel as meaningful as it ultimately turned out?

BANKS: Yeah, it felt like we were doing something and making a statement. Messages like that are super powerful on TV, and we need to see that more. I loved the way that episode ended, but that’s the truth, so to be able to reflect our world, in that way, was super important for us. When I first read it, I was like, “Oh, I can’t wait to climb up that building,” That was such an iconic moment that we created, so I was super excited.

You have Olly Sholotan to go through this with, and you have the whole Banks family. Everybody feel like a pretty tight knit group on this show. When you establish that sense of trust on set, does it create a sense of safety that also allows you to take risks with your performance that you might not have been able to, otherwise? Does it give you a sense of confidence to play?

BANKS: Yeah, that’s it on the nose. It gives us the opportunity to open up and create a performance that’s not timid or scared. We’re on our toes, but we’re don’t have to tiptoe around our performances. We give each other the space to create, and authentically create in a way that we love to do. That’s an amazing thing to do with an ensemble cast.

What’s it like to have the scenes when the whole family is together? Is that something like organized chaos?

BANKS: Oh, that’s exactly what it is. We’ve got Cassie [Freeman] singing over here. We’ve got me and Olly [Sholotan] playing the piano. Akira [Akbar] is going to crafty, every five minutes, back and forth. Coco [Jones] is somewhere on her phone, talking to her man. It is controlled chaos, but we get it done. I love those scenes where we’re all together. We don’t get that enough. So, just to see us all sitting down at the table, having a conversation, is amazing.

What was it like to have Tatyana Ali guest this season? Will doesn’t have the connection with her character that some of the others have, but what was it like just to have her on set?

BANKS: Just to have her on set was amazing. She’s such a sweetheart, and such a pro. It’s old meeting new. It was so meta in a way that was super dope. Her scenes with Ashley were amazing. Thank you to the amazing Tatyana Ali for gracing our stage.

There’s such an interesting dynamic going on, with Doc coming into Will’s life this season. What can you say about how that dynamic will play out?

BANKS: At the top of Season 2, Will was really feeling the pain from his interaction with his father in Season 1.Will constant journey for a father figure leads him to Doc, who he feels can do a lot for him and his basketball career, so he latches onto him. He trusts him, but Will is in a very vulnerable place. Doc is not who he says he is, and we’ll see Will learn what that means.

Lisa and Jackie were both important figures in Will’s life in the original series, and now they’re both a part of this series. How was it to have that contrast, and what is it about Jackie that Will finds himself drawn to?

BANKS: Jackie takes Will by surprise. She’s this firecracker. Lisa is the soul, but Jackie brings the spice, and Will needs that in his life. He’s enthralled by her, when he first meets her. He’s like, “Who is this person?” And then, when he finds out that she’s connected to Doc, he’s like, “Oh, this is perfect.” You’ll see them go on this journey, throughout Season 2, that’s amazing. She also reminds him of home. She reminds him of girls back in Philly, so being able to connect with someone like that is super important to him. I love to see that, and I love, love.

You’ve already explored so much with this character, and it seems like there is still a lot more to explore. What would you like to see, moving forward into Season 3, or even further down the line? Are there aspects of him that you’re really excited about or interested to explore?

BANKS: Yeah, for sure. I wanna see who Will is outside of basketball. If you take that away and you strip down the layers of who he says he is on the outside, who is he really. We get to see him connected to basketball this season in a way that’s huge, but if you take that away, then what? That’s something that I’m excited for.

Bel-Air is available to stream at Peacock.