Ross Bagley played Nicky Banks after the character became a regular part of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s main cast.
Nicky was introduced near the end of the third season as the newborn son of Philip and Vivian Banks. Because the character was an infant, different performers portrayed him during the early appearances. When the show returned for its fifth season, Nicky was recast as a preschool-aged child and played by Ross Bagley.
Bagley remained associated with the role through the fifth and sixth seasons. His arrival created a deliberate sitcom age jump: although Nicky had been a baby in the previous season, he appeared substantially older when the story resumed. The show even acknowledged the change with a humorous reaction from Jazz and Will.
Bagley is sometimes remembered primarily for The Little Rascals or Independence Day, but Nicky Banks was one of his best-known television roles. He also shared the screen with Will Smith in Independence Day, released during the same broad period of his child-acting career.