Will Smith and rest of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast pay moving tribute to late Uncle Phil actor James Avery

Avery died in 2013 of complications following heart surgery

Will Smith and his former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air castmates paid a moving tribute to the late James Avery on Thursday.

Smith hosted a two-part Fresh Prince reunion on his Snapchat show Will From Home.

He was joined over video chat by Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton Banks), Karyn Parsons (Hilary Banks), Daphne Maxwell Reid (Vivian Banks), Joseph Marcell (Geoffrey Butler), DJ Jazzy Jeff (Jazz), and Tatyana Ali (Ashley Banks).

The second part of the reunion, which aired on Thursday, featured the actors looking back on performances by James Avery, who played Philip Banks, also known as Uncle Phil on the show.

Avery died in 2013 of complications following heart surgery.

Smith and the rest of the cast were visibly moved as clips of Avery’s Fresh Prince episodes played on the screen.

“I loved that man,” said Maxwell Reid.

“As James would say: solid,” Marcell added.

Smith told his former co-stars he considers them his “second family”.

James Avery, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Karyn Parsons, Tatyana Ali, Will Smith, and Alfonso Ribeiro on 28 June 2005 at the BET Awards in Hollywood, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

“When I look back, the best times in my life will have been on that set,” he added.