Maleah Joi Moon Promises Fans of Original “A Different World ”Will ‘Feel Cared for’ with Sequel Series (Exclusive)

Stephanie SengweWed, August 12, 2026 at 5:26 PM UTC

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Maleah Joi Moon as DeborahCredit: Daniel Delgado Jr/Netflix -

Broadway star Maleah Joi Moon is opening up about her experience working on the A Different World sequel

The actress, 23, tells PEOPLE she and her costars bonded instantly and have been supported by the legacy cast during the filming process

The sequel arrives on Netflix Sept. 24

The legacy of A Different World lives on.

A spinoff of The Cosby Show, A Different World followed Lisa Bonet’s Denise Huxtable as she navigated life at Hillman College, a fictional, Virginia-based historically Black college.

The show catapulted the careers of Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Darryl M. Bell, Dawnn Lewis, Cree Summer and more, who took centerstage after Bonet left in season 1. Its impact was as palpable then as it is now, and it’s partly due to the strong bonds the cast forged beyond the screen.

Today, the cast of the sequel are following a similar path.

The A Different World sequel arrives on Netflix Sept. 24, and brings with it a new generation to the halls of Hillman College. Much like the legacy cast, Maleah Joi Moon, who plays Guy and Hardison’s daughter Deborah, says she and her castmates clicked the moment they got together.

“We all came to L.A. to do the chemistry read and the format for it, they called it a mix and match, where they had a couple different people they were looking at casting [audition] for the main six, the YA cast,” she tells PEOPLE. “They’d had another person that was there to read for Deborah. They had somebody else for Alijah’s character, and so forth.”

‘A Different World’ CastCredit: Netflix

“So they’re mixing and matching, and we finally get to a place where it’s me and Chib, Alijah, Jordan, Kennedi and Cornell and it was like lightning in a bottle. I kid you not. ... You would think that we had known each other for so long after just meeting each other that day.”

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A Different World the sequel will chronicle Deborah Wayne’s adventures at Hillman, as she tries to navigate the legacy left by her parents. The cast also includes Alijah Kai, Chibuikem Uche, Cornell Young IV, Jordan Aaron Hall and Kennedi Reece.

Because the show has garnered a dedicated fan base in the four decades since its original premiere, there are those who are weary about a sequel. However, Joi Moon promises the 10-episode sequel series only aims to further fortify its reach, not to replace it.

“The process of making this, from what I’ve even heard in conversation with our amazing showrunner, Felicia Pride, and Debbie [Allen], one of our directors and executive producers, is that there’s been so much care and nuance poured into [it] so that the people who really love the legacy show and identify with it and have beautiful memories inter-generationally feel cared for when we choose to embark upon this journey on something that they already love,” Joi Moon explains.

‘A Different World’ castCredit: ELI JOSHUA ADE/Netflix

“We respect and see the care and the excitement and even the anticipation — that hasn’t been ignored. This is a gift for the culture the way that the original show was,” she adds. “[We’re] paying respect to that and just how well-loved it already is. Beyond that, with the new cast that’s been ushered in so supported by our legacy characters, this is an opportunity to continue the legacy, not make a new one.”

As for what is was like working with the legacy cast, Joi Moon says they have been beyond supportive. “I always felt held,” she says. “I always felt like I could go to them for advice. I was encouraged to.”

She added, “Jasmine has just been so generous with her sharing, which I think is not something to take for granted because that’s not anything anybody’s entitled to.”

A Different World premieres on Netflix on Sept. 24.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”