As Bel-Air closes its final chapter, Cassandra Freeman is emerging from the experience with more than a career milestone. She is walking away with lessons in self-acceptance, creative identity and spiritual grounding, many of which she credits to the journey she shared with her character, Vivian Banks. In an intimate conversation with The Latin Times and ENSTARZ, Freeman opened up about how playing Viv helped her understand her own transformation in her 40s, the artistic instincts she once overlooked and the internal compass she now trusts above all.

Freeman spent three seasons reimagining Vivian Banks for a new era, portraying her as a woman actively reclaiming herself in midlife in Peacock's Bel-Air. That evolution wasn't just on the page. It mirrored something happening in Freeman's real life. "This season, Viv and Cassandra, both of us understand the importance of living your life by putting yourself in the driver's seat," she said. "When I start to feel uneasy, it's probably because I'm not driving the car. I probably put my son there, my husband there, someone else's issues there."

Letting go of that pattern, she revealed, became one of the biggest lessons the character left her. "To put myself in the seat gives me so much calm," she said. "You only have so much energy, and it's not as much. So you can't keep up with everybody else's crap anymore. It's only enough room for my baggage."

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Vivian Banks' story on Bel-Air has been deeply connected to art, identity and rediscovery, themes that resonated with Freeman on a personal level. She explained that her real creative awakening came not through acting, but through painting. "I tell people I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a painter-holic," she said, laughing. "I draw, I can't help but create. But I didn't really realize I was even a painter like this until I painted a little bit." That whisper of artistic instinct soon became a central part of her life. "Life whispers to you when there is something calling you forth. It's like a slight whisper that says, come here and be curious, just come play with me."

Her home, she shared, has become a reflection of that rediscovery. "My house is very colorful because of all the paintings, and it has rubbed off on my husband and son. We have so many paintings they've made. So our house has real paintings, but a lot of it is our paintings as well."

Freeman also spoke candidly about the boxes women are often placed in, especially early in life. "We get put in these little boxes, like you are the smart one, you are the troublemaker, you are the actress," she said. "But I knew I had all these things in me even when I was 14." The cultural shift toward celebrating multi-hyphenates, she explained, allowed her to explore passions she once hid. "Before this time came, it was very painful to try to pretend to be one thing. I like to think I was born a sensitive person who was meant to explore that sensitivity in many artistic realms."

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Those realms go far beyond painting. Freeman revealed she has been a stand-up comedian, a karaoke devotee, a spiritual practitioner and, soon, a student again. "In another life, I'd probably be sitting on top of a mountain meditating all day," she said. "I light a candle every day, I pray, I journal. I'm a karaoke queen, and I thought I was going to be a singer at some point. Now I'm going back and starting to take opera singing lessons." To her, creativity is a buffet. "We're meant to try it all out."

As she closes the Bel-Air chapter, Freeman reflected on what surprised her most. Rather than fame or career shifts, it was her own stability. "This is a successful show, but my life hasn't necessarily changed. People might treat me differently, look at me differently, but I'm very much aware all fame is fleeting," she said. "My life is heavy on my internal journey, my journey with my family. I'm so happy that my internal state has remained the same."

Still, some things did delight her along the way, including her now-famous karaoke performances. "One of my go-to songs is a Tina Turner song called Mountain High, Valley Low," she said. "People won't let me leave karaoke until I sing it." She laughed describing the reaction when she performs. "Everybody gets quiet because that was incredible."

For Freeman, the end of Bel-Air is less a goodbye and more a quiet acknowledgment of how much she has grown. Vivian Banks pushed her to examine her voice, reclaim her artistry and honor her internal compass. And those lessons, she said, are staying with her.

"Thank you for your art," the interviewer told her at the end. Freeman paused, smiled, and replied softly: "Thank you. God bless."

Originally published on Latin Times

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Celebrity interviews, Tv, TV Series