Lisa Bonet has been a fixture in the pop-culture landscape since the 1980s. She was just a teenager when, in 1984, she was cast as Denise Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” second-oldest of the five children being raised by Cliff and Claire Huxtable (Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad) in what quickly became the most popular show on television.
She became an instant celebrity, and her fame hasn’t subsided during the decades that passed. Over the years, Bonet has had something of a love-hate relationship with show business, retreating from Hollywood and eventually returning — which has only made fans more curious about her. This has been particularly true when it comes to the two major relationships in her life, with rock star Lenny Kravitz and with actor Jason Momoa.
In fact, her breakup with Momoa in early 2022 generated headlines around the world, something that has often been the case — and ironically so — for someone who has never seemed to seek out the spotlight. Yet, while Bonet has often been viewed as enigmatic and somewhat mysterious, she’s also been surprisingly candid about herself. To find out more, read on for an in-depth look at Lisa Bonet and these 21 facts about “The Cosby Show” star.
Her mixed-race heritage wasn’t easy for her as a child
Lisa Bonet was born in 1967, to a white, Jewish mother and a Black father. Her parents split up not long after her birth, and her dad — an opera singer — wasn’t a big part of her life growing up. Back in the late 1960s and early ’70s, mixed-race children had a uniquely tough experience — a fact that Bonet learned once she began attending an upscale public school in Los Angeles. “The world wasn’t ready for what I represented, the merging of these two races,” Bonet explained in an interview with Net-a-Porter. “I didn’t always feel welcome — in my mom’s family, in my school.”
Throughout her childhood, Bonet felt alone. As she quickly discovered, she didn’t fit in with either the Black or white communities, and she didn’t feel accepted by either. “I was stuck in the middle,” Bonet recalled of her experiences growing up in a 1987 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “The Black kids called me an Oreo. The white kids didn’t talk to me. When I went to temple, I was miserable.”
Lisa Bonet landed her breakthrough acting role because of her braces
Lisa Bonet was just a kid when she began gravitating toward acting. Doors opened for her when she began to pursue it professionally; in fact, she was just 16 when she landed her first television role, in a 1983 episode of the medical drama “St. Elsewhere.” It wasn’t long after that she auditioned for “The Cosby Show,” a new family sitcom starring comedian Bill Cosby. “I just remember she had braces and her hair was done in real kid fashion,” Marcy Carsey, one of the series’ producers, recalled when speaking with The Washington Post. “She looked like she had just come straight from class, like she wore exactly what she had worn to school that day … And she read as if she were just doing life.”
In fact, while waiting with other young actors at the audition, Bonet remembered one of the other girls up for the role of Denise Huxtable declaring that she’d never get the part — “Because she has braces,” the girl announced to everyone. “My braces hadn’t even crossed my mind,” Bonet admitted. “And when she said that I was like, I mean, I should just go home now.”
However, Bonet continued to excel at every stage during the audition process, until it was finally time to introduce her to Cosby to gain his seal of approval. “I just remember Bill looking at me and saying, ‘I love your braces,'” Bonet recalled.
Lisa Bonet didn’t expect her career would last more than a decade
Not only was “The Cosby Show” a TV hit, but it also became a groundbreaking cultural phenomenon that ruled television while setting a new standard for the way Black families were depicted on television. One would think being part of such a massively successful show would give any young actor the sense that a long and fruitful acting career lay ahead. Lisa Bonet, however, envisioned her future differently. “I don’t plan to work in this business more than 10 years,” she told The Washington Post in 1987. “I have every intention of finding a castle in Spain, buying a ranch in Montana and then just disappearing.”
Fast forward to the 2020s, and it’s clear that Bonet’s career lasted considerably longer than her teenage self had anticipated. Throughout it all, the only drumbeat to which she’s ever danced has been her own. “I didn’t become an actor to make a point,” she told Interview, declaring that her artistry as an actor transcends all else, race included. “I became an actor to create, and I am an actor before I’m Black,” she said.
