Actor Will Smith says he would understand if audiences are not ready to see him on the big screen so soon after the infamous Oscars slap earlier this year.
On Monday, Smith spoke to FOX 5 DC's Kevin McCarthy about his new film, "Emancipation," which is set to be released in theaters on December 2 and starts streaming on Apple TV+ on December 9.
It is his first major project since he slapped Chris Rock on stage during the Academy Awards ceremony in March after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Following the incident, Smith publicly apologized to Rock and was banned from the Oscars for 10 years. While Smith also resigned from the Academy, he is still eligible to be nominated and win.
When asked what he would tell people who aren't ready to see him on the big screen following the slap, Smith said he would respect that choice but said he hopes his personal actions don't diminish the hard work of the team behind the film.
"I completely understand that, if someone is not ready I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready," he told McCarthy. "My deepest concern is my team... the people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don't penalize my team."
"I'm hoping that the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story, you know, I'm hoping that the good that can be done would open people's hearts at a minimum to see and recognize and support the incredible artists in and around this film," Smith added.
"Emancipation" centers around Smith's character, Peter, an enslaved man who escapes a Louisiana plantation and makes his way north. According to Apple, the film was inspired by1863 photos of a man whose bare back was mutilated from whippings by his enslavers — brutal images that helped coalesce public sentiment in opposition to slavery.
Willard Carroll "Will" Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has enjoyed success in television, film, and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards.
In the late 1980s, Smith achieved modest fame as a rapper under the name The Fresh Prince. In 1990, his popularity increased dramatically when he starred in the popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran for six seasons (1990-96) on NBC and has been syndicated consistently on various networks since then. After the series ended, Smith moved from television to film, and ultimately starred in numerous blockbuster films. He is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office, eleven consecutive films gross over $150 million internationally, and eight consecutive films in which he starred open at the number one spot in the domestic box office tally.
Smith is ranked as the most bankable star worldwide by Forbes. As of 2014, 17 of the 21 films in which he has had leading roles have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over $100 million each, five taking in over $500 million each in global box office receipts. As of 2014, his films have grossed $6.6 billion at the global box office. He has received Best Actor Oscar nominations for Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness.
Smith was born in West Philadelphia, the son of Caroline (Bright), a Philadelphia school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith, Sr., a refrigeration engineer. He grew up in West Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood, and was raised Baptist. He has three siblings, sister Pamela, who is four years older, and twins Harry and Ellen, who are three years younger. Smith attended Our Lady of Lourdes, a private Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia. His parents separated when he was 13, but did not actually divorce until around 2000.
Smith attended Overbrook High School. Though widely reported, it is untrue that Smith turned down a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); he never applied to college because he "wanted to rap." Smith says he was admitted to a "pre-engineering [summer] program" at MIT for high school students, but he did not attend. According to Smith, "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."
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