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Rapper-turned-actor Will Smith had one dream pushing him his entire life. That was, to become the biggest star in the world. Obviously, the path was not easy, and he had to make a lot of sacrifices on his way to the top.
One of the most interesting was to let go of some roles in lieu of pursuing more commercial success. The reason was of course he wanted his name to be known in every corner of the world. Basically, he claimed he wanted to play roles that people would offer Tom Cruise.
Also Read:Tom Cruise Saved Will Smith’s $585M Movie That’s Finally Getting a Sequel: “I sent him the script. He sent me back 4 hours of notes”
Will Smith wanted to beat Tom Cruise
Will SmithandTom Cruisestand to be two of the most sought-after actors of current times. And while Cruise achieved that success early on starting with his 1986 blockbuster hitTop Gun, Smith had to struggle a bit more.
Although his first bout of acting inThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Airbrought him two Golden Globes nominations, it wasn’t until his 1995 action movieBad Boysand 1997 cult classic sci-fi flickMen In Black, that he reached a wider audience.
However, even then, he continued to pursue commercial success in his career with movies likeI, Robot, Hancock,I Am Legend, and so on.
He even got Academic Awards nominations for his spectacular performance in movies likeAli, andThe Pursuit of Happyness. However, he still was not completely satisfied. He explained in an interview,
“I wanted to play roles that you would give to Tom Cruise. I wanted to be a superhero.”
And so, even after having a shift in perspective with Quentin Tarantino’sDjango Unchained, he kept pursuing commercial success because did not want to show Black people in that light. He elaborated more, saying,
“In the early part of my career… I didn’t want to show Black people in that light…. And the first time I considered it was Django. But I didn’t want to make a slavery film about vengeance.”
Although he missed out on a few impactful roles because of this decision over the years, he stuck to it. In fact, he even landed his Best Actor Academy Award withKing Richard, where he played the role of Serena Williams’ father. Something that still remains a dream of Tom Cruise.
Thankfully for him, he also landed if not a superhero, but a supervillain tasked with saving the world as DC’s Deadshot inThe Suicide Squad.
Also Read:“I tasted global blood”: Will Smith’s Desire to Beat Tom Cruise Made Him Stray from Acting, Realized After $222M Box-Office Disaster
Will Smith’s perspective changed withEmancipation
As mentioned, Will Smith’s primary motive was to make movies that showcase Black excellence. And after decades of doing that, he finally found it suitable to tell the stories he has gathered over time. He explained,
“The idea is I spent the first half of my life gathering, gathering, gathering, and now the second half of my life is going to be giving it all away.”
What helped him especially was his Apple TV+ movieEmancipation. And while it is based on a real person named Peter, who in a bid to get away from his plantation owners, swam through the swamps of Louisiana, and came back stronger and as a powerful man to free the other slaves.
As such, according to Smith, he finally found a story he could tell that showed the power of Black love. He noted,
“This was one that was about love and the power of Black love. And that was something that I could rock with. We were going to make a story about how Black love makes us invincible.”
As it was always his main incentive to show people through his movies how to be happy in this world, he surely achieved that with this movie.
Not only that, but he also released a tell-all memoir in 2021 calledWill, where he talked about his struggles with his career and personal life in detail. Well, it can be surely said that Will Smith has gotten progressively bolder in his career decisions over the years.
Emancipationis available for streaming on Apple TV+
Also Read:“Tom Cruise is either a cyborg, or there are six of him”: Will Smith Admitted He Can’t Beat Tom Cruise After Miserable Attempt at Outworking the Action Star
Anushree Banerjee
Articles Published :595
Anushree Banerjee is an Anime Writer at FandomWire with over 550 published articles. She has a post-grad in English and years of experience working with some of the biggest companies on the pop culture, and anime scene, such as, Sportskeeda, Pinkvilla, and MovieWeb. Staying on top of everything anime consumes her days, while bingeing on everything horror, and thriller keeps her up at night. Be it superhero flicks from Marvel and DC, or Shonen, and Seinen, like Bleach, The Apothecary Diaries, and Attack on Titan, she can probably state facts about them faster than she can recite her home address.
