Will Smith is reflecting on the life classes he’s discovered in current months. The actor made his first crimson carpet look since his notorious Oscars slap on Wednesday on the premiere of his new movie, “Emancipation”.
Smith spoke with ET’s Kevin Frazier on the occasion, and mirrored on how portraying an escaped slave who makes his solution to freedom and a brand new life has resonated with him over the previous few months.
“Peter has been in my coronary heart in a wonderful manner,” shared Smith, who was joined on the premiere by his spouse, Jada Pinkett Smith, and his youngsters.
“The popularity of the connection between struggling and salvation, the conclusion that no one will get out of bearing their cross,” he added. “It’s simply been a very stunning, stunning transformation.”
This marked Smith’s first time talking with ET since the 2022 Oscars, the place he slapped presenter Chris Rock throughout the face after the comic made a joke about Smith’s spouse.
Whereas the slap itself was solely seconds lengthy, the affect of the second lasted for much longer, and has led to quite a few ramifications, together with a 10-year ban on Smith attending the Oscars ceremony — though not a ban on him being nominated or presumably successful one other award.
There’s been vital early Oscars buzz surrounding Smith’s efficiency in Emancipation, and the actor informed ET that performing within the movie proved to be “tough, rugged and uncooked.”
“As an actor, you’e searching for that second if you get it. There’s a magic second, and also you don’t know if you’ll get it,” Smith recalled, including that he discovered that second of connection together with his character after they had been “testing the neck chains.”
“It was in all probability 6 weeks out, and I put it on. That they had old-fashioned replicas. And he put the important thing in and it didn’t work, and he couldn’t get it off,” Smith shared. “And I was locked in it for about quarter-hour, for actual. They’re scrambling round and my thoughts goes loopy with these chains locked on, and all the sudden I understood. I received it. I received a style of what it will need to have felt like.”
“However I had folks scrambling round to get it off me, Peter didn’t,” Smith added.
“Emancipation” comes out in choose theatres Dec. 2, and debuts on Apple TV+ Dec. 9.