Will Smith on ‘repairing’ his marriage to Jada Pinkett, quitting hip hop and paying homage to Robin Williams in Disney’s Aladdin
The Hollywood superstar opens up about fears of failing as a father and husband, feeling trapped by his reputation, taking a two-year break from work – and the secret to a happy marriage
1. His confidence comes from hard work, not talent
My biggest talent is making things look easy. That’s my g oal, to look so smooth out there that you might think I’m the coolest thing alive, but deep down I’m sweating like mad trying to get it right. Everything I’ve accomplished in life is the result of a psychotic drive and hard work.
My confidence doesn’t come from knowing that I’m more talented than anyone else, because there are a lot of people out there with a lot more talent than I could ever dream of having. My confidence comes from knowing that I will worker harder than any man alive to accomplish my goal. I will work at something morning to night, day after day, until I master it – whether it’s a song, a film role or learning to be a decent golfer. I’m one relentless dude.
I’m living proof of how one person with limited talent can make something special out of his life by putting his spirit to work … Nothing stands in my way
2. He tried hard not to compete with Robin Williams’ portrayal of the Genie, when filming Aladdin
I watched the [Disney animated] movie a few times. I saw how Robin Williams infused the character with a timeless version of himself, so I said to myself, ‘What if I just infuse the character with a timeless version of myself?’ And then that opened up for me … hip-hop, it opened up fashion. Because the Genie is timeless, you get to say and do anything, so I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was in homage to Robin Williams but was musically different, and the flavour of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane versus trying to compete.
The biggest challenge was being able to find a way to not make it jarring and disturbing by how different it would be. [I wanted] to make people feel at home while they were getting something new and special. People have such a warm spot in their heart for these Disney movies … so I was really concerned about being the dude that messed up the Genie.
3. This is why he thinks people adore him
I shouldn’t really be answering that, but I think if there’s one reason people respond to me it’s that I create a positive wavelength. I won’t allow negative vibrations and negative energy to affect me. I won’t give in to that. If someone’s moaning about their life, I’ll sit down with them and tell them exactly how they should get off their butts and change their life.
I’m not saying that everything in life is that simple. We all know it’s not easy. But what I’m exceptionally gifted at doing is in sending out signals that 90 per cent of the battle is in our heads. I’m living proof of how one person with limited talent can make something special out of his life by putting his spirit to work and not letting obstacles stand in his way. Nothing stands in my way. Life’s all there for the taking.