“Better than sex”: Will Smith explains why he loves ‘Star Wars’
Looking back over his commendable career, it’s fair to say that Will Smith has done his fair share for the realm of science fiction cinema. Appearing in a number of notable sci-fi movies and franchises has helped build Smith’s reputation, but sadly he has been unable to feature in his beloved Star Wars.
In 1997, Smith helped to birth the brilliant science fiction franchise Men in Black, starring alongside Tommy Lee Jones as a secret government agent who monitors and polices extra-terrestrials. This role proceeded his slightly earlier effort in Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day, but more sci-fi turns were just around the corner.
The 2000s saw some of Smith’s most notable roles in the likes of I, Robot and I Am Legend, showing that the Philadelphia-born actor has always had a penchant for science fiction cinema. In fact, Smith once spoke with the BBC about how he turned down a scholarship to MIT when he got “interested in entertainment”.
“Maths and science have always been huge in my life,” Smith said. “From the time I was five years old, I wanted to be a scientist, and that was really the road my parents were leading me down.” On the precipice of being a teenager, though, Smith gazed upon one of his true cinematic loves for the first time, Star Wars, which inevitably changed everything for him.
According to Smith, Star Wars “really put me into a space where the science fiction element was almost a spiritual connection between the two things,” he said. “That someone could imagine that and put it on the screen and make me feel like that was incredible.” In fact, ever since Smith first saw George Lucas’ creation, he has been “trying to make audiences feel” the very same way he felt.
The first Star Wars movie arrived in 1977 and introduced the world to the battles between Jedi and Sith, the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Before long, Star Wars had become a cultural phenomenon and an initial trilogy was completed over the next few years. Since then, two more mainline trilogies, plus a swathe of offshoot movies, television series, and video games, have been released, making Star Wars one of the biggest cinema franchises in the world.
In another interview with the BBC, Smith had again professed his love for the world of Star Wars, noting, “Star Wars just really spun me out as a child. I couldn’t believe that someone created that. It’s like: ‘Where do you even pull Jabba The Hut from? Where does that even come from?’ So, I’ve always been inspired. I love science fiction movies, and I’ve been chasing Star Wars my entire career.”
In fact, Smith once went as far as to say that watching Star Wars for the first time was better than sex. Speaking with Time, the Bad Boys and Fresh Prince actor explained how he was “blown away” by the special effects of Lucas’ efforts, so much so that even an orgasm could not top it.
“There was nothing that I had experienced in my life that matched that point of ecstasy,” Smith said. “I had sex a few years later. It was close, but no Star Wars.” So, with that in mind, it’s thoroughly clear that Smith likes nothing more than sitting back and revisiting the galaxy far, far away, and has been trying to replicate the experience either professionally or personally for his entire life.
