Will Smith on one of his favourite actors: “She has powerful energy”
Though it was tarnished somewhat by directly preceding events, Will Smith reached a monumental career goal in 2022 as he collected his ‘Best Actor’ Academy Award for his portrayal of Richard Williams in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s King Richard. From the humble beginnings of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and his related hip-hop exploits, Smith has proved himself to be a remarkably versatile and dedicated actor over the past three decades.
Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of actors and styles, Smith has honed his craft to become one of the most dynamic performers of his generation. Influenced by screen legends such as Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington, Smith has displayed his ability to seamlessly shift between genres, effortlessly embracing both comedic and dramatic roles.
When Poitier passed away aged 94 in January 2022, Smith wrote a tribute on his Instagram account. He wrote: “An icon, legend, visionary, and true pioneer. Thank you, Sidney Poitier, for breaking down barriers, creating the path and making it possible for there to be a Will Smith! Your legacy is eternal. Rest In Power.”
Smith learned much of his talent from simply watching his heroes on screen, but in the early 1990s, he was introduced to the wonders of method acting. “I did method acting on Six Degrees of Separation. Method acting is when you submerge yourself, confining yourself only to the thoughts of the character. You eat what the character eats, you teach yourself to like the kind of clothes the character likes,” Smith explained in a video posted to his YouTube channel.
“When you do that, you realise Will Smith is a character just like the character’s a character,” he continued. “What you realise, your ego, your personality, is a construct just like the character is a construct. On Six Degrees of Separation, I fell in love with Stockard Channing. A part of it became me.
“As acting exercises, you run through all the different ones until you find the one that hits it for you.”
While Smith will always have a soft spot for his acting heroes like Washington and Poitier, in a 2006 interview with the BBC, the I Am Legend star named Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan when asked about his favourite up-and-coming actors.
“I really wanted to work with her in Hitch, but she was shooting for Bride and Prejudice at the time, and she couldn’t do it,” Smith said. “She has this powerful energy where she doesn’t have to say anything, do anything, she can just stand there. Anything she’s making, I’ll be there.”
Watch Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in a scene from Bride and Prejudice below.
