The directors who saw right through Will Smith

On By Littum

I, Robot - Will Smith - 2004

(Credits: Far Out / 20th Century Fox)

Star power is something that cannot be learned, but it can also be a double-edged sword. Actors who thrive on their reputations for putting bums in seats and posting huge box office numbers run the risk of getting too comfortable and becoming stale, and Will Smith generated enough profits to be activated.

Being one of the most charismatic new talents to emerge in a long time has its perks, which in Smith’s case made him the highest paid actor in Hollywood. He was not an actor but a movie star, with producers and directors inundating him with offers to headline their latest action-packed extravaganza to capitalize on his global appeal and cross-generational popularity.

It worked wonders when Bad Boys, Independence Day, Men in Blackand Enemy of the state combined to bring in billions in ticket sales and establish him as the biggest name in business bar none, only for Smith to fly too close to the sun when he snapped The matrix in favor of Wild Wild West and came crashing down to earth again.

By the turn of the millennium, he was the ultimate A-lister, but he still hadn’t gotten top billing in a drama. There’s only so long any artist can sail through their career without trying a new challenge and detouring into dramatic territory for the first time, as the main act earned a first Oscar nomination as Smith anchored Michael Mann’s Ali.

More blockbuster fluff followed Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, Shark Tale, I, Robotand Hitchand when Smith returned to heavyweight drama again in Gabriele Muccinos The pursuit of happinessthe end result was another Oscar nomination. It wasn’t a coincidence that stripping away the things that made him a household name produced his best work, which wasn’t lost on Smith after he admitted his own insecurities were a contributing factor.

“I’ve always considered myself an average talent, and what I have is a ridiculous, insane obsession with training and preparation,” he shared. IGN before explaining how Mann and Muccino could see his proven moves coming to the surface from a mile away, which neither of them wanted to see.

“Gabriele told me one day that he said, ‘Don’t pose for my camera,'” he continued. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘You’re posing for my camera. You’re making faces like you’re hurt. You’re coming back.’ “I thought, ‘Wow.’

Smith acknowledged that Muccino and Michael Mann “are the two directors that I’ve worked with that know all my tricks, they can see right through me and all the ‘Willisms’ and the things I know how to do to get the audience to laugh, or smile or cry, and they knock those things out of me.” Figuratively speaking, of course, but these Oscar nominations proved it was a valuable tactic.

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