Will Smith learned the determination needed for his latest role firsthand.
Just moments after the 53-year-old actor took home the trophy for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the 2022 SAG Awards, he exclusively shared with E! News just how much his groundbreaking portrayal of Richard Williams meant to him.
Explaining that Richard’s daughter Venus Williams personally thanked him for “telling the world the truth about [her] daddy,” he described his own dad as also being “that dreamer” that stayed motivated, even in the face of doubt.
“Everybody told him they couldn’t do it,” he tearfully told E!’s Francesca Amiker of his dad, Willard C. Smith Sr., who died in 2016 at age 76. “It was stupid. It’s like, no respect and no support and they just did it from the muscle.”
The King Richard actor, who opened up about the complicated dynamic between him and his dad in his memoir, noted Williams and his own father, who was a music promoter, had some aspects in common.
“Some of the tactics seemed unloving,” he said, “but they were survival tactics that they had to use, they had to employ in the love and service of their family.”
Added Smith, “And they didn’t care what other people thought about it.”
For the actor, who has played countless roles including Muhammad Ali and Chris Gardner, he feels the most grateful for his latest. As he told E!, “It’s a beautiful time in my life and in my career.”
In the 2021 biographical drama film, Smith plays Williams, the famed coach of his daughters Venus and Serena Williams. And as Smith noted in his acceptance speech, stepping into their father’s shoes was an honor he’ll never forget.
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