If not for The Slap that marred Will Smith’s Best Actor Oscar victory for King Richard last March, Emancipation would surely be at the forefront of the awards conversation.
28.11.2022 - 21:15 / usmagazine.com
Acknowledging the hesitation. Ahead of the release of Emancipation — his first movie since he infamously slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars — Will Smith is getting candid about the type of reaction he anticipates from fans.
“I completely understand that if someone is not ready, I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready,” the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum, 53, shared on Good Day DC on Sunday, November 27, when asked about how fans will respond to the film. “My deepest concern is my team, you know? [Director] Antoine [Fuqua] has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career. … The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team. At this point, that’s what I’m working for. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
The Pursuit of Happyness star, who won best actor for King Richard the same evening he smacked Rock, 57, on stage, added: “I’m hoping that the material — the power of the film, the timeliness of the story — I’m hoping that the good that can be done would, you know, open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognize and support the incredible artists in and around this film.”
During the same interview, Fuqua, 56, weighed in on the controversy surrounding Smith, who portrays runaway slave “Whipped Peter” in the historical drama.
“The film to me is bigger than that moment,” the director told Good Day DC. “Four hundred years of slavery is bigger than one moment. My hope is that people will see it that way and watch the movie and be swept away with the great performance by Will and all the real hard work that the whole crew did.”
The filmmaker previously claimed that the brutality and intensity of
If not for The Slap that marred Will Smith’s Best Actor Oscar victory for King Richard last March, Emancipation would surely be at the forefront of the awards conversation.
“I didn’t want to make a slavery film about vengeance,” Will Smith told GQ in 2021 to explain his much-lamented decision to turn down the title role in “Django Unchained.” “This was one that was about love,” he continued to explain why he finally felt he could make a film about slavery. After years of avoiding cinematic portrayals of this dark chapter in African-American life, that project is Antoine Fuqua’s “Emancipation.” READ MORE: ‘Emancipation’: Will Smith “Completely Understands” If People Aren’t Ready To Support Him But Hopes New Film Is Still Embraced The task he set out to achieve is more complicated than it might initially appear.
Emancipation on November 30. The evening marked the family's first red carpet appearance since the infamous and ensuing scandal.Willow wore a show-stopping pair of Stella McCartney statement trousers embellished with crystal-studded hip cut-outs for the occasion. She kept the rest of her look minimal and monochromatic with a cropped black vest and platform creepers.
Showing their support. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith walked their first red carpet together since the actor made headlines for slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.
Will Smith is out and about promoting the hell out of his new drama, “Emancipation,” which Apple is pushing heavily this awards season. And as you might expect, whenever he is interviewed, not only does he get the chance to talk about the film, but he has to give an explanation/apology for his actions earlier this year at the Oscars when he slapped Chris Rock on stage.
, Smith appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah to promote his upcoming film Emancipation and discuss how he's spent his year post-slap.Noah immediately turned his attention Smith's starring role in Emancipation, a slavery epic from director Antoine Fuqua about Whipped Peter—an escaped slave whose heavily scarred back was photographed and became one of the most graphic depictions of slavery, helping to galvanize abolitionists to end the institution once and for all. “Emancipation is not the kind of film we would expect to see you in as Will Smith,” said host Trevor Noah.
An emotional Will Smith revisited Oscar night with Trevor Noah on Monday by explaining what drove him to slap Chris Rock in front of millions of viewers.
Will Smith is sharing his thoughts about people who might not be ready to see his new film Emancipation after his infamous Oscars slap.