January 13, 2007
Museum of the Moving Image Salutes Will Smith
The Museum of the Moving Image saluted Will Smith on December 3, 2006 (TV broadcast on January 12, 2007).
Willard Christopher “Will” Smith, Jr. was born on September 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Will gave up a scholarship to MIT to pursue his music career. It was obviously the right move because when he started performing with his friend Jeffrey Townes AKA “DJ Jazzy Jeff” they hit it big with songs like “Summertime” and “Parents Just Don’t Understand”.
As Smith was just about to declare bankruptcy in 1990, NBC signed him to a comedy series, The Fresh Prince of Bel-air which was a show around him. His nickname “Fresh Prince” was given to him because he could charm his way out of trouble growing up.
After his time with The Fresh Prince, he continued with his music career and created albums that most have been in the Top 10 List in the US.
* Big Willie Style (1997) #8 U.S. 9,000,000 copies
* Willennium (1999) #5 U.S. 2,000,000 copies
* Born to Reign (2002) #13 U.S. 500,000 copies
* Greatest Hits (2002) 350,000 copies
* Lost & Found (2005) #6 U.S. 600,000 copies
The Fresh Prince of Bel-air started his very successful acting career filled with some of the number one movies in the past 10 years. Here is a list of most of his movies that he has done that have been high grossing and award winning.
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Bad Boys (1995)
Independence Day (1996)
Men in Black (1997)
Enemy of the State (1998)
Wild Wild West (1999)
Ali (2001)
Men in Black II (2002)
Bad Boys II (2003)
I, Robot (2004)
Shark Tale (2004)
Hitch (2005)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
He turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix to act in Wild Wild West. Also he was considered for the role of John Smith in the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith; Brad Pitt eventually received the role. He was also considered for the role of Willy Wonka in the remake of the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Will married actress Jada Pinkett in 1997 and they have two children: Jaden Christopher Syre (born 1998), his co-star in The Pursuit of Happyness, and Willow Camille Reign (born 2000). In his speech during his recognition for his Moving Image award, he said, “99% is the same as 0% and if you are going to do 99% just stay home because 100% is the only thing that is acceptable.” He also told his wife Jada, “One day I might be good enough for me, but I will never stop giving 100% to be good enough for you.”
Will Smith is an actor/rapper who seems to truly cares about everything that he does and everyone that he comes in contact with. He is one of the best actors that I have seen in the past 10 years and I hope that he continues to grow in his career because the world needs more people like him.
