Nearly nine months after his infamous Oscar slap of Chris Rock, Will Smith is opening up about an unscripted moment in his new film Emancipation.
The 54-year-old actor appeared in a clip for a new episode of his family’s Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk on Tuesday, the first time he takes over the Red Table from his wife Jada, with the full episode arriving on Wednesday.
The Oscar-winning actor – who was snubbed by the Golden Globes for Emancipation – revealed to his children Trey, 30, Jaden, 24, and Willow, 22, that an unspecified actor SPAT in his face for a scene.
After: Nearly nine months after his infamous Oscar slap of Chris Rock, Will Smith is opening up about an unscripted moment in his new film Emancipation
Snubbed: The Oscar-winning actor – who was snubbed by the Golden Globes for Emancipation – revealed to his children Trey, 30, Jaden, 24, and Willow, 22, that an unspecified actor SPAT in his face for a scene. Will Smith says actor spit on him while filming ‘Emancipation
‘As the years have gone on I’ve gotten more and more locked into these characters for longer periods of time,’ Smith began.
‘And it’s just the weight of this story, the weight of these experiences — the quality of these actors. It was emotionally, it was physically, it was spiritually taxing,’ he continued.
‘One of the first days on set, there is a scene with one of the actors and he leans down in my face and says, ‘You a cold one, ain’t you?’ and then he ad-libbed…,’ Will said, before turning to his daughter and imitating the actor spitting on him.
Locked in: ‘As the years have gone on I’ve gotten more and more locked into these characters for longer periods of time,’ Smith began
First: ‘One of the first days on set, there is a scene with one of the actors and he leans down in my face and says, ‘You a cold one, ain’t you?’ and then he ad-libbed…,’ Will said, before turning to his daughter and imitating the actor spitting on him
The actor shared his outlandish reaction to the spit, which made his kids laugh around the table.
‘I was like, “Makeup!” No, but it was like … I was like, Whoa, every actor on this set was taking it really, really seriously,’ Will admitted.
During his press tour for Emancipation, Smith admitted that he lost sleep over his Oscar slap of Chris Rock, wondering if it would affect his film’s Oscar chances.
Reaction: The actor shared his outlandish reaction to the spit, which made his kids laugh around the table
Serious: ‘I was like, “Makeup!” No, but it was like … I was like, Whoa, every actor on this set was taking it really, really seriously,’ Will admitted
‘The only discomfort my heart has around that is that so many people have done spectacular work on this film,’ Smith says.
‘My hope is that my team isn’t penalized at all for my actions. I think (director) Antoine (Fuqua) and (cinematographer) Robert (Richardson) and Ben (Foster) and Charmaine (Bingwa) — everyone has done such spectacular work,’ he added.
‘I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve,’ he added.
Discomfort: ‘The only discomfort my heart has around that is that so many people have done spectacular work on this film,’ Smith says
Lost sleep: ‘I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve,’ he added
While it’s unclear if Smith will be nominated for his work in Emancipation – based on the true story of a slave known as ‘Whipped Peter’ whose scourged back photo provided the world proof of slave owners’ cruelty – he won’t be able to accept an Oscar in person if he were to win.
Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the organization enacted a 10-year ban from attending the Oscar ceremony after the slap.
Smith added that he had seen the famous ‘Whipped Peter’ photos as a child, though he came to learn much more about him.
Whipped Peter: While it’s unclear if Smith will be nominated for his work in Emancipation – based on the true story of a slave known as ‘Whipped Peter’ whose scourged back photo provided the world proof of slave owners’ cruelty – he won’t be able to accept an Oscar in person if he were to win
More: Smith added that he had seen the famous ‘Whipped Peter’ photos as a child, though he came to learn much more about him
‘I had seen the image of Whipped Peter as a child, but as his story started to come into focus, I was moved in all of the most beautiful ways,’ adding the screenplay by Bill Collage was, ‘one of the greatest reads.’
‘When you look at the brutality that he suffered, and then realizing that through that he was able to sustain faith, gratitude, and love in the face of those kinds of atrocities — I knew that I wanted to learn from Peter,’ Smith added.
Emancipation was released in theaters on December 2 and debuted on the Apple TV Plus streaming service on December 9.
Released: Emancipation was released in theaters on December 2 and debuted on the Apple TV Plus streaming service on December 9
