Where Does Will Smith Go From Here?
Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 7:30PM 
Kieran here. It may be heresy to admit this among other cinephiles, but I like Will Smith. I think he’s a talented actor. On a more personal level, I’m not nearly as irrationally annoyed by him or his children as many seem to be. Earlier this week it was announced that Smith and his Suicide Squad director David Ayer have inked Netflix’s biggest film deal to date with their supernatural police thriller Bright. He was once thought of as the industry’s last true movie star. With both this new project and Suicide Squad (out later this year), one wonders what’s on the horizon for Will Smith...
Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith took center-stage during the #Oscarssowhite controversy that hung a pall over the awards season. Their highly publicized boycott of the ceremony, presumably in response to Smith not receiving a nomination for his performance in Concussion was the cause of much debate. Even some of the staunchest critics of the Academy’s two-year run of all-white acting nominees felt that the Smiths were being hypocritical, given Will Smith’s own assertion that “racism is actually rare” only a couple of months prior to the Oscar nominations being announced. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
It’s naïve to think that Smith suddenly became enlightened to the realities of discrimination in Hollywood after he was passed over and it’s cynical to think that he’s entirely, brazenly self-serving in his attempts to call it out. He does (and has for some time) exist in a very rarified air, after all and he did lose to Black actors on both of his previous Oscar nominations, which may account for somewhat of a blind spot. However you dissect it, Smith didn’t exactly come out of the previous award season with a whole lot of good will.
Smith often feels like a lightning rod in Hollywood and sometimes the criticism is warranted. As stated earlier, I think Will Smith is a very talented. A recent re-watch of his Oscar-nominated turn in 2001’s Ali really threw his talent into sharp relief again. Hopefully Suicide Squad and Bright are both strong showcases for him, suspicious as we all may be in both cases. Looking at Smith’s recent output, fully acknowledging that there are still challenges and prejudices in place in America and therefore Hollywood, I wish he would tap into whatever it was that allowed him to give that performance in Ali. There’s a rare unvarnished, visceral quality to that performance that Smith hasn’t shown us since. Even his forays into adult dramas (The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds, Concussion) have a certain… gloss about them. A veneer. They feel guarded and safe, especially where Smith’s role and performance are concerned. How refreshing would it be to see Smith star in and help produce an exciting new director’s film, really going for something that we’ve never seen from him before? It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally an actor who’s so rooted in our public consciousness shows us new facets of their range as a performer.
Perhaps Smith has no desire to do this. Maybe there’s no incentive. Suicide Squad will surely make all the money and he already has all of the money. But on the off chance that he does want to get to that sweet spot where artistic concerns and commerce somehow reach that ideal marriage in Hollywood, he’s going to have to challenge himself. And I for one look forward to the day when he does so again. The results will certainly be fascinating and they may well be amazing.
Reader Comments (19)
I really like Will and feel his acting abilities are underrated. Thank you for this article. It'd be nice to see him in a great dramatic role.
I think "Collateral Beauty" which is currently filming and slated for release in December may show us whether the serious actor emerges again.
I remember being impressed with Smith way back with "Six Degrees of Separation". That was an interesting performance that called upon him to create a character with layers.
In "Collateral Beauty" he's playing a character who is depressed and possibly suicidal. He has to play restrained but not go with too much pathos. When I read the script it reminded me a little of "About a Boy". I'm hoping he does a straight up dramatic performance with no hammy touches.
That would serve the film and would show he's capable of more.
I still maintain I Am Legend is his best performance.
I thought he was good in Six Degrees of Separation, even if I will always slightly resent him for not being able to kiss a man onscreen and having some bullshit excuse to go along with it. And I get that it was a different time, and that race politics and sexual identity politics had and have awkward intersections, but there's always a small, irrational kernel of resentment that I feel when I think about that.
He is charismatic and talented, with a tendency to lean hard on charisma when talent comes up a tad short, but I think he can be a huge star again. I get the feeling though that it's no longer a priority for him, though what that feeling is based on I can't really say.
I'd recommend he goes to good divorce attorney first.
Agreed that Will Smith is really talented. He has effortless star wattage onscreen (which is not an unworthy thing to praise) and occassionally really goes the extra mile (Ali, I Am Legend) but agree with everything you wrote here essentially.
Breathing rarified curated insular whatever air is so dangerous for everyone... and actors especially I think since they need to stay connected to humanity to make art about it.
Will Smith is charismatic but I don't like his film choices a lot. Does he have one very good/classic film on his resume?
Hannes: The closest thing he has to a classic FILM is probably the original Men in Black.
Wow, I just realized that yeah, he pretty much has nothing in his filmography that will probably stand the test of time. Not even Men in Black, which he probably doesn't even want to be remembered for eventually. Not one of his films has been nominated for Best Picture Oscar, right?
Like Tim Cruise, Will Smith is an undeniable movie star. And I will leave it at that.
Does Will Smith not want to work with auteurs or do they not want to work with him? One reason Ali stands out is because the director was Michael Mann.
He turned down The Matrix and Django, maybe he's not great at picking roles
I've had the impression that Will Smith has been playing it safe for a number of years now. And although he was very good in Concussion, it seemed like the same safe or predictable (or obvious) film choice he has made in the past trying to get nominated.
I was having the same reaction to Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington for several years. They seemed to be coasting, relying on their charisma and the comfort of similarly played characters in repeated films. But then Hanks did Captain Phlilips and Washington did Flight, playing characters that I think challenged their talents in a new way and made me appreciate again how good they can be.
Will Smith needs to step out of the comfort zone of action films and do-gooder parts and try something really different that will get us to notice something new in his acting. Hopefully he can find his Flight or Captain Phillips.
Totally agree with Canada James. I really like Will Smith as a person, but his movies are crappy and generic. He runs the risk of ending up like Tom Cruise - i.e., makes money in the present but no one would bother to watch his films in the future.
Obviously all of you need to see Will Smith in 6 Degrees of Separation. He is great in it as is stockard channing.
Also agree that his best film came out in 1993.
To me, Will Smith has genuine star quality. But as with certain great stars, the baggage they carry and playing it safe detracts...
I think it's perfectly rational to find him and his offspring irritating. Watching him play romantic interest to Margot Robbie in Focus required a moist eyeball and a strong stomach.
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