Will Smith rigged his career for $$$. Bill Simmons on Will Smith as an actor.

[darkrain]

Last Part

So yeah, Will Smith might be our only movie star right now, but that says more about Hollywood's faults than anything else. Goldman once wrote that, in Hollywood, nobody knows anything. He was wrong. Will Smith figured out where Hollywood was going well before anyone else did. These days, it's all about making alien movies, superhero movies and sequels. Will Smith beat everybody there. He could see the future … and the future sucked. You can't call him a failure because he accomplished exactly what he wanted to accomplish. But shouldn't his career have been better? Didn't he have a responsibility to push himself? Isn't that what good actors are supposed to do?

I keep coming back to Six Degrees of Separation, the biggest gamble he ever made, when everyone doubted that the "Fresh Prince" could pull off a gay con artist in an indie movie. He pulled it off. Within that movie, Smith hits a couple of places that he hasn't hit since: It's a really good performance, a little like Leo in This Boy's Life (same year, by the way) in that you left the theater feeling like you just watched the seeds planted for a meaningful movie career.

Of course, there was a moment in the script when Smith's character had to kiss Anthony Michael Hall's character, only Smith refused. They edited the movie so that, as Smith leans in for the "kiss," we're seeing him from behind and hear a smooch … only it never actually happened. Even at 25 years old, Will Smith was thinking ahead. He didn't want to film a scene that could be thrown back in his face later. Or, he was afraid to kiss a dude. Or, he knew he couldn't play anyone other than himself — as the past two decades have pretty much backed up — so kissing another man in a movie was impossible because he's Will Smith and Will Smith doesn't kiss guys. It's a totally inauthentic moment in a performance that, otherwise, was totally authentic.

If you think Pursuit of Happyness or Ali is Will Smith's defining performance, you would be wrong. It's Six Degrees of Separation. Everything is on display: his once-in-a-generation charisma, his acting chops, his sense of humor, his sense of the moment … and, most of all, his self-awareness. He made Six Degrees to prove he wasn't just a rapper-turned-sitcom star, that he could actually act, that he cared about his craft. You know, as long as he didn't have to kiss another dude. It was a chance, but a calculated one. He never took another one. Now he's our one and only movie star, according to William Goldman. There's a lesson here.

Source:http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...n-reynolds-smith-perception-success-hollywood

 

[Inglewood_B]

damn, that's... damn.

 

[Disciplined InSight]

Great read.. Basically Will is using the same strategy in Hollywood like your favorite commercial music artist in their respective genres (whether it's Hip Hop/ R & B etc.) and eating well off that shit.

 

[VIBE]

LOL so what, he's a smart man and makes good movies, dudes just stay salty as fuck over anyone's success. FOH, Will Smith is the GOAT.

 

[NAWLEDGE_REIGNS]

Will Smith Is Doing The Movies Will Smith Should Be Doing....Big Budgeted CGI Laden Summer Blockbusters...I Never Been A Fan Of His Dramatic Performances ....His Strength Lies In Comedies/Action Films With Flashy Sequences And Cutesy One Liners.....He Has Charisma To Pull Those Off...

 

[marc123]

I never liked that nigga

 

[rapmastermind]

All that article proved is how smart Will is. What the article doesn't talk about is how Will was a Rapper 1st and a Black Man in Hollywood. Sorry but that is toxic poison for box office success. Will was smart by not limiting himself in Genre's. The problem with Denzel and Leo for awhile is that all they did was Dramatic roles. Will has Done Action, Drama, Comedy, Animation, Sci-Fi, he does it all. During his record breaking 8 straight 100 million dollar run, Will hit 6 different genre's. Also when will played a pretty sick guy in "7 pounds" it was one his lowest grossing movie in years but it did over 150 Million WW.

I do think Will needs to take more risk with acting but if you notice most of Will's dramatic roles are the lowest grossing of his career. The fact is Will has his lane and it works for him. So he didn't rig anything, he played his cards right and became the biggest star in Hollywood as a BLACK MAN who was a rapper. I can do nothing but salute him. MIB 3 is already over 500 Million, his next movie "After Earth" will be a success also. Will really can't lose, he's smart with his choices.

 

[rapmastermind]

Here's a full breakdown of Will's Box Office. He has had 13 100 Million Dollar Films in 20 years which is a record. The fact is people should study Will moves cause by not limiting yourself to specific genre's you have a chance to have better box office results. Also people need to get over Will turning down Django. QT isn't GOD, if Will doesn't want to work with him that's his business. What if Django turns out to suck? we don't know but I know one thing is for sure. Django ain't doing MIB3 numbers so Will was able to come back on top after taking 4 years off.
http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=willsmith.htm

 

[rip.dilla]

I watched MIB3 on IMAX 3D

The wrinkles starting to appear on Will's face

Eddie Murphy was once the world's biggest movie star, but roles he kept on picking ...

 

[Shizlansky]

Pursuit of Happiness

I Am Legend

7 Pounds

Hitch

I think Will Smith murked them roles.

He's one if the most diverse actors of all-time IMO

 

[young_reezy]

I get the premise of the article, I do agree somewhat, but at the end of the day can you blame will for capitalizing off the system?

 

[KNiGHTS]

Don't forget dude turned a full scholarship to M.I.T. He's not the typical "rapper-turned-actor." Furthermore, this is blatant hating.

Props on the 6 Degrees thing, though. I thought for sure he kissed dude. Will even undid Chappelle's theory on how they always want to punk a black man by making him do something gay (cross dressing, wearing a dress, being gay, etc.).

 

[sdca]

Will is a star. This article was an interesting read, but kind of harsh!

This sports writer lost me, when using DiCaprio as an example of what Will's career should've been.

Leo's movies are diverse, but he acts the same way in ALL of them. So he isn't exactly 'stretching himself as an actor' either.

They both play in some seriously boring movies though... all while staying in their lanes.

 

[RawAce]

i was about to type

then i saw the kate upton gif

completely forgot what i was gonna type

thats a bad white bytch

 

[Copper]

Article summary: "im hating cause will smith making money and I want him to do movies that I want him to do that dont make as much money as his movies normally make"

 

[Disciplined InSight]

The writer (who is Caucasian by the way) wants to pigeonhole Will into with making dramatic flicks because he thinks drama roles=great actor.

 

[Copper]

Bad Boys 2 >>>> Revolutionary Road and The Aviator

Ali >>> Blood diamond and Shutter Island

 

[wmj710]

Sounds like will smith took control of his career planned it out, and was a sucsess. I can see why that would upset some people.

 

[wmj710]

I'm sure other actors have tried the same thing with out as much sucsess.

 

[FroHawke]

For an actor, counting in the fact that a black actor in Hollywood to have had such a run is a remarkable, remarkable achievement. The guy was brilliant in his strategy and played it to perfection....

You'll never hear a bad word about him on set because he knows that in Hollywood, if ur known as a difficult black actor, its pretty much a curtain call for you. Dude has not made a misstep, I hear he treats all his castmembers, aides very well.

More actors should learn from him....but it's hard when you cant match his talent.