MissAshley

I cried and I'm not ashamed to say it lol....I actually teared up a few times, but during two specific scenes the tears actually fell, it's hard not to react in some way to this film.

critics be damned...that was a good movie. Will & Jaden both did a great job.

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/ms_gins/s.../home.aspx?pg=1 pics here ^(exact link too long to post) the show taped today to air tomorrow, check the tv thread for talk show appearances

I wrote that this is his second nomination, considering it is his second nomination for Best Actor, I think I know what I'm talking about :sipread:

you can just go to the video section on http://www.accesshollywood.com I saw these videos there a few days ago.

"Babel" leads Golden Globes with 7 nominations Dec 14, 2006 — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Babel," a movie that explores cultural gaps among people around the world, earned seven nominations for Golden Globe awards on Thursday, including one for best film drama, to lead all other films. Also on the list for top movie drama were crime thriller "The Departed," which earned six nominations overall, along with "Bobby," "Little Children" and "The Queen." "Dreamgirls," which scored five nominations overall, was nominated for best movie musical or comedy, along with "Little Miss Sunshine," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Thank You For Smoking" and "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." The Golden Globe awards are given out annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and are a key indicator of which movies will compete for Oscars, the film industry's top honors. Nominees for best actor in a film drama were topped by Leonardo DiCaprio for two movies, "Blood Diamond" and "The Departed." He is joined by Peter O'Toole for "Venus," Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness" and Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland." The nominees for best actress in a film drama were Penelope Cruz for Spanish film "Volver," Maggie Gyllenhaal for "Sherrybaby," and three British actresses, Kate Winslet in "Little Children," Helen Mirren for "The Queen" and Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal. Golden Globe winners will be named in a ceremony in Beverly Hills on January 15. The Oscars are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and those winners will be named on February 25. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2725943

Do I think nepotism had anything to do with him being cast? no. Do I think he would've been interested/auditioned if Will wasn't in the film? no, considering that's how he found out about it (Will was reading the script one night). If you read about Jaden's casting Will & Jada really weren't taking him seriously(at first) when he said he could play the part, and casting directors were giving him such a hard time (he had to audition like six different times) they almost didn't let him do it. I read something Will said either you want him or you don't, you're not just gonna beat up on him b/c he's my son. They told him early on he may not get the part, and from what i've been hearing he worked hard for it, of course it's gonna look like nepotism but from what i've been reading it happened by accident more than anything else.

Broadcast Film Critics nominations announced 'Babel,' 'Departed,' 'Dreamgirls,' 'Sunshine' earn seven nods each By ANNA MARIE DE LA FUENTE, MICHAEL SPEIER, MICHAEL SPEIER "Babel," "The Departed," "Dreamgirls" and "Little Miss Sunshine" tied with seven noms each -- including the top feature award -- as the Broadcast Film Critics announced its nominees for the org's 12th Critics Choice Award. The other nominees for 2006's top pic are "Blood Diamond," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "Little Children," "Notes on a Scandal," "The Queen" and "United 93." Two "firsts" highlight the categories: Leonardo DiCaprio became the first thesp to score two noms in the actor category -- for "Departed" and "Blood Diamond" -- and "Letters From Iwo Jima" is the first pic to snare nominations in both the picture and foreign-language film categories. Other noteworthy noms include "Apocalypto" for foreign-language film and Robert Altman's last pic, "A Prairie Home Companion," for acting ensemble. Joining DiCaprio in the actor category are Ryan Gosling ("Half Nelson"), Peter O'Toole ("Venus"), Will Smith ("The Pursuit of Happyness") and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland"). For lead actress, Penelope Cruz ("Volver"), Judi Dench ("Notes on a Scandal"), Helen Mirren ("The Queen"), Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") and Kate Winslet ("Little Children") are the contenders. And the nominees are... PICTURE: Babel Blood Diamond The Departed Dreamgirls Letters from Iwo Jima Little Children Little Miss Sunshine Notes on a Scandal The Queen United 93 ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio - "Blood Diamond" Leonardo DiCaprio - "The Departed" Ryan Gosling - "Half Nelson" Peter O'Toole - "Venus" Will Smith - "The Pursuit of Happyness" Forest Whitaker - "The Last King of Scotland" ACTRESS: Penelope Cruz - "Volver" Judi Dench - "Notes on a Scandal" Helen Mirren - "The Queen" Meryl Streep - "The Devil Wears Prada" Kate Winslet - "Little Children" SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ben Affleck - "Hollywoodland" Alan Arkin - "Little Miss Sunshine" Adam Beach - "Flags of Our Fathers" Djimon Hounsou - "Blood Diamond" Eddie Murphy - "Dreamgirls" Jack Nicholson - "The Departed" SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Adriana Barraza - "Babel" Cate Blanchett - "Notes on a Scandal" Jennifer Hudson - "Dreamgirls" Rinko Kikuchi - "Babel" Catherine O'Hara - "For Your Consideration" Emma Thompson - "Stranger Than Fiction" ACTING ENSEMBLE: Babel Bobby The Departed Dreamgirls Little Miss Sunshine A Prairie Home Companion DIRECTOR: Bill Condon - "Dreamgirls" Clint Eastwood - "Letters from Iwo Jima" Stephen Frears - "The Queen" Paul Greengrass - "United 93" Martin Scorsese - "The Departed" WRITER: Michael Arndt - "Little Miss Sunshine" Guillermo Arriaga - "Babel" Todd Field and Tom Perrotta - "Little Children" Zach Helm - "Stranger Than Fiction" William Monahan - "The Departed" Peter Morgan - "The Queen" ANIMATED FEATURE: "Cars" "Flushed Away" "Happy Feet" "Monster House" "Over the Hedge" YOUNG ACTOR: Cameron Bright - "Thank You For Smoking" Joseph Cross - "Running With Scissors" Paul Dano - "Little Miss Sunshine" Freddie Highmore - "A Good Year" Jaden Christopher Syre Smith - "The Pursuit of Happyness" YOUNG ACTRESS: Ivana Baquero - "Pan's Labyrinth" Abigail Breslin - "Little Miss Sunshine" Shareeka Epps - "Half Nelson" Dakota Fanning - "Charlotte's Web" Keke Palmer - "Akeelah and the Bee" COMEDY MOVIE: Borat For Your Consideration Little Miss Sunshine The Devil Wears Prada Thank You For Smoking FAMILY FILM (LIVE ACTION): Akeelah and the Bee Charlotte's Web Flicka Lassie Pirates of the Caribbean 2 PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Elizabeth I The Librarian Nightmares & Dreamscapes The Ron Clark Story When the Levees Broke FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Apocalypto Days of Glory Letters from Iwo Jima Pan's Labyrinth Volver Water SONG: "I Need to Wake Up" - Melissa Etheridge - "An Inconvenient Truth" "Listen" - Beyonce - "Dreamgirls" "My Little Girl" - Tim McGraw - "Flicka" "The Neighbor" - Dixie Chicks - "Shut Up & Sing" "Never Gonna Break My Faith" - Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige - "Bobby" "Ordinary Miracle" - Sarah McLachlan - "Charlotte's Web" SOUNDTRACK: Babel Cars Dreamgirls Happy Feet Marie Antoinette COMPOSER: Philip Glass - "The Illusionist" Clint Mansell - "The Fountain" Thomas Newman - "The Good German" Gustavo Santaolalla - "Babel" Howard Shore - "The Departed" Hans Zimmer - "The Da Vinci Code" DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: An Inconvenient Truth Shut Up & Sing This Film Is Not Yet Rated Who Killed the Electric Car? Wordplay http://www.variety.com/article/VR111795552...3&cs=1#noms ---------------------------------- congrats to them both, Golden Globe noms to be announced Thursday :thumbsup:

EW scans here guys: http://sammie323.blogspot.com/2006/12/ente...er-15-2006.html

in case you guys missed the first post about new clips from the movie: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808722062/trailer personally I think Oprah had better ones on her show, lol but it gives us something to look forward to.

Will Smith defied Hollywood expectations and became an international superstar. Now, in ''The Pursuit of Happyness,'' he turns his image upside down -- with a little help from his son, Jaden by Neil Drumming t's a Friday afternoon at a family-style restaurant outside Baltimore. The place is nearly empty and, apart from a burly bodyguard named Mike posted at the door, nothing remotely glamorous would appear to be taking place. Even Will Smith is hunched as unassumingly as possible over a cup of coffee. The conversation has turned to his friendship and rivalry with Tom Cruise, and the actor, ordinarily a perpetual-motion machine, starts answering questions slowly, feeling his way as he tends to do when addressing delicate matters like race, religion, or, apparently, close friends who suffer grand public image crises. ''We never talk about competition,'' says Smith, 38, who's in town visiting with his wife's family for Thanksgiving. ''But we mark ourselves off of each other. Movie stars are becoming extinct, and Tom and I are helping one another.'' It's jarring to hear Smith refer to himself as a movie star. For the past hour or so, he's been effortlessly affable and grounded. With a drab olive sweatshirt drowning his surprisingly lanky frame and his short-cropped hair uniformly flecked with silver, he's more like a gabby favorite cousin than one of the planet's biggest box office draws. ''His wedding was world news,'' he continues, and seems poised to launch into the inevitable defense of Cruise's privacy. ''I love that, but I'm jealous.'' Wait a minute. Jealous? ''I am sooooo jealous of him right now!'' Suddenly, Smith is roaring like a kid who just lost at Mario Kart. ''World news! Iraq and Tom. I'm like, Dude, you're beating on me right now!'' Unlike others in his stratosphere who sue tabloids and bristle at paparazzi, Smith has no problem being known and beloved around the world. He's just tired of being known for one thing. ''For 80 percent of my career,'' he says, ''it's been the hip-hop persona. That dude from Men in Black is almost indistinguishable from the Fresh Prince.'' In his latest film, The Pursuit of Happyness, Smith sidelines his signature bravado to play Chris Gardner, a real-life salesman and single father who, before finding fortune as a stockbroker, struggled just to feed and house his young son, who's played by Smith's own son Jaden, now 8. Back in the '80s, Gardner and his boy spent a year sleeping in shelters and train station restrooms in San Francisco while he pursued a lowly internship at a brokerage house. Gardner's gamble eventually paid off — a good omen for Smith, because taking the part was a risk all its own. When the actor's name first came up in meetings, Gardner was ambivalent: ''Honestly, I was like, 'Will Smith? Man, I don't know.' He had just never done anything like this. You think of Will, and you think of aliens, spacecraft, lots of violence, guns, fast cars. Come on!'' Which is precisely why Smith pursued Happyness. ''I've turned a corner,'' he says, insisting the role is not an isolated departure, but the beginning of a move away from his ''safety zone.'' In addition to being safe, that zone happened to be stacked high with cash. Between 1996 and 2004, Smith headed up so many summer blockbusters that the month of July was just presumed to belong to him. He scored with Independence Day, Bad Boys II, Men in Black I and II, and I, Robot. Even when he turned in a half-baked performance, he cleaned up at the box office. ''I got cocky,'' says Smith of the ''failure'' Wild Wild West (which grossed $114 million). ''I was at the point where if we just called it Big Willie Weekend and put it out on July 4th, then it's done. Hang it up. It's a wrap.'' During that period, a peculiar thing happened: Smith became a bankable star not just in the States, but all over the world, gaining admission to a private club generally restricted to white guys named Tom. It was a level of stardom no black man had ever attained — or was ever expected to. he myth, says James Lassiter, ''is that African Americans mean nothing at the box office overseas.'' Lassiter has been Smith's manager since their days hanging out in Jazzy Jeff's basement in West Philadelphia; their production company, Overbrook Entertainment, is named after the high school they attended. ''Unfortunately, it is a myth that has been perpetuated and now it's ingrained in the DNA of these studios.'' Lassiter says he and Smith ran up against the ''myth'' early on. But because they had already sold out rap concerts worldwide, and had seen the proliferation of hip-hop — i.e., African-American youth culture — they knew there were plenty of people outside the U.S. who would be receptive to a black movie star, especially one who came directly from that scene. ''I think it's a generational thing,'' says Lassiter. ''I've spent time with international distributors, and some of them are caught in a time warp. A 60-year-old distributor who thinks that no one will go see a black actor in a movie — he's speaking from his generation. He's not speaking to his 30-year-old son or his 15-year-old grandson.'' After wrapping Bad Boys in 1994, Smith reportedly urged producer Jerry Bruckheimer to let him promote the movie overseas. Despite its urban themes and R rating, the film pulled in $76 million on top of its $66 million domestic gross. Now Smith and Lassiter try to launch films in new markets like South Africa (Ali) or Russia (I, Robot) whenever possible. They've even gotten the studios down for the cause. ''When we did Hitch,'' says Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal, ''it was a front-and-center goal for all of us to break the stereotype that you couldn't do well overseas with a romantic comedy with African Americans. I think it was shattered.'' Some might argue that the stereotype wasn't shattered at all, that Smith — a perfect storm of a star, combining macho cool, boyish charm, and hip-hop style — simply became the exception that proves the rule. Is it possible that he's the only black actor able to cross international boundaries? ''That is not the case,'' Lassiter says. ''Immediately, people go, 'Oh, Will is different.' He's absolutely not different. We can't buy into that. Chris Tucker proved it in [Rush Hour]. You take the right movie and you go around the world and you sell it and it will work.'' Smith thinks it's just a matter of elbow grease. ''The big issue is, we don't go,'' he says of his fellow African-American actors. ''I've had conversations with Martin [Lawrence]. I've had conversations with Eddie [Murphy] and Denzel [Washington]. It's long and it's hard to do, to trudge around the world for six weeks or seven weeks. And you don't get paid for that directly. Nobody wants to go — not even white actors, like Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler. I'm like, Are you crazy? I can match or double my U.S. box office outside of the country because I go.'' Smith has as much reason to stay home as anyone. He and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, 35, have two children, Jaden and Willow, 6. He also has a son, Trey, 14, from a previous marriage. So why the relentless drive to maintain his fame? It's not about his bank account. He says he hasn't done a movie strictly for the money in years. Where does the ambition come from, then? ''I am dedicated to doing good,'' Smith says, sounding unapologetically earnest, like he's saving the world in ID4. ''When I wake up every day, I want the world to be better because I woke up today.'' And even though Smith hasn't converted to Scientology — ''I'm riding with Jesus,'' he says — he does cite Cruise as a role model. ''Tom Cruise wants the world to be better. He's committed beyond his own safety, his own protection.'' Smith won't get specific about how exactly he wants to make the world a better place: It involves some combination of storytelling, charitable acts, and an inspiring public image. Duane Martin, who has known Smith since they were both fledgling sitcom stars in the early '90s, finds Smith's example even more inspiring than Cruise's. ''Will is a minority,'' says Martin, who currently stars in All of Us, a CW sitcom exec-produced by Smith. ''Minorities all over the world relate to him and they marvel at him. When Tom is done, you're going to get another Tom coming through. But you don't get a Will coming through very often.'' Race is almost never overtly addressed in Smith's movies. It's only when you try to imagine what his characters would have been like if played by white actors that you see how freely he mines the black experience in his acting. From beatboxing with Biz Markie in Men in Black II to trash-talking with Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys to wearing his beanie cocked to one side in I, Robot, Smith lets his roots show. ''It's in him,'' says Martin. ''He hasn't forgotten.'' The Pursuit of Happyness does not confront race relations directly, but it's no small detail that Smith's character, in trying to claw his way back to dignity and self-sufficiency, butts up against a cadre of rich white men holding all the cards. It would have been easy for Smith to call attention to the color dynamics and make the film an indictment of a system that keeps minorities at the lowest levels. However, when Smith first heard Gardner's story (it had aired on 20/20 in 2003), he saw it as proof that, in fact, the system works. Gardner was, after all, a black man who started with little, played the game hard, and made it. The story resonated for Smith, who'd gone from cutting demos in his friend's basement to winning the first-ever Grammy for a rap song: ''You tell me in what other country a young black dude from West Philly who didn't go to college is going to be given an opportunity on prime-time television?'' Smith's faith in what he calls the ''powerful conceptual magic'' of the American Dream is informed by his increasingly international perspective. ''I've traveled the world,'' he says, energized, ''and the road through classism or racism isn't well lubricated in other countries. Think about what African Americans did in this country as an 11 percent minority. We changed laws. That doesn't happen anywhere else! South Africa had an 80 percent [black] majority or something like that during apartheid.… A guy there said to me, 'How do you do it?''' Smith wanted Pursuit's director to have that outsider perspective, so he selected Gabriele Muccino, an Italian filmmaker who had never shot a movie in English. ''He's someone who looks at the Statue of Liberty,'' says Smith, ''and actually understands what a poor, tired, huddled mass is.'' The director, 39, says he had ''appreciated'' the actor's work in Six Degrees of Separation and Ali, but was surprised to get the call: ''When I knew he wanted to meet me, I was expecting something way different — comedy or science fiction.'' Smith saw in Muccino a fresh pair of eyes, someone who could help him forge a richer, more vulnerable character than the hip-hop-inflected superheroes he had played before. As Sony's Pascal puts it, ''Will knew that director would get something out of him that no one else could.'' During production, Muccino urged Smith to drop the protective armor of his confidence and charisma and imagine himself as a man who, every day, risked letting himself and his child down. ''Chris Gardner is very much like Will Smith today,'' says Muccino. ''But back then he was someone struggling to demonstrate that he was worth something.'' Working with Jaden also helped Smith connect with the role. ''His son was challenging for him,'' says Muccino. ''You never knew what Jaden was going to do — although we'd been rehearsing for four weeks. Each take Jaden would bring something unexpected. That forced Will as his partner to be adaptable, to be ready to change direction.'' An inspirational tale based on a real-life hero, a foreign director, a winter release date…it all sounds like an Oscar bid. Indeed, ads touting Smith for Best Actor, and Jaden for Supporting Actor, are already appearing in the trades. Smith waves such talk away. ''I want to do good in the world,'' he says, repeating his mantra. ''I don't need an Oscar to do good.'' A week after Thanksgiving,a couple dozen radio and print journalists gather in a conference room at the Regency Hotel for a Pursuit of Happyness press junket. Smith, on break from shooting the sci-fi zombie flick I Am Legend, is smartly dressed in a coffee-colored turtleneck and light brown blazer. His posture is better than it was in Baltimore; he sits tall behind a chunky battery of microphones. As the questions begin, Smith quickly deflects one about how it feels to have five $100 million-plus-grossing films in a row. Instead, he explains how excited he is at the prospect of moving people and making a difference with Happyness. He charmingly refers to his ''limited gifts'' and ''average talent.'' He praises his director and son for helping him overcome his ''emotional roadblocks'' and ''Will-isms.'' He places Gardner's story within ''the intellectual and spiritual design of America.'' And, of course, he talks about wanting to ''do good.'' Before long, a black female reporter wakes up the elephant in the room by asking about struggle and poverty in the film. ''I know a lot of folks who have these experiences,'' she says. ''Especially black folks. Let's just call it what it is.'' Racism, in other words. Smith seems the slightest bit flustered — why doesn't the movie make any mention of race? — and starts speaking slowly, feeling his way toward an answer. Ultimately, he invokes a bit of quantum theory — and turns it into a black-power manifesto for the millennium. ''Objects exist if you acknowledge they exist,'' he says. ''So we're not going to spend no time even talking about the white man.'' What he means is that when you fixate on obstacles, they just get harder to jump over. And Will Smith certainly fears no white man — just ask Tom Cruise. (Posted:12/07/06) http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1567607...3612|1_,00.html

6 new clips from the movie here: http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_d...9&Itemid=27

I was just looking at that the other night, I thought somebody might've mentioned it before. He's such a biter.

Hollywood's hottest father and son duo, Will Smith and son Jaden, bring to life the ultimate rags-to-riches story in the highly anticipated film, The Pursuit of Happyness. The two give compelling performances as they portray the struggles of former homeless man-turned-millionaire Chris Gardner and his son. EBONY caught up with the talented twosome to get their thoughts about taking on such a project, "We all do our own racial profiling and the Black man fighting to have his son, or fight to raise his son, fighting to be a father to his son is not the stereotypical picture that lives in our minds," Smith said. He says Gardner's story is "real and authentic." Also in the January issue, actor Blair Underwood gets real with Black men as he challenges them to "Man Up" in For Brothers Only. In this piece, the husband and father candidly speaks about how important it is for the Black male to take responsibility for himself, his family and his community. He writes, "'Manning Up': Taking responsibility for your actions and not letting excuses rule the roost. So what kind of Brother do you choose to be? It's your choice to make." EBONY takes a close look at AIDS in Africa through the eyes of 20/20 newsmagazine correspondent Deborah Roberts. In this month's article "My Firsthand View of AIDS in Africa," Roberts broadens the perspective and highlights the "awful truth" of how AIDS has affected millions of orphans in Namibia. On the political front, EBONY asks the question, "Is America Ready for a Black President?" The Rev. Al Sharpton says that we are ready if we look to our civil rights roots, yet Carol M. Swain, professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University, agrees that America is ready, however, the right candidate won't be a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement. Will it be U.S. Sen. Barack Obama or a seasoned civil rights leader waiting in the wings? THE JANUARY ISSUE OF EBONY ON SALE MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2006. http://www.urbannetwork.com/cms/index.php?news=805

Starz Invites You to Pursue 'Happyness' With a Night of Will Smith on Thursday, Dec. 14 Thursday December 7, 2:44 pm ET A 'Stars on Starz' Showcase of Smith's Films Also Features an Exclusive Clip and Behind-the-Scenes Look at His Latest Project The Pursuit of Happyness ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Join Starz for a "Stars on Starz" showcase of Will Smith films Thursday, Dec. 14 in celebration of the theatrical release of his upcoming father-son drama The Pursuit of Happyness, in theaters starting Dec. 15. The night begins with "On the Set: The Pursuit of Happyness" at 8:45 p.m. (ET/PT), followed by Hitch at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) and Enemy of the State at 11 p.m. (ET/PT). An exclusive clip from The Pursuit of Happyness will also premiere during the night. "On the Set: The Pursuit of Happyness" provides viewers with a unique behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie featuring interviews with the cast and crew. Columbia Pictures' The Pursuit of Happyness stars Smith as Chris Gardner, a bright and talented but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them. Directed by Gabriele Muccino. T he Pursuit of Happyness co-stars Thandie Newton and Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. source: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061207/lath077.html?.v=79

a cool interview, some funny bits about Jaden Will Smith Pursues Happyness Source: Edward Douglas December 7, 200 When you're in the presence of Will Smith, you quickly learn why he's one of the country's most popular and successful superstars. Even while doing press, probably the most aggravating aspect of filmmaking, Smith is a charming and eloquent speaker who laughs warmly at every question, making everyone in the room feel comfortable. Smith's latest movie The Pursuit of Happyness takes him about as far away from the Will Smith we're used to seeing as possible. It's based on the true story of Chris Gardner, a down-on-his-luck salesman who wound up living on the streets of San Francisco with his young son in order to achieve his dream of becoming a stockbroker. Will Smith's seven-year-old son, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, makes his big screen debut as Chris Gardner's son, and considering how many scenes he steals from his popular dad, ComingSoon.net was surprised not to see the boy at his father's side while doing interviews, but Smith seemed particularly introspective while talking about the experience. ComingSoon.net: Your son's been in just one movie, and he's already refusing to do press? Will Smith: (laugh) We did "Oprah" the other day and my son Jaden and my daughter Willow were both on the show. Willow was on the show because she wasn't about to let Jaden be on "Oprah" and she wasn't. I kind of looked at them and Jaden is so unaffected. He wants to act and play video games, so the whole idea of press, he is completely unaffected by it. I was watching the two of them and I said, "I got Johnny Depp and Paris Hilton." (laughs) CS: Was it assumed that he would play your son when you first started developing the movie? Smith: Oh, no, not at all. Jada and I were layin' in the bed one night, he's between us, and we're both reading the script, and he was like "Tell me the story, daddy!" So I'm tellin' him the story and he said, "PSSSH! I can do that!" And I said, "Oh, really?" and he said, "Yeah!" We shoot shorts around the house and that kind of stuff, so he's familiar with the process. So Jada took him in to start audition', and he's [with] 100 kids, then 50 kids, then 20 kids, he was still there, got down to about 10, and I said, "I might need to start paying attention a little bit." Gabriele Mucchino the director, he just fell in love with him. [does impression of Italian director] "I must have your baby, Will, I must have your baby!" And I said, "Hold on, let me get clear about what you're asking me." (laughs) CS: Was there ever thought of completing the trifecta by having Jada appear in the movie as well? Smith: Well, you know, Jada kind of prefers not to work with me, (laughs) 'cause I'm like, "You know, baby, the last take, you did this. Why don't you try it a little different this time?" and she'd be like "Boy, you worry about you; let me worry about me." We worked on "Ali" together. We're trying to keep a happy home, so we avoid that. CS: Did this project start when you first met Chris Gardner? Smith: Well, it started with the 20/20 piece. This has been lightning quick in Hollywood years to go from an idea to a completed project; it's been just about two years and that is unheard of. It was a 20/20 piece and Mark Clayman, Todd Black, and Jason Blumenthal, they called us in and we loved the piece. The imagery of black fatherhood, that's not the image that we have in America, so it was something that was a powerful idea. I mean the 20/20 piece, to their credit, was done brilliantly. I don't know if you've seen the piece, but it is absolutely brilliant. The individual image that gets you is Chris Gardner walks the steps and he actually goes back to the subway bathroom that he stayed in with his son. That was the image that made me want to make this movie and subsequently, Chris took me and walked me through those steps. There's a moment that actors look for when you get it. Trying to find a character, you're in a dark room just feeling around and every once in a while, you grab something and you're like "Ah, yeah, that's it." It's dark, you can't see anything, you're just wandering around. When I walked into that bathroom with Chris and stood there, that was… I got it. I understood. Then after that, to actually shoot the scene with my real son on my lap… no acting necessary. CS: Since your life is so unlike Chris', what could you relate to most as far as his life was concerned? Smith: Without getting too esoteric about it, I connected to the idea that your will and your desire creates what your future is. That the white man don't create your future and your circumstances don't create your future. Your desire to be who you want to be and your commitment to that is what creates your future. To me, that's the idea that this country is designed upon. Life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness. Not life, liberty and happiness. Chris Gardner believed it, accepted it and committed to it, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and that's something I've always believed that there's this bizarre, I guess naivety for the "audacity of hope" that I've been committed to, and I've always felt it, and I've always believed it. Chris and I share that belief in the power of our desires. CS: Now that you're a parent, does your song "Parents Just Don't Understand" have more meaning to you? Smith: Kids Don't Know Nothing! (laughs) That's my new record, "Kids Don't Know Nothing!" (laughter) No, it was actually a beautiful experience being with my son, because I did more learning than he did. My entire approach to acting is forever changed after working with Jaden. We were on the set and we had done a few takes. Gabriele kept giving me notes, and Jaden always thought that was funny when we would do a take and the director would come give me a note and not say a thing to him, so he took that as him winning. There was a particular scene where Gabriele was talking to me, and Jaden just looked up and he says, "You just do the same thing every time, daddy." I was a little offended, but the idea that he was saying innately what didn't connect to him was "how can you give the same performance every take? I'm saying different stuff, I'm doing different stuff. And if we're supposed to be living in these moments than how come you're not reacting to the new stuff that's happening?" So I started watching him and what I realized is in the scene, I'm a producer, I'm Will, I'm a movie star, I'm all of that stuff in the scene, and Jaden is just the character. It's just a block that I've had in my career for a lot of years and this is the first time that I'm feeling myself free of that. It's to hell with continuity, to hell with whether we make the day, or how much the day cost, and we lose the set and all of that, I'm finding that space where I'm committing to the truth of the character and it's such a liberating, artistic space. I've been there two other times in my career with "Ali" and with "Six Degrees of Separation" where just completely liberated to live and be free and to create. I'm just extremely excited about it and thankful to my son for showing me the way. CS: Since Jaden must have a good life, how did you get him to cry and experience the suffering of Chris' son? Smith: He's an extremely sensitive child. Let me give you a sense of how his make-up is. It was Jada's birthday a couple years ago and that's a big thing for me. I like to go out, big surprise party, all of her friends and everything, I'm flying high school friends in, all of that stuff and all the kids in, we made a video, for her birthday. The night before, Jaden comes in the room cryin' and he's like "I need to talk to you. Why are you making me lie to mommy? Mommy asked me what were we doing tomorrow and I had to tell her a lie." I was like, "Well, no, it's a surprise. We're setting up a surprise for mommy, so what we're trying to do is we're just trying to make her not know because the less she knows, the bigger the surprise is." He said, "Yeah, but that's a lie, right? Daddy, my stomach hurts and I can't sleep. I don't want to lie to my mommy. Can we wake her up? I have to tell her 'cause I'm getting sick." And how can you argue with that? He went in and told his ma everything [impersonating crying son] "And then there's friends from your high school and they're coming and they're staying at the Sheridan, we saw them earlier." (lots of laughter) But he's so deeply connected to human emotion. The style of direction Gabriele used is he would just explain it to Jaden. We didn't give him line readings. Gabriele would just explain it, and he just understands, he just gets it. CS: Did Jaden come up with any of his own jokes for the movie? Smith: There was probably about a year, maybe when he was 6, where he thought he was going to be a comedian and that's what he wanted to do. He got the box set of "The Fresh Prince" so he wanted to tell jokes, and so he learned about 10 or 15 jokes and we used a couple of them in the movies. Those are all his. CS: In one scene, the two of you end up staying at San Francisco's Glide homeless shelter. Can you talk about that experience? Smith: Reverend Cecil Williams was very open with us and welcomed us in. All of the people in those scenes are actual people who stay at Glide. When you're around people like Chris Gardner, Reverend Cecil Williams, people who committed their lives to other people, you just feel like you ain't doin' nothin' with your life. Just the spirit—and that's always amazing to me for people who can survive on spirit, people who can survive on an idea. My mother and father came from a two-parent household and our electricity would get cut off and our gas would get cut off every once in a while but for the most part, I always felt like my worst fall was back to my parents house. Reverend Cecil Williams was explaining that homelessness is hereditary and what happens is most people, someone in your family at some point bought a home, so for generations, everyone will have some place to stay in a worst case scenario, and to be so disenfranchised and so disconnected that you have to sleep outside, you know what I mean, that is a huge problem and it's an emotional issue and let's just hope that there's people a lot smarter than me working on it. CS: It's surprising that the movie never addresses the racial issues of the times and how that affected Chris' situation. Smith: There's a movie called "What the BLEEP," I don't know if you're familiar with it. There's an idea that's almost a quantum physics idea that Chris and I both connect to that something is only there if you acknowledge it's there. Something only has power over you if you acknowledge that it has power over you. Chris specifically said that sure, he knows he was in America, he knows that there was probably racism, but he never paid attention to any of that. He found good people, he connected to good people. He felt that if he allowed himself to say that there's racism and somebody's trying to keep me down because I'm black that it actually weakens him in acknowledging the obstacle. CS: How does it feel to be in the Oscar race at this time of year? Smith: You know, that period between the nominations and the show is the best series of parties on the face of the earth. (laughter) I mean, it's every night, different cities, you're part of this wonderful elite group and it's a beautiful time. It's sort of bittersweet when you get to the show, because it makes the transition from a celebration to a competition, and I've never been an awards guy. I mean, it's fun. I tell my wife all the time that I'm more of a mall guy. When I walk into the mall on Saturday afternoon, if they don't shut it down, then I feel like I'm slippin'. That to me, that's how I judge my work, and that's how I judge the quality of my material is by having to shut the King of Prussia mall down outside of Philly on Christmas. CS: Did you think at all about when Ryan and Tatum O'Neal did "Paper Moon" and she won the Oscar and it ruined their relationship? Smith: (laughs) Now, listen, that kid, I told him probably about eight weeks into shootin'… He's such a natural and he's nailing moment after moment, I told him, "It's a good thing that you're my son" because I've been leaning into his close-ups and all kinds of stuff. He was stealin' scene after scene on me. But it's a beautiful thing. The Pursuit of Happyness opens on December 15. source: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=17812 the Fresh Prince's kid, has the fpoba box sets... that just upped his cool factor, lmao at him spoiling the surprise :3-laugh3:

thnx Tim, great read :2thumbs:

that's from the on set feature on starz, I was cracking up when I saw it the other day, he really is a funny kid. He was even cracking jokes on the red carpet at the events over the weekend, def. has that Smith sense of humor.

good luck with that, hope all goes well for you.

it airs Jan. 12, on Bravo Will Smith Gives 100 Percent Last night, Will Smith was toasted by the American Museum of the Moving Image. You’ll see the show on Bravo, but during the breaks the guests got in some good asides. The main joke getter was Jamie Foxx, who started the show with comments you won’t hear on Bravo. "Will, I was in talking about you with Oprah, in bed," he said, "then I rolled over and said to Gayle. …" That of course got loads of laughter from the audience, which included Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, their kids, plus Queen Latifah, Derek Luke, Bill Pullman, Eva Mendes, Terrence Howard and his 11-year-old son, Thandie Newton, Tamara Tunie, Cedric the Entertainer, Bridget Moynahan, Alfonso Ribeiro, Chevy Chase, Michael Mann, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Guare and actress Stockard Channing. A small part of the evening was devoted to plugging Will’s wonderful new movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness," based on the real-life story of Chicago millionaire Chris Gardner. He was there, too, sporting a black-velvet suit and looking like a million bucks. What a great story Gardner tells. Just wait till that movie opens, and everyone hears it. You can see him and Smith on their "Oprah" rerun on Dec. 15. "Happyness" costars the Smiths’ 8-year-old son, Jaden, who is so smooth and professional it’s a little scary. When I asked him if he’d take care of his mom when he was a big movie star, so she wouldn’t have to work, Jaden replied: "Oh, she’ll have to work!" Jada told me it’s been fun but not exactly easy to be a stage mom this year. "It’s tough work," she said. "But hopefully I’m going back to work this spring in a comedy." She’s also got Mike Binder’s new movie, "Reign Over Me," set for release in April. "There aren’t that many good roles out there," she told me. The Smiths are a cool family and nice people. You want to cross your fingers that it’s all real and that it will last, but it sure looks like it will. Jada’s toast to Will brought tears to her eyes, and Will’s speech, with no TelePrompTer or cue cards, was all about doing 100 percent for his wife and kids. Nice, nice, nice. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,234107,00.html

updated the list with a couple more talk show appearances, also added more dates for that "on set" show.

congrats on that Brakes, here's to a great performance :2thumbs:

I couldn't help myself, "it" makes me sick always perpetuating rumors in "black hollywood" without any proof to back it up, and acting like it's legit...this is the same woman who said Pac was gay. C'mon Tupac Shakur? b...4...real.

Bossip better hope they don't get sued by Oprah's people...I love how they edited it, to stop right after he kissed him. Obviously that person has some serious issues. I find it amazing that a "black" gossip blog would find something so negative in a playful moment in such a postive show. Just goes to show how much we've evolved. Making a big deal out of nothing. :shakehead:

isn't Will a rapper from the 80s?.....actually i think she was saying Meth's wife had cancer (and some other stuff), but if you ask that idiot, every other black person in hollywood is gay. I think it's funny considering "she" and I use that term loosely, looks like a transgender mistake.