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Actor Will Smith dabs his eyes in the cold air Friday night as he makes his way through the parking lot at the AMC Southdale 16 theater complex in Edina. Smith, the star of "Seven Pounds," was attending the movie's premiere, where he donated 300 holiday turkeys to Second Harvest Heartland, the Upper Midwest's largest hunger-relief organization. Also on hand was Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Bernard Berrian, who pledged last week to donate up to $10,000 to Second Harvest Heartland and joined Smith in challenging the community to help those in need. "Seven Pounds" opens everywhere next Friday. Pictures here! http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_11222113?source=rss

Will Smith’s Search For Mr. Miyagi Continues As ‘Karate Kid’ Remake Moves To China Will Smith normally appears in action films that feature aliens and big explosions, but with his son Jaden’s forthcoming starring role in a remake of the ‘Karate Kid’, the whole family may soon become synonymous with martial arts as well. Though Smith Jr. is locked in for the Ralph Macchio role, a key character is yet to be cast, that of Daniel’s wise sensei. “We don’t have a Mr. Miyagi yet,” Smith told MTV News. “There’s a couple of people that we’re really intrigued by, but I don’t want to say any names because I’ll be in trouble.” Interestingly, though the original movie was set in the United States, the new version will take place in China, and that means key characters will change with it. “We’re making it with the China Film Group, so it’ll be based in Beijing. Mr. Miyagi was originally Japanese, so there’ll be a Chinese adaptation to it.” But wait, isn’t karate a Japanese martial art in the first place? “Fortunately, karate is originally a Chinese art form, so that’s the area we’re playing around in.” (Ed. Note: Though karate was developed in Japan, it is based upon Kenpō, a Chinese fighting style.) So readers, who do you think would make for a good Miyagi? Jet Li? Jackie Chan? Chow Yun-Fat? Or perhaps someone a bit less obvious, like Tony Leung? Or maybe flip the gender, and go for Lucy Lui or Michelle Yeoh? Let us know! http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/12/12/will-...moves-to-china/

This is from another interview: :shakehead:

Will Smith treading new ground as actor When Will Smith walks into a room, it causes a commotion. So it was on a recent morning at the Rocky Mountain News, when Smith arrived to promote Seven Pounds, opening next Friday. Smith plays Ben Thomas, an IRS agent who has endured a tragedy in his life, then resolves to redeem himself by helping seven people in need. Seven Pounds is a far cry from the derring-do of Independence Day or the comic bravura of Hancock. It packs the pathos of Brokeback Mountain and the feel-good spin of It's A Wonderful Life. Rocky pop culture writer Mike Pearson spoke with the actor about his powerful new film and a role steeped in drama and purpose. What attracted you to Seven Pounds? It's unlike anything you've done before. That was one of the big things that attracted me. I had so many questions after I read the script, and it started making me ask questions about myself and the nature of giving. Logically, if you go by the numbers (budget, salary), it's not one that would have been at the top of my choices. But I had such an emotional and intellectual reaction to it, and even a spiritual reaction to it. My hope is that it sparks some of those same things for the people that watch it. How do you explain to people what it's about without giving it away? I tell people it's an uplifting movie, but bring a bed sheet 'cause you'll need some tissues for the fourth quarter. How much are you and your character, Ben Thomas, alike? He's really changed my perspective. After working on this film, I really had to start questioning the nature of giving, and the idea of whether you can give too much and be too generous. I started to question the relationship between what you need and what others need. The airlines always say put your mask on first 'cause you can't help nobody if you don't put your mask on, but there's something that seems spiritually unsound about that idea. I would say (Ben and I) are extremely different in our perception of ourselves in connection with other people, and just the amount of pain he lets in. That was part of what attracted me. It's really opposite with how I deal with trauma. How difficult a role was it? Your character carries a heavy emotional burden; there's no wisecracking. It's kind of what I've been experimenting with for the past few films. The relationship between trauma, depression, hope and purpose, and how those things work together. I've been really exploring the nature of loss and how people react to loss. There's an idea that death is an end, not necessarily literal death but figurative death. You get divorced or lose your job, and people view that as an end - it's over. What I'm discovering, and what I think is my true spiritual belief, is that nothing dies, it just ends and creates the rebirth. Birth, life, death, rebirth. You have to prepare yourself for the rebirth after you experience a literal or figurative death. In my mind, my characters are helping me decide who I want to be, and Ben has been fantastic with the idea that he didn't realize there was still life left for him after the trauma he experienced. How do you describe the film to people? I say it's a story about a man who makes an awful mistake and it costs him more than he believes that mistake should have cost him. In order to repent or repair what he destroyed, he's going to find seven people and save seven lives and souls. There are a lot of secrets that have to unfold. Rosario Dawson does a great job in the film. It's not your first time working together; she played your love interest in Men in Black II. She has grown so much; I just love her. That is so attractive to me when a person can make that kind of adjustment and change and growth in their lives in such a short period of time. What's going on with the Fresh Prince and your music? I feel like these next 10 years are going to be my acting sweet spot. Malcolm Gladwell has a new book out called Outliers, and he talks about the concept of 10,000 hours being the amount of time it takes for someone to become good at something. I feel like I've just completed my 10,000th hour of filmmaking, and now I feel like I'm ready to take a journey to be great. So I feel like these next 10 years are going to be a real sweet spot for me as an artist. I want to stay focused on the acting. I don't want the music or any of those other mistresses to get in the way of my true love. Whatever happened to DJ Jazzy Jeff? We perform maybe six or seven times a year. We performed after the Hancock premiere; we performed in South African for Nelson Mandela. Your son Jaden has a film coming out (The Day the Earth Stood Still came out on Friday). How's that competition going to play in the Smith household? Seven Pounds was originally set for release on Dec. 12 and I just thought I'd be a good father and move mine to Dec. 19. His really is a fantastic film, so I wasn't going to have my son beating up on me. Hancock came out at the same time (my daughter) Willow was in Kit Kittredge. I said, 'Daddy loves you, baby, but I've got to stomp you at the box-office.' But I had special effects that time. What are your thoughts on the election of Barack Obama? I think it's an evolutionary flash point. I think that America and humankind have changed forever. This has never happened before on Earth. The meteoric rise of the African-American community is historically unparalleled. Do you think your kids understand how historic this is? It's so funny; I have a 16-year-old, and he couldn't understand why I was so nervous. For the weeks leading up to the election he was saying "Dad, it's already done. What news are you watching? What are you worried about?" He was taking me and showing me (polls) online. There was something that was blocking me from being able to see. The idea that I was so out of touch, it scared me, which is a big part of why I wanted to get out. The idea of me coming to the (newspaper) building as opposed to meeting at a hotel . . . When he won, there was just this burst of emotion. My kids were looking at me like "Dude, what is wrong with you?" You once said that if you put your mind to it, you could become president in 15 years. I don't think politics is for me. It's a little confining. I do want to be able to use the goodwill that I've been able to create with people. I want to make my country better. I just believe wholeheartedly in the ideas and concepts set forth by our forefathers . . . of pushing those ideas and ideals forward. All the president-elect has to do is make the call, and I will respond. You once said you wanted to be the biggest movie star in the world. It seems you've pretty much accomplished that goal. That's the funny thing about setting goals: They depend on where you are in your life at the time. It's so far beyond that for me now. As I've gotten older I just want different things. I just turned 40. I just want my life to have value, and I'm measuring that value by how many people I can help. How many people eat because of what I do, go to college because of something I do, how many families can be stable because of decisions I make. I'm measuring my value not by the size of my star but by my service to humanity. Why are you out promoting this movie? First, it's a new America. Usually, we do a press junket in New York and Los Angeles and say we've done our American press tour. I don't think so. (New York and L.A.) are not the whole of America. At this point the machine for my films is oiled well enough, but it's really a personal thing for me to get out here and meet people. I want to be able to create in the next 10 years in a way that is transformative, and I just don't think you can do that from a hotel room in Los Angeles or New York. You've really got to be out talking to people and shaking hands. And I really like doing that. For me, that's energy. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008...round-as-actor/

There's a new tv spot here! http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/sevenpounds/site/#/video

Will Smith hits Queen City red carpet CHARLOTTE, NC -- It was a scene straight out of Hollywood. Throngs of screaming fans lined the red carpet to wait for Will Smith at the Charlotte premiere of his newest movie, "Seven Pounds." It was part premiere, part fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank. "Will's people came to us," Sonja Lucas says. "When there's a Will, there's a way!" Two tickets to the movie were granted to the first 250 fans who waited in the rain for admission. The cost? Canned goods or non-perishables for the food bank. Christian Espinoza ditched elementary school for a chance to meet the star. "It's better than learning," he laughed. Smith arrived to the Regal Stonecrest theater at about 6:45 p.m. as fans cheered and screamed. He lifted children on his shoulders for photos, and signed autographs for at least a half hour before joining the event organizers on stage to present a gift of a check for 300 turkeys to Second Harvest. Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers presented Smith a jersey, which he put on immediately and posed for pictures for a delighted crowd. Mayor Pat McCrory bestowed the honorary title of "mayor" on Will Smith, who said, "I don't know how I'm going to be a movie star and mayor of Charlotte, but I'm gonna try." Smith told the crowd he'd been inspired to make the premiere a fundraiser because of his belief in the need to meet responsibilities to society. He told Newschannel 36 on the red carpet that Barack Obama's election had convinced him it was time to step up. http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcn...h.562c9425.html

Another video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VizRtvud9Y

A Will leaves a happy legacy 'Seven Pounds' actor Smith spreads cheer, hugs, food on his jaunt through Charlotte Few movie stars could get away with a red-and-white-striped shirt, navy slacks and a brown-and-rust-colored tie, even before topping them with the shiny blue and black of a donated Carolina Panthers jersey. Almost no Hollywood icon would grab someone's camera phone, point it at himself and a passel of squealing fans and ask, “We all in the picture?” And only Will Smith would answer a reporter's question in a receiving line by discussing Victor Frankl's “Man's Search for Meaning,” a text about his experiences in Auschwitz. But Smith sets his own orbit, and he rolled through Charlotte today, leaving happy people in his wake. The first man in Hollywood history to log eight $100 million movies in a row had come to promote “Seven Pounds,” which opens Dec. 19. It's a drama about a man who helps total strangers, and Smith did so this week by buying 300 turkeys for needy folks through Second Harvest Food Bank. Fans started lining up at 8 a.m. outside Regal Stonecrest Cinemas, standing in the rain to give away cans of food that would earn them a pass to Smith's film. (The theater started taking those cans at 2 p.m.) Smith thanked the multitude tonight, saying, “Capitalism always assumes we'll have big hearts. It's hugely important to get back to the spirit of what our country was meant to be. We believe, when the rubber hits the road, we're going to help our neighbors.” He did that all day, starting with visits to Levine Children's Hospital, John Taylor Williams Middle School and Northwest School of the Arts. Those were all done without reporters and photographers, because he didn't want to make publicity stunts of them. He followed the same pattern at both schools: coming onstage unannounced in the middle of a basketball pep rally (Williams) or an assembly (Northwest), singing a bit, talking to masses of startled kids about education and personal responsibilities, then taking impromptu questions. “He was so down-to-Earth,” says Williams principal Ronald Dixon. “I asked backstage if he'd mind wearing one of our purple ‘Building Champions' shirts, and he popped off the sweater and shirt he was wearing and put one on. He talked about all sorts of things, including being careful whom you hang around with. He told the kids, ‘Think about the six people you spend most of your time with, because those are the people you'll pick up most of your traits from.' And I thought, ‘That applies to adults, too.' ” Joel Ritchie, area superintendent for the Central Learning Community, was at Northwest's “phenomenal event. Students were dancing onstage when the principal came out and said, ‘Wait, back this up – this is not the right tune!' They put on a Will Smith song, and he came out. They were so excited you could probably have heard them in downtown Charlotte, but they listened to him talk about keeping focused on priorities and setting goals. Someone asked if he'd ever had a Plan B for his life, and he said, ‘Be careful about that Plan B, because that will distract you from Plan A.'” Smith had lost none of his energy when he reached The Charlotte Observer for an interview. He came off the tour bus, which bore his jug-eared profile in a publicity shot from the film, with handshakes ready for all present. (His ears actually look smaller in person than in photos.) He has mastered the Hollywood art of walking, talking and listening all at once, and he moved into the building a little before 12:30 p.m. and out perhaps an hour later. Never was that smile any less sparkly than the diamond earrings that seemed unobtrusive on both sides of his close-cropped head. In between, he shared his philosophy for half an hour – you can read the results in next week at www.charlotteobserver.com – and posed graciously for photographer Yalonda James, lounging in an easy chair and calming his multi-person entourage with “Ready in a minute. Just a minute.” Even they were smiling by the time he ran the gantlet of well-wishers back down to the street and climbed onto the bus again. He capped the day at Stonecrest in front of a crowd that cheered Carolina Panthers Steve Smith and Julius Peppers but roared for the actor-rapper. Mayor Pat McCrory announced earlier today that he won't seek an eighth term and said, “I would like to proclaim Will Smith the next mayor of Charlotte!” Had a vote been taken on the spot, Smith would be working up a light-rail budget today. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/104/story/408988.html

Video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_gvyUdukfw Edit: The video has been removed

:hmm: ...you're welcome... :hmm:

More pics here! http://www.daylife.com/topic/Will_Smith/photos/all/1 http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.a...mp;src=standard

Pics! http://www.charlotteobserver.com/galleries...ery/408942.html

This is from an interview I posted: Will 2009 be the year Will is back to music?

'Seven Pounds' relies on Will Smith power It's been almost a month since Will Smith took Cleveland by storm for a whirlwind not-much-more-than-24-hours. The visit was partly to promote his Oscar-hopeful "Seven Pounds," opening Dec. 19 on area screens, and partly to raise awareness for the Cleveland Food Bank. Smith himself donated 200 turkeys to area families needing a Thanksgiving hand, while urging generosity, particularly at the holidays, prior to a red-carpet preview screening at Cinemark Theaters in Valley View. Between appearances, the gregarious, affable and just-turned-40 Smith engaged a conference room of inquisitive journalists at the InterContinental Hotel. It's subzero outside. Like the weather? I've definitely been "re-sensitized" to the cold. Part of the planning for this trip was going back to places where (DJ Jazzy) Jeff and I had performed, where my films had been successful, but I must've missed the sign that said it was 25 degrees here. How did this idea for "Seven Pounds" come about? I personally am fascinated with the idea of emotional trauma, and then re-creation of life after that trauma, of the recovery from loss. It's such a defining development of character. When I was 15 and I discovered my first girlfriend cheated on me, it totally destroyed my concept of cause and effect. You think you do certain things and then reap certain rewards, but that's not really true. I also came to this wonderful script by Grant Nieporte. He employed all the "seven" numerology and unfolded the dramatic elements, but there was something missing. We messed around with it for about a year or so before (director) Gabriele Muccino came up with the element of trauma that proves so important. There's such intensity in your face in this role. Yeah, I didn't like that (laughs, heartily). Remember that this guy wants to know if people are good; he wants to look in their eyes, under the mask everyone wears. At the same time, he's keeping on his own mask. It develops into a guy so drastically different from Will Smith that I'm able to deliver that intensity, that darkness, almost naturally. That's a far cry from the Fresh Prince. What changed you? I've found people stay interested when they can't say exactly what you're going to do or how you're going to do it. To me, it's so much more safe career-wise. If I'd do "Men in Black 3" after "Hancock," it's less interesting. I'm trying to expand the range, create something with different colors and centers and shapes . . . . . . but isn't something like "Hancock" safer than "Seven Pounds"? I think not. Because I'm "supposed" to make the big movie, everyone thinks the next one better be the biggest of my career. Five days into "Hancock," (with business) at $100 million, there were rumblings that "It's not gonna do what 'Transformers' did." The degree of difficulty with "Seven Pounds" is that there's only a win in store. "Ali" was a box-office failure, but people remember that I was nominated for an Academy Award. Something like that or "Seven Pounds," I get a pass, an OK for trying. I wouldn't be getting a pass for "Men in Black 3." You're with Gabriele again after "The Pursuit of Happyness." An actor has to trust the director; it's the kiss of death if you don't believe the person knows what they're talking about. Gabriele has such powerful insight into who I am. When I'm trying to make faces instead of really feeling it, he'll furrow his bow and (using Spanish accent) say, "Do not pose for my camera. You are looking angry, but you are not really angry. Go back to your trailer, get angry and then come back." He and Michael Mann ("Ali"), for whatever reasons, can see through me, can help me create characters I know I could not do on my own. This fellow doesn't say much . . . . . . yeah, and neither did Hancock. It's funny how I started my career doing everything as big and loud as I could. Hancock was extremely difficult because I had to change the sense of humor. Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" does genius work to make that adjustment; same for Eddie Murphy in "The Klumps." Me going straight with drama is much easier than going the other way in comedy, where I really have to pull it back. What's next? Absolutely nothing; I am currently unemployed. A lot of things are in development, but nothing I'm committed to. I'd say it looks like I probably won't have a movie next year. Are you satisfied that you're a good person? A "good" person? (Laughs) Well, I feel like I'm successful right now, but I haven't reached the level of being as good a person as I want to be, or that my grandmother dreamed for me. But, I consider myself on the road. http://www.cleveland.com/sun/intermission/...ven_pounds.html

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ikvY0V8Tq4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S3TJHIXlMA

Nominations for the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning, with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt and Frost/Nixon scoring a leading five nominations apiece on the film side. As for television, In Treatment and Recount led the way, also nabbing five nods each. The awards will be handed out in Los Angeles Jan. 11. Here's the complete list of nominees: FILM BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA * The Curious Case of Benjamin Button * Frost/Nixon * The Reader * Revolutionary Road * Slumdog Millionaire BEST MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY * Burn After Reading * Happy-Go-Lucky * En Bruges * Mamma Mia! * Vicky Cristina Barcelona ACTOR, DRAMA * Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road * Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon * Sean Penn, Milk * Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button * Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler ACTRESS, DRAMA * Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married * Angelina Jolie, Changeling * Meryl Streep, Doubt * Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long * Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL * Javier Bardem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona * Colin Farrell, In Bruges * James Franco, Pineapple Express * Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges * Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harvey ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL * Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona * Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky * Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading * Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia! * Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harvey SUPPORTING ACTOR * Tom Cruise, Tropic Thunder * Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder * Ralph Fiennes, The Duchess * Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harvey * Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight SUPPORTING ACTRESS * Amy Adams, Doubt * Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona * Viola Davis, Doubt * Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler * Kate Winslet, The Reader DIRECTOR * Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire * Stephen Daldry, The Reader * David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button * Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon * Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road SCREENPLAY * Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire * David Hare, The Reader * Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon * Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button * John Patrick Shanley, Doubt FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM * The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) * Everlasting Moments (Sweden) * Gomorrah (Italy) * I've Loved You So Long (France) * Waltz With Bashir (Israel) ANIMATED FEATURE FILM * Bolt * Kung Fu Panda * WALL-E ORIGINAL SCORE * Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button * Clint Eastwood, Changeling * James Newton Howard, Defiance * A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire * Hans Zimmer, Frost/Nixon ORIGINAL SONG * "Down to Earth," WALL-E; Music by: Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman; Lyrics by: Peter Gabriel * "Gran Torino," Gran Torino; Music by: Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens; Lyrics by: Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens * "I Thought I Lost You," Bolt; Music & Lyrics by: Miley Cyrus, Jeffrey Steele * "Once In A Lifetime," Cadillac Records; Music & Lyrics by: Beyonce Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, James Dring, Jody Street * "The Wrestler," The Wrestler; Music & Lyrics by: Bruce Springsteen TELEVISION TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA * Dexter * House * In Treatment * Mad Men * True Blood PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA * Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters * Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit * January Jones, Mad Men * Anna Paquin, True Blood * Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA * Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment * Michael C. Hall, Dexter * Jon Hamm, Mad Men * Hugh Laurie, House * Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL * 30 Rock * Californication * Entourage * The Office * Weeds PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL * Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? * America Ferrera, Ugly Betty * Tina Fey, 30 Rock * Debra Messing, The Starter Wife * Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL * Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock * Steve Carell, The Office * Kevin Connolly, Entourage * David Duchovny, Californication * Tony Shalhoub, Monk MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION * A Raisin in the Sun * Bernard and Doris * Cranford * John Adams * Recount PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MIN-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION * Judi Dench, Cranford * Catherine Keener, An American Crime * Laura Linney, John Adams * Shirley MacLaine, Coco Chanel * Susan Sarandon, Bernard and Doris PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION * Ralph Fiennes, Bernard and Doris * Paul Giamatti, John Adams * Kevin Spacey, Recount * Kiefer Sutherland, 24: Redemption * Tom Wilkinson, Recount PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION * Eileen Atkins, Cranford * Laura Dern, Recount * Melissa George, In Treatment * Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters * Dianne Wiest, In Treatment PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION * Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother * Denis Leary, Recount * Jeremy Piven, Entourage * Blair Underwood, In Treatment * Tom Wilkinson, John Adams http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b72803_com...tions_2009.html

Interview with Will & Rosario Dawson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omU92dF7nD8

You are welcome It seems that Will performed a song during the break. You can see it in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXbAJM4uMmo Does anyone know what was the song that he performed? We gotta find it!

The Insider Interview: http://video.tvguide.com/ID/1482780?autopl...p;partnerid=vsc

Jaden Smith Gets Acting Tips from Mom and Dad When Will Smith's 10-year-old son Jaden is not busy starring in Hollywood blockbuster films like The Day the Earth Stood Still, he enjoys doing addition, subtraction, and multiplication tables – his favorite subject in school. "It's math," Jaden told PEOPLE at the New York premiere of Earth on Tuesday. Why math? "Because I'm good at it," he added. Besides being a natural at tackling arithmetic, Jaden is already becoming a method actor and a professional at working a red carpet. While mom, Jada Pinkett Smith, and dad strolled down the carpet looking over his shoulder proudly, they let him do all the talking. "You got to stay true to your character and you just got to be in the moment," Jaden said of his acting technique, a method he said he learned from his parents. As for his role in Earth – in which he costars with Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly – he says: "I play Jacob and he's kind of depressed all the time because his father died and he's kind of always sad and that's the way he treats other people. He's not really that nice so I had to stay true to him." The acting advice from his parents even helped him get through a sad scene in Earth. "It was actually really fun on the set and it was even fun during the emotional scenes because I was being in the moment." Jaden, who made his big screen debut in 2006's The Pursuit of Happyness costarring his dad, may be following in the footsteps of his parents on the big screen, but his favorite activity with them is to simply to "watch movies with my family." In addition to spending time with family, Will Smith makes time for charity. The star of the new movie Seven Pounds will be in Charlotte, N.C. over the weekend for a screening of his film to help raise awareness for the Second Harvest Food Bank. He'll cap off the day by donating 300 turkeys to Second Harvest at a red carpet gala, which is open to the public. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20245393,00.html

Access Hollywood Interview: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28119414#28119414

More pix here: http://wireimage.com/ItemListings.aspx?igi=345877&nbc1=1 http://wireimage.com/ItemListings.aspx?igi=345827&nbc1=1 http://wireimage.com/ItemListings.aspx?igi=345829&nbc1=1

'The Day The Earth Stood Still': New York Premiere Pics! http://www.daylife.com/search/photos/all/1?q=jaden+smith Video! http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/12/68666/index.html

Mr. Smith Busts In Will Smith crashed Carlos Diaz's interview with Adam Sandler for his new flick "Bedtime Stories." Smith was in the hotel doing interviews for his upcoming film "7 Pounds," but took a detour to see Sandler. Check out this "Extra" Raw interview with the two funnymen! http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2008/12/mr_smith_busts_in.php

Will Smith Interview, Seven Pounds MoviesOnline sat down with two-time Academy Award nominee Will Smith to talk about his new film, “Seven Pounds,” a gripping mystery and surprising love story directed by Gabriele Muccino (“The Pursuit of Happyness”). “Seven Pounds” is a stirring and emotionally suspenseful tale about a man with a haunting secret who sets out to redeem himself by drastically changing the lives of seven total strangers. Once his plan is set in motion, nothing can alter it. Or so he thinks. But what Ben Thomas (Smith) never expects is that he will fall in love with one of the strangers, Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson) – and that it is she who will start to change him. Will Smith has enjoyed success in a career encompassing hit films, his own television series and multi-platinum records. He earned his first Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of boxing legend Muhammad Ali in Michael Mann’s acclaimed biopic "Ali.” Smith more recently starred in and produced the critically acclaimed, true-life drama “The Pursuit of Happyness.” His performance brought him his second Academy Award nomination, his fourth Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nomination for Best Actor. Smith most recently starred in the blockbuster “Hancock,” which earned over $600,000,000 worldwide, and “I Am Legend,” directed by Francis Lawrence. In 2005, Smith starred in and produced the hit romantic comedy "Hitch,” directed by Andy Tennant. The year prior, he starred in and executive produced the sci-fi smash "I, Robot,” adapted from the book by Isaac Asimov and directed by Alex Proyas. Also that year, he voiced the central character of Oscar in the blockbuster animated feature "Shark Tale,” opposite Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro. In 2003, he reunited with Martin Lawrence for "Bad Boys II,” the sequel to their 1995 hit "Bad Boys.” Smith had earlier starred in two blockbusters that topped the box office in back-to-back summers. In 1996, he took on alien invaders in Roland Emmerich’s science fiction actioner "Independence Day.” The following year, he starred with Tommy Lee Jones in Barry Sonnenfeld’s sci-fi comedy "Men in Black,” for which Smith also recorded the Grammy-winning title song. In 2002, Smith, Jones and Sonnenfeld reteamed for the sequel "Men in Black II.” Will Smith is a fabulous person and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his new film, “Seven Pounds”: MoviesOnline: You know you’ve been referred to a lot in the past year as the biggest movie star on planet Earth… WILL SMITH: Wow! MoviesOnline: …so how does the view look from there? WILL SMITH: (laughs) I read…I wish I could remember. You know my wife always remembers where she read stuff and it sounds cool when you can say the author and stuff, but I read somebody said he was a mountain climber and he set his mind, I want to climb Everest. I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it. And he climbed and he got to the top and realized he couldn’t breathe, all right? And the only thought that he had was how the hell can I get down off of here as fast as I can? And it’s like this weird thing that kicks in your mind like be careful what you wish for, you know? You go and you fight and go and fight to get there and there’s this discomfort that sets in. And it’s really the last probably year and a half have been kind of scary and a little bit frustrating for me. I had an epiphany after working on “Seven Pounds.” I realized that part of that feeling was that I was looking at my life and I was looking at myself and my future too much around these movies. And after “Seven Pounds” l just had this huge epiphany of how much more I want to be, how much more I want to do, and the idea of living in service to humanity vs. living in service to the commerce of my movies. And that explosion just totally washed away that sort of scary uncomfortable feeling. It’s like however people look at me as a movie star or not, I want to be remembered as a man who cared about people and dedicated his life to making the world better, so with that I went from thinking of myself in this high place to damn, I’ve got so much to do, I need to get to work. And that’s so much better a place for me emotionally. MoviesOnline: Aren’t you just Willow and Jaden’s daddy though? WILL SMITH: I know, right. I’m just some dude at the dinner table, you know? MoviesOnline: Does this mean you want to make message movies from now on? WILL SMITH: Well not message movies…it’s like with “Seven Pounds” I was attracted to “Seven Pounds” not because there was a fantastic one-liner that I could sell around the world very easily, you know? I was attracted to “Seven Pounds” because there were ideas. There were emotions. There were parts of this character that I was hiding myself from. I took “Seven Pounds” almost as a self-examination--as a self-exploration and Jada said something to me a few months ago. She said, you know, it’s funny how much I was rejecting this character. And she was saying “It’s funny how you’re doing that.” She’s like “You know that you are Ben, right?” I was like “What?” She was like, “The reason you’re so nice and the reason you fight so hard to be up tone is because you’re at war with that guy inside of you.” You know? I was like damn deep lady! That’s what I realized. It’s like the projects I was choosing and all like everything had to be okay in the end or it emotionally hurt me, right? So now my sensibilities are becoming slightly less delicate and I may be able to venture out a little bit more into the world of emotional and artistic ambiguity in a way that it strikes me as more authentic but it’s terrifying for me just as a child growing up. It’s like I needed to know and my grandmother made sure I knew and God is going to make everything okay. So, however scary you get, however bad life is, just know that there’s somebody in a high place that’s on your side. So, to play a character who doesn’t necessarily believe that—to feel like he has to fix it, God made a mistake and it’s his responsibility to fix it, and how to carry that emotional weight, is a terrifying space for me emotionally and artistically. MoviesOnline: What did it for you? WILL SMITH: Yeah, you know. “Seven Pounds.” I’ve been exploring the idea of trauma and the relationship between trauma and continuing life, right? So with “I Am Legend” and then into “Hancock” and now with “Seven Pounds,” I’m starting the character on trauma, right? And then I was asking the question, “Well, what’s the difference between someone who falls into depression and someone like Nelson Mandela or Muhammad Ali or Gandhi or Mother Theresa?” They just keep going in the face of, you know, the ultimate weight of humanity and life. And the thing that I discovered on “Seven Pounds” is its purpose. When you have a purpose, when you wake up and you’ve dedicated your life to something beyond yourself, all is bearable, right? And it just so exploded in my mind with this movie and with this character and if there’s been a movie in my career that I would say changed my life, it’s “Seven Pounds.” MoviesOnline: Not “Independence Day”? WILL SMITH: Not “Independence Day,” you know? When I punched that alien and said, “Welcome to Earth,” that was a huge moment, you know? MoviesOnline: Now Rosario said that you were kind of shy about the love scenes and that you may have put them off a little bit. Was that the case? WILL SMITH: See with the love…like for me, my grandmother was really firm and…my mother and grandmother…about how men are supposed to treat women. My grandmother…you know I started driving and you know when you start driving you’re excited. I run down and go hop in the car and start it and I’m ready and my grandmother would just stand outside. And she would just stand…oh sorry grandma. I’d get out and run around and open the door, you know so she could get in and close the door. So, for me, my worst nightmare is for an actress to come on my set and feel like I’m taking this as an opportunity to get a little quickie feel, you know, some legal cheating going on. I just need, specifically, women to be comfortable around me. I just don’t want to feel like I’m that dude and doing a love scene and her clothes are off and all of that. It just puts me in my defensive space but it also hurts the acting if I’m in that space. You’ve got to find a comfortable space to feel free and your hand can brush up against her and all of that and it’s not “Oh, excuse me,” you know? MoviesOnline: How was Jada about all that? Was she cool? WILL SMITH: Oh, Jada said “Listen, I know you are uncomfortable but you better not embarrass me.” She was like, “When you do that love scene, you better show them what you’re working with.” MoviesOnline: She didn’t come to the set that day? WILL SMITH: No, no she didn’t come to the set. I asked her to come to the set and she was like “Are you stupid?” MoviesOnline: Will, when you were a kid or even as an adult, did anybody ever do some random act of kindness for you that was unexpected that made you stop and say “Wow”? WILL SMITH: I always go to my grandmother. She was that lady. My grandmother was the woman who, you know, you come home from school and there’s just 4 homeless people in the living room. You’re like, “Oh gee!” “Oh, we’re just going to give them a bath. Go do your homework.” You know? I was like wow. There was always…my grandmother was the random…and the more random the better it made her feel. So I sort of grew up with the comprehension of what that is. It’s almost like it was her responsibility. She felt like it was her responsibility because of what she had been blessed with. It wasn’t a choice she was making to do nice things for people. It was a responsibility. It was things she had to do. MoviesOnline: There are all these reports about how easy and grounded you are to work with. How do you manage to stay so humble amidst all of your success? WILL SMITH: I think because I’m scared. It’s like I’m so grateful to be in a position that I’m in, to have been blessed with the things I’ve been blessed with, and it’s like I was with Redman the other day in Chicago. You know, he came up and we were sitting down and he said, “Man, listen.” He said “Now I’ve got this relationship that I’m trying to make work, man. I’m telling you. If you and Jada don’t work, I’m done.” And it was like wow. And he meant it, you know? He was like the only reason that he’s even going to try is because of what he saw with Jada and I, and he’s believing that there might be a possibility so he’s going to give it a shot. And for me that so terrifies me that there’s people’s lives that I can affect like that just with little stuff like not even having to do anything big. So it’s like I don’t want to break that. I don’t want to damage other people’s lives in that way, so I think it really keeps me humble and grounded because I don’t totally feel like I’ve got it. Shoot, I got this. It’s like, you know, I might mess something up and it sort of keeps me in a place where I’m really focused and paying attention and I just don’t want to step wrongly. MoviesOnline: On the Fascinating People interview with Barbara Walters, you talked about the only racism you could think about in modern times that you felt was the racism in Hollywood in regards to casting you opposite a black woman. Now that you’re also producing films, what steps are you taking to assure that some of your black counterparts are working along side you and other black actors? WILL SMITH: I think it’s something that…and it’s interesting. I’ve never liked the word racism because there’s so many other connotations that go with it, but it’s like the idea is if you put 10 black artists in a room and we sit down and we come up with something, it’s going to be about black people, right? Because that’s what we know, that’s what we’re going to come up with. So it’s not necessarily racism with studios and things like that. It’s just the majority of the creative people are of a certain background so that’s what gets produced. It’s more our responsibility to be able to display and be able to show how it could be different. To show how “Set It Off” could work for a mass audience. To show how “Bad Boys” could work or “The Secret Life of Bees.” We’ve got to be able to display how that could work. We can’t expect other people to write and produce and create our stories. So at Overbrook we did “The Secret Life of Bees” this year and with Sam Jackson we did “Lakeview Terrace” and so, you know, we have a black President now so we have no more excuses. MoviesOnline: Are you going to the Inauguration to meet him? WILL SMITH: Yes, yes. Absolutely. MoviesOnline: Do you have front-row seats or anything? WILL SMITH: It’s hard to get a front-row seat to that one, you know? I don’t know. Whatever our Commander-In-Chief asks of me I will humbly serve. MoviesOnline: Maybe not in a cabinet position, but as some sort of emissary or good will ambassador or something…? WILL SMITH: Good Will. I like that. You know, I am…Barack being elected did something, like I was crying uncontrollably. What I’m saying is when Barack was elected, it’s like it so validated something that I believed for a long time. It’s like a black man in America—I’ve never been allowed to say out loud you know, you all, I don’t think America’s a racist nation. I think there are racist people who live here but I just don’t see America as a racist nation, right? And it’s like Barack being elected, it so validated something inside of me that now I’m allowed to say out loud, like for so many years I’ve been wanting to say, you know, just let’s create our own movies. It’s like yes, it was written for a white character. Yes, they wanted to put a white character, but you take the responsibility and show how it can be something else. And it’s like you’re like Uncle Tom if you said that. You know the white man got you brain-washed and it’s like now I just feel so free. It’s like I’ve been unleashed to say things and do things the way that I felt for such a long time and it’s like America to me is the most fantastic nation that has ever existed in the history of this planet. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. There’s nothing ever been written better than that ever. And now we just have to live up to it. It’s like a cycle of African-American citizenship has been completed with this. So I’m just hyped. I just want to….I’m hyped you know? My company—we just made a deal in the UAE so I think that for… MoviesOnline: To distribute your movies or make movies there? WILL SMITH: Well, for me it’ll be laying a conduit, you know, between the Muslim world and the West. I mean, it’s a perfect opportunity. I truly believe a large part of why Barack is in office has to do—and they’re not getting credit—has to do with MTV. What MTV did is lay conduit between the inner city, the suburbs and between American kids and the world. You can’t tell a 15-year old white kid a lie about black people. They know it’s not true. Whereas their parents and grandparents, you could feed any kind of misinformation that you wanted to because they didn’t have the connectivity and the artistry. What MTV was able to create in connecting kids just of all races, creeds and colors, was able to release and relieve the fear that comes when you don’t know. So, for me, in my mind the deal that we’re making in the UAE is going to lay that type of artistic conduit between the West and the Muslim world. MoviesOnline: Are you going to play him in a bio-pic? WILL SMITH: Am I going to play him? You know, I would love to. He just wrote a fantastic end to the first movie at least, so I’ll be looking to do it when he’s out of office in 8 years. MoviesOnline: The transformative power of love is a theme that runs throughout the film. Can you talk about that? WILL SMITH: There’s an idea that was one of the central concepts that I fell in love with in this movie. We talked about trauma and there’s an idea that in the West we think about things in straight lines, okay? There’s birth, there’s life, and then there’s death. And at death, there’s a cliff and it’s the end of the world and everything’s over. And that’s not really how things work and if you take the ends of that line and bend it into a circle, there’s birth, life, death and then re-birth. Re-birth is inevitable. There’s nothing that can happen. There’s no literal or figurative death. You lose your job, you get divorced, anything like that. When it’s winter, everything dies. The spring is always coming. That’s just the way that it works, right? And this is a character who didn’t realize that. He didn’t realize that the spring and the metaphor of the spring being new love, right? He didn’t know that he could fall in love again. He didn’t know that what got broken could be repaired. And I loved that transformative power of love and that idea that you can’t destroy the crops just because it’s winter, right? You’ve got to stay prepared. Yes, your partner died or you lost your job, you lost your house, you didn’t graduate when you were supposed to graduate, but relax, relax. Please just pay attention. Stay focused because the spring is coming but you’ve got to be there and be prepared to catch the wave of new life and this movie is almost a cautionary tale because Ben Thomas realized it too late. He didn’t know and he set this thing in motion. He did this. He was trying to fix it and he set this thing in motion and he missed the natural tide, you know? I don’t know. I could do that for hours but I just love that concept. MoviesOnline: Have you ever had one of those moments, you know, those winters when you didn’t think or know that spring would come or were you always a positive person? WILL SMITH: For me, it was probably my divorce was one of the most emotionally devastating things I’ve ever experienced just for a lot of reasons. I had a 2-year old and the whole idea of failure. That idea that I was too weak to make something work was just devastating for me. The idea that somebody could not love me anymore and all of those things were going through my head and I really just gave up and I think that was the most devastating part. It’s like I don’t mind if Mike Tyson knocks me clean the hell out and I get hit when I’m swinging, but you can’t be cowering in the corner and get knocked out, you know? I just hated that feeling. MoviesOnline: Did you take this character home with you because he’s so different than your own personality? WILL SMITH: Yeah. MoviesOnline: And did Jada comment that you were too much of a downer for a little while? WILL SMITH: No, you know what? It’s crazy. When you start to program a character, you don’t realize that when it’s sinking in, it’s such a slow process. You know, you’re working on it every day but you don’t realize the adjustment. I remember one night we were sitting at dinner and Jaden is Mr. Reality. He keeps me really informed about what’s going on in the house and he tells me the truth all the time. So we’re sitting at dinner, you know family dinner is a big thing in our house and it’s really quiet. So I lean over to Jaden—he’s my man. I say, “Hey Jaden.” I was like “Why is it so quiet?” He said, “Cos you look crazy!” And it was like I had no idea because we had worked on this thing—one of the ideas with the character is that he’s trying to determine if someone’s a good person. So we talked about people all wear masks. You wear your sensitive lover mask, you know, when it’s one of those special nights. You wear your disciplinarian mask when you’re dealing with your kids. You wear your law abiding citizen mask when you get pulled over by the police. And people have all these masks that they put on, so we developed this thing where my character is trying to look under people’s masks, right? It’s a figurative idea, but we said that he’s literally trying to look under the mask, right? So he’s literally trying to see if he can see around and under people’s masks but while he’s keeping his on. So I developed this really bizarre kind of behavior, you know, and if somebody would turn their eyes away, I would look. And I programmed it so much, and I didn’t realize, so I’m sitting at the dinner table, you know? And I’m looking and Jaden’s like… and I hadn’t even noticed that I had gotten to that place. MoviesOnline: Has any role ever affected you this much? WILL SMITH: No. On “Six Degrees of Separation” I got really messed up for awhile because I wasn’t aware. I didn’t know that when you reprogram your instincts that way, you really are changing yourself, right? And I didn’t know that. And the movie was over and I just needed to talk to Stockard Channing and I was like why do I need to call Stockard? And I call and say “Hey Stockard, how you doing?” and she’s like “Hey, Will.” I’m like “Hey” and I’m just like oh my God, I’m falling in love with Stockard Channing and I didn’t realize that. At least this time, I was prepared for the potential of it so it took me about 4 to 6 weeks to really just get back and remember who I was but it changes everything. Like for “Ali” it was great because it was like I was in shape and I was strong and it sort of changed things with Jada and I for “Ali,” you know? MoviesOnline: Will, did you have to do any physical preparations for this? WILL SMITH: Well, I lost about 15 pounds. I just wanted to have that really sort of more sunken in look. MoviesOnline: So you stopped going to the gym? WILL SMITH: No, you actually have to go to the gym more. So I actually spent more time in the gym. I just changed what the work was. I was doing 2 a day cardio, so you just, you know…? MoviesOnline: What’s your normal regimen now that you’re not on a movie? WILL SMITH: I just eat now. Oh now, it’s not pretty under here right now. It’s so not “I Am Legend” right now. It’s “I Am Luggage” right here. MoviesOnline: Speaking of Robert Neville and “I Am Legend,” there’s been a lot of talk about you possibly doing a prequel or a sequel to that film. Could you tell us what it is and what excites you about going back to that character? WILL SMITH: We have a fantastic prequel idea. We’re still trying to work through a couple of bumps in the story, but it’s the idea….it’s essentially the fall of the last city, the last stand of Manhattan. And the movie would be about, within the body of the movie, D.C. and then Manhattan would fall as the last city, so it’s a really cool idea trying to figure it out and there’s a reason why we have to take a small band and we have to get into D.C. So we have to make our way from New York to D.C. and then back to New York. MoviesOnline: Will the cool dog be back in it? WILL SMITH: Yes, the dog will be a puppy. The dog will be a puppy, yes. MoviesOnline: And I have to ask you about “The Karate Kid.” WILL SMITH: Yes, my son, yes. We’re working on “The Karate Kid.” We’re doing that with the China Film Group, so we’re looking….it’s difficult in China because they actually approve every word of every script, you know? I’m sort of offended by that but we’re going to try to work it out. We’re working it out with the China Film Group. MoviesOnline: What are your holiday plans? WILL SMITH: Holiday plans. For probably the 3 months before Christmas, Jada is always looking at wherever the maximum snowfall is and she holds off until the last couple of weeks and then chooses the place based on snowfall. So it’s Utah or Montana or someplace like that. MoviesOnline: During our last interview, Gabriele (Muccino) said that when something’s brilliant, he tells you it’s brilliant and you believe him, and when something’s bad, he just straight out tells you it’s bad? WILL SMITH: Yeah, Gabriele will say, “That was awful. There’s nothing I could use. It was so bad I turned my eyes away. It’s so bad I don’t know what to tell you. Please just do it again.” MoviesOnline: What’s your next movie? WILL SMITH: I’m currently unemployed. I’m developing a lot of things. I have no idea. MoviesOnline: Do you have any New Year’s resolutions for the family? WILL SMITH: You know, I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. MoviesOnline: Thanks, Will. Thank you, guys. http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_16038.html