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'Seven Pounds,' seven keys to Will Smith's success By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY Will Smith, photographed here at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, plays an IRS agent on a quest for redemption in new movie Seven Pounds, opening Friday. NEW YORK — Spend seven seconds sitting across from Will Smith, and you'll never wonder why he's a superstar. He's charming and attentive, observant and clever — without ever seeming to try. When he talks, he makes eye contact; when he laughs, it takes over his whole body. "You gonna put that in the article, that you're playing footsie?" cracks Smith after feet collide under a table at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Though he seems happy-go-lucky, the former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air didn't end up where he is by accident. Like Ben Thomas, the painfully orderly and painstakingly wary IRS agent he plays in Seven Pounds, opening Friday, Smith, 40, is consistently in charge, on point and thinking ahead. "That's one of the elements that attracted me to this idea — how much control you can have over your life, but how much you don't have once you relinquish it," he says. "I make choices in my life after working on this film. I found myself walking down the stairs and it's raining, and I found myself grabbing extra-hard on the railing. Just think, one slip — and that's it. You have to be conscious. You don't have control after you've set these dominoes in motion. Your control point is before you make this crucial mistake." Seven Pounds may have made him think consciously about navigating slippery steps with care, but he has nurtured his career with nary a misstep, amassing $2.45 billion in box office in North America alone. Here's how he does it: 1. Think globally Any film Smith makes, as a star or through his Overbrook production company, "has to be extraordinary, it has to be entertainment, it has to be art." And be "delivered to all people of the world." Not every film fits neatly into that mold, including Seven Pounds, a non-linear story about his character making amends that has a shocking ending. It's "a bit of a stretch for us. The extraordinary entertainment art is easy, but because you can't actually talk about the movie, the delivery to all people of the world is slightly more difficult," Smith says. He thinks about pitching everywhere from Peoria to Paris from the start. "If we don't know how to sell it, we're not going to begin — no matter how extraordinary I think the entertainment art is going to be. All I need is one visual, and I can sell that anywhere on Earth." 2. Talent at the top Smith handpicks his directors. For Seven Pounds, he's re-teaming with Gabriele Muccino, who directed him to an Oscar nomination for 2006's The Pursuit of Happyness. The holiday hit starred Smith as a homeless man who breaks into the elite world of finance. "He takes me to places that I'd never choose myself," Smith says. "It will be the biggest departures from who I am when I work with Gabriele. He sees me similarly as Michael Mann (Ali) does. He knows all my tricks. They erase all the Will Smith-ness." Muccino, for instance, went so far as to alter the way Smith naturally makes eye contact. Smith's Ben Thomas never looks away, almost glares. "He's trying to look under people's masks," says Smith. "I'm physically trying to look under people's masks. For me, it's a common courtesy to look away for a second when you're talking and you let people have their privacy for a second. This character never breaks eye contact. It's uncomfortable for me." 3. Mix it up, to a point For every bombastic audience pleaser like Hancock, Smith tries also to release a more thought-provoking film like Seven Pounds. "I have to challenge myself and push myself," Smith says. "My only job is to make sure I don't leave anything on the table, that I maximize what a young dude from Philly can do in the world of cinema. There's no telling what I can create at this point." Two scripts he'd love to star in that Overbrook is developing are the stories of Nelson Mandela and Marvin Gaye. "I'm not certain I'm actor enough yet," Smith admits. "I love both of those, and I need to make sure I'm man enough." 4. Preserve the Smith brand Smith doesn't get busted for DUIs or punch or scream at paparazzi. "Not any more, not any more," he jokes. His parents and grandmother instilled in him the belief that with privileges comes responsibility. Smith doesn't moan about the attention he gets, kvetch about the lack of privacy or lash out at reporters for asking personal questions. "By being famous, you're afforded rights that other people who aren't famous aren't afforded," he says. "If I'm going to walk to the front of the line (at the restaurant) because I'm Will Smith, then I have to sign all the autographs. If I don't want to sign any autographs, I don't walk to the front of the line. It's that simple. Stand in the line with everybody else." His image remains one of the most unblemished in Hollywood. The only question that surfaces is whether, because of his close friendship with outspoken Scientologist Tom Cruise, he, too, is a member of the controversial church. Smith repeatedly has denied it, saying he's a student of all religions. Hitch co-star Eva Mendes says that off-screen, Smith is a bit racier than the clean-cut guy most people see. "He's funnier in person because his jokes get a little more daring. To this day, he doesn't call me Eva. He calls me Reva Melendez. He has this character he does named Redondo, an interviewer who never gets anyone's names right." 5. Cross color lines With the exception of 2001's Ali (his other Oscar nomination), most of Smith's roles could have been played by him or Brad Pitt or Robert Downey Jr. The IRS agent he plays in Seven Pounds could have very easily been Caucasian, as could the bitter superhero in Hancock. And that has been by design. Growing up in Philadelphia, Smith attended a mostly white Catholic elementary school and a mostly African-American high school. He lived in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, attended a Baptist church and admired the Muslim girls who lived one street over. Along the way, Smith learned that laughter is collective and unifying. "Those universal elements became really clear in my experiences growing up." Race is not something Smith dwells on in interviews, and it's not something often addressed in his films. "Being an American, this is the only place on Earth I'm even possible. My life is not possible anywhere else," he says. It's a sentiment often echoed by President-elect Barack Obama, with whom Smith identifies. On Election Day, Smith says, he didn't even have a beer. "I wanted to be totally sober. I wanted to see and feel and remember everything. The whole family was there. It was really fantastic — either way I knew it would be a historical evening. I wanted to be there and be aware," he says. 6. Be master of your domain Eighteen years ago, Smith charmed audiences as the fast-talking, appealingly glib Fresh Prince. Today, his films gross an average $136 million. And Smith says he finally feels he's starting to own his profession. "I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and he talks about the concept of 10,000 hours. That you don't really settle into any level of mastery until 10,000 hours, and I feel like I've just completed my 10,000 hours of story structure and filmmaking. "Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist, which is my favorite book, he talks about the whole of the universe, and it's contained in one grain of sand. For years I've been saying that, and now it's really starting to expose itself to me. My own grain of sand has been story. The next 10 years will be my peak of innovation in filmmaking and just as a human being." Since 1996's blockbuster Independence Day, Smith has generated a movie a year, sometimes two. When he signs on, he's fully committed. "He's very firm with his own ideas and considerations about things," Muccino says. "He doesn't change his mind easily. If he says no, it's no. If he says yes, it's yes. He's a man of his word. In Italy we call them men of honor." 7. Leave nothing to chance That includes his 11-year marriage to Jada Pinkett, with whom he has two kids: son Jaden, 10, and daughter Willow, 8. Smith also has son Trey, 16, from his first marriage. "We did a business plan," Smith says. "Listen, everyone should do a marriage business plan. Why are you together? What's the point? Because he's cute? That's not going to hold up. It can't just be sex and somebody can cook. That's a really good purpose, but not for 40 years. Jada and I have connected to the purpose of our relationship, to teach and to continually learn about human interaction. Our marriage will have purpose for other married people." Smith always wants to know the conclusion. Because if you know the end, you know precisely where you're going and how you're getting there. "Jada and I sat down and asked, 'Where do we see ourselves?' We went to 40 years from now. We see ourselves some place where there are seasons. That's a big thing for Jada. We think there's mountains. We think we live on a golf course. We don't have more children — we have grandchildren. "We are the greatest philanthropists that America has ever seen. We're going to try and get up there with Bill and Melinda Gates. We talked through all the elements of where we want to be so we can start, in this moment, designing our life toward that." Yes, Will Smith has a plan for everything. But for people like Mendes, his success is the result of something that doesn't need so much preparation. "Of course he's talented, of course he's sexy, of course he's got a body to die for, but who cares?" she says. "He's so full of light. We all want to be next to him and root for him. People want to be around it. He's a light force." http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2...ill-smith_N.htm

So what we gonna do on JJFP.com in 2009? :lolsign:

More interviews... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce8bdDVH6EI

Good news of course man. I think viber, AJ and a few members more are very interested in this movie too, so that's cool And yes, I hope his next movie after SP is 'The Last Pharaoh' or 'Empire'. We'll see, we'll have to wait a bit more to know that I guess.

Will Smith teaches Bernard Berrian Touchdown Dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBOmeUb9-KM

Gracias a ti VIsqo, yeah I love it when Will plays serious roles, so I can't wait to see this movie. I must be the only 1 :lolsign:

Will Smith taps into emotional trauma He plays a tax collector in Seven Pounds. What's next, a politician? Will Smith may be Hollywood's brightest star – and less-than-sunny roles don't seem to dim the lustre Dec 13, 2008 04:30 AM A hero he's not: In Seven Pounds, Will Smith plays a government tax collector who stalks the poor and unwell. HOLLYWOOD–Call it perverse, or maybe a savvy career move. Just when it seems that Will Smith couldn't be more popular – even President-elect Barack Obama is a fan – the actor and rapper is working on dimming his sunny image. Smith is arguably the world's most popular actor, a goal he famously set for himself two decades ago. His past eight movies, from Men in Black II in 2002 to this summer's Hancock, have each grossed more than $100 million at the North American box office, a record run of hits. He's everybody's first pick to play Obama in the eventual biopic of the president-elect's rise to glory. Obama has said he'd like to see it happen. You'd better believe that Smith is up for it, although he hopes it happens after Obama has completed eight years as president. "When I get the order from my Commander-in-Chief, as a good American, I will rise to the call!" Smith tells the Star, as he begins an interview in a Beverly Hills hotel suite. He's dressed as if at a job interview, all smiles and good cheer in a white shirt, dark tie and natty baby blue pullover. Despite all this, Smith is busy tarnishing his screen persona. It's a project he began with the release two years ago of The Pursuit of Happyness, in which he played a down-and-out single dad. He followed that with his survivalist scientist in last year's I Am Legend and his grumpy superhero in the recent Hancock, each role tougher than the last. With Seven Pounds, his new drama opening Dec. 19 (it reunites him with Pursuit of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino), Smith will really challenge his many admirers. He plays a government tax collector who stalks poor and unwell people, so insensitive and boorish that he mocks a blind man. "I've been experimenting," Smith said, agreeing he's strayed far from his grinning Fresh Prince guise that made this striver from a poor Philadelphia family a music, TV and film star while still in his 20s. "For some reason, I'm really attracted to the nature of emotional trauma in human lives. It seems like a really rich and unmined area in my personal life. I turned it off. When my grandmother died, I never cried or anything like that. "So for me with my characters, specifically I Am Legend, Hancock and now Seven Pounds, I'm exploring trauma and loss. To be able to go there with a character reveals things about my own management of trauma and loss in my life." The drive to experiment comes in part from the realization that he's now at the halfway point of his life. Smith turned 40 this past September, although he hardly looks it. "It was just another birthday. I live my life so abundantly that turning 40 wasn't a huge deal. But a couple weeks ago, my son Trey turned 16 and I sat in the passenger seat and he was driving. That really rocked me. It was so huge a signal that life is moving on and things are changing, and quickly. He's driving! "It was not so much about getting old, but it was as if I could be missing something, like things were happening fast and maybe I wasn't paying attention as much as I should have been. It was more that feeling, `Dude, wake up! Look! Things are changing quickly and aggressively!'" It's very hard to write about Seven Pounds without revealing a payoff that Smith, Muccino and co-star Rosario Dawson are all anxious to keep secret. Suffice to say the film unspools like a mystery, but seriously examines the meaning of life. Making the film was "a crazy epiphany," Smith said, prompting him to further reflect on his life. He used a mountain climbing metaphor to describe his feeling of always having somewhere else to go. "As soon as you get to the mountain that you wanted to climb and you put your flag down and you stand there for 10 minutes, you say, `Ooh, look at that mountain over there!' "The journey is the destination, and the worst thing that can happen is that you actually arrive where you thought you wanted to go. It's a really weird time and probably the last two years have been really frustrating for me. It just felt like there's so much I wanted to and so much I wanted to be, but it was like I was blind and I couldn't see. Working on Seven Pounds gave me a crazy epiphany about what I want to be and what I want to do." He believes in the movie so much, he'd rather undersell it than risk overselling it. The one-sheet poster for the film has an enigmatic shot of Smith's face. This could be the film that snaps that $100-million streak, but it doesn't need to be a blockbuster if enough people embrace it as thoughtful entertainment. "We're trying to do a non-sale. It's like, we're not going to sell this movie, we're going to hope that we've created enough trust in the industry that people will listen if I say, `You know what? This is a good movie. I think you'll enjoy it. Just trust me; I can't tell you anything about it.'" Smith is totally unlike most Hollywood celebrities in that he's not afraid to admit to his weaknesses. In a discussion with a roomful of movie writers, Smith continued to talk candidly about personal issues – things like the failure of his first marriage, to Sheree Zampino, the mother of Trey. They married in 1992, divorced in 1995 and when it was over, Smith said he was left in shock over "the idea that somebody could not like me anymore." He's having no such concerns with his second wife, actress Jada Pinkett, whom Smith married in 1997. They have two children: Jaden, 10, and Willow, 8. Both are following their parents' footsteps as movie stars. (Jaden has a major role in The Day the Earth Stood Still, the sci-fi remake that opened yesterday.) Yet Smith insisted there is some trouble in paradise, in the form of unwanted extra pounds on his abdomen, although they aren't at all apparent. Even though he lost 15 pounds making Seven Pounds, much of it was the muscle he'd sculpted for I Am Legend. "It's so not I Am Legend," Smith said, pointing to his abs. "Now it's I Am Luggage!" Smith is so disarmingly open, he'll even admit to being a lousy on-screen kisser. He 'fessed up after Seven Pounds co-star Dawson told the movie writers about her frustration getting Smith to kiss her in the movie. "Will is shockingly shy about intimacy with strangers, I guess," Dawson said. "That's not too bad, but it was really unbelievable how much he delayed our kissing scenes. For weeks. To the point where I started getting really nervous about my breath. I was starting to get down to the little details of going, `Seriously, like it's not that bad. We don't have to totally do tongue. We can work on this.' It was such a big deal. He was talking about having Jada (on the set)." When the time came that Smith could put the kissing off no longer, he prepared for the scene with some solo heavy breathing, like an athlete preparing for battle. "Will was standing outside going, `Yeah! We're gonna get this scene! Woo! Yeah! I'm ready to go today!' And I'm like, `You haven't done that for the past 55 days. Why today, babe? You're kind of freaking me out. I need a little calm to go into this. I need candles and some nice music and you're screaming at me like we're about to play football or something!'" Smith chuckled when Dawson's comments were relayed to him, and didn't try to dodge the implication that he's no sex machine. He is, after all, the most mellow of rappers, who had a hit with ditties called "Summertime" and "Parents Just Don't Understand." He explained that his intimacy issues have to do with his upbringing. "My mother and grandmother were firm about how men were supposed to treat women ... 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, some legal cheatin' going on. I just specifically need women to be comfortable around me. I just don't want to feel like that dude, and doing a love scene with her clothes off. "It just puts me in my defensive space, but it also hurts the acting if I'm in that space. You gotta find a comfortable space to feel free, where your hand can brush up against her and all that and it's not all, `Ooh, excuse me.'" He joked that wife Jada told him to knock it off and just get down to work. "Jada said, `Listen, I know you aren't comfortable, but you better not embarrass me. When you do that love scene, you better show 'em what you workin' with.'" Smith laughed as he told the story. A smile is never far from his face, except when he feels unsure about what to do next. That's the one thing about fame that bothers him – how to follow success with more success, and whether he should even try. "The only part of that that I would say is a burden is when I lose certainty about my next step. Then it becomes a burden. You know how in Forrest Gump, when (Tom Hanks' character) finished running and everybody's following him? Everybody is so connected to the purpose even though they didn't know what it was. But there was purpose, there was meaning, there was movement. It's such a necessity in life to have that purpose. Then he stopped running and it was like, he let everybody down." Smith's 'just hyped' about Obama HOLLYWOOD–Will Smith plans to be in Washington, D.C., next month to attend Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. An excited Smith believes the event marks not just a change of government, but a change of attitude. He hopes people of colour will now feel empowered to tell more of their stories on the big screen. "When Barack was elected, it validated something that I believed a long time," Smith told writers attending last weekend's Seven Pounds junket. "As a black man in America, I've never been allowed to say it out loud, but I don't think America is a racist nation. I think there are racist people who live here, but I just don't see America as a racist nation. "For so many years I've been wanting to say, let's create our own movies! "Yes, (a role) was written for a white character, yes they wanted to put in a white character, but you take the responsibility and show how it can be something else! "You were called Uncle Tom if you said that. The white man's got you brainwashed! Now I just feel so free; that I've been unleashed to say things and do things the way that I felt for such a long time. "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! "Now we just have to live up to it. A cycle of African-American citizenship has been completed with this. I'm just hyped." -Peter Howell http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Movies/article/552460

More pics: http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.a...mp;src=standard

Twin Cities gets blast of Will (Smith) power A charming, jovial Will Smith met fans and made charity visits on a tour stop for his new movie. VIDEO! http://www.startribune.com/video/36092859....Unc5PDiUiacyKUU "Just think of me as a big shrimp cocktail," Will Smith said with his megawatt smile. "A nice appetizer before the main course." Hundreds of Twin Cities fans certainly found Smith delectable on Friday. Posing for cell phone snapshots, exchanging hugs and high-fives with cheering fans, the world's biggest movie star hit the Twin Cities like a juggernaut, combining interviews, private visits at schools and hospitals, and a red-carpet local premiere to whip up an appetite for his film "Seven Pounds," which opens nationwide next weekend. It's unusual for stars of his stature to move outside the New York-Los Angeles axis, let alone cruise Midwest streets in a motor coach emblazoned with their face, as Smith did. But as recent visits to Minnesota by George Clooney, Jerry Seinfeld and the stars of "Twilight" suggest, the changing media environment presents special challenges. Declining revenues for "old media" -- print, TV, radio -- means that fewer journalists can travel to publicity junkets on the coasts, so some stars are personally bringing their wares to the public, as makers of low-budget films long have done. "It's highly unusual," said Jeff Bock, a film-industry analyst for Los Angeles-based Exhibitor Relations. "I don't think the biggest box-office star in the world necessarily has to do a bus tour to promote his film. [but distributor] Sony has a pretty tough sell on their hands." With Smith playing a suicidal man determined to change the lives of several strangers, the drama "isn't your typical Hollywood or blockbuster film," Bock said. Barnstorming the nation also gave the actor something he said he craves: A sense of reconnection with the people who gave him his success. In an interview, Smith recalled when he realized he had drifted out of contact with everyday people: "On Nov. 4, I sat there with my children and my 16-year-old son couldn't understand how I didn't know [the election] was over already. He was like, 'You're out of touch.' http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/m...iD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

More videos! http://www.myfoxcharlotte.com/myfox/MyFox/...mp;locale=EN-US

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