Almost exactly eight months after his infamous Oscar slap, Will Smith admits he has lost sleep over the slap hurting his new film Emancipation.
Smith, 54, won his first Oscar for King Richard just an hour after he slapped Oscar presenter Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Now Smith reveals in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly that he is worried his action may have hurt the film’s awards season chances.
Slap: Almost exactly eight months after his infamous Oscar slap, Will Smith admits he has lost sleep over the slap hurting his new film Emancipation
Chances: Now Smith reveals in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly that he is worried his action may have hurt the film’s awards season chances
‘The only discomfort my heart has around that is that so many people have done spectacular work on this film,’ Smith says.
‘My hope is that my team isn’t penalized at all for my actions. I think (director) Antoine (Fuqua) and (cinematographer) Robert (Richardson) and Ben (Foster) and Charmaine (Bingwa) — everyone has done such spectacular work,’ he added.
‘I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve,’ he added.
Discomfort: ‘The only discomfort my heart has around that is that so many people have done spectacular work on this film,’ Smith says
Penalized: ‘I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve,’ he added
Will Smith reflects on filming ‘Emancipation’ while in the rain
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While it’s unclear if Smith will be nominated for his work in Emancipation – based on the true story of a slave known as ‘Whipped Peter’ whose scourged back photo provided the world proof of slave owners’ cruelty – he won’t be able to accept an Oscar in person if he were to win.
Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the organization enacted a 10-year ban from attending the Oscar ceremony after the slap.
Smith added that he had seen the famous ‘Whipped Peter’ photos as a child, though he came to learn much more about him.
Whipped Peter: While it’s unclear if Smith will be nominated for his work in Emancipation – based on the true story of a slave known as ‘Whipped Peter’ whose scourged back photo provided the world proof of slave owners’ cruelty – he won’t be able to accept an Oscar in person if he were to win
Slap: Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the organization enacted a 10-year ban from attending the Oscar ceremony after the slap
Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at the Oscars over joke about Jada
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‘I had seen the image of Whipped Peter as a child, but as his story started to come into focus, I was moved in all of the most beautiful ways,’ adding the screenplay by Bill Collage was, ‘one of the greatest reads.’
‘When you look at the brutality that he suffered, and then realizing that through that he was able to sustain faith, gratitude, and love in the face of those kinds of atrocities — I knew that I wanted to learn from Peter,’ Smith added.
Smith also spoke with Washington DC’s Fox 5 network, where he was asked what he would say to viewers who aren’t quite ready to watch his work after the Oscar slap.
Story: ‘I had seen the image of Whipped Peter as a child, but as his story started to come into focus, I was moved in all of the most beautiful ways,’ adding the screenplay by Bill Collage was, ‘one of the greatest reads’
‘I completely understand that. If someone is not ready I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready,’ Smith said.
‘My deepest concern is my team, you know, Antoine has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career I think’ he added.
‘The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team. So at this point, that’s what I’m working for, that’s what I’m hoping for,’ Smith added.
Will understands: ‘I completely understand that. If someone is not ready I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready,’ Smith said
Highly anticipated trailer for Emancipation stars Will Smith
He continued, ‘I’m hoping that the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story, you know, I’m hoping that the good that can be done would open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognize and support the incredible artists in and around this film.’
Emancipation opens in select theaters on December 2, before being released on the Apple TV Plus streaming service a week later on December 9.
Power: He continued, ‘I’m hoping that the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story, you know, I’m hoping that the good that can be done would open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognize and support the incredible artists in and around this film’
Theaters and streaming: Emancipation opens in select theaters on December 2, before being released on the Apple TV Plus streaming service a week later on December 9
