Will Smith Says ‘Emancipation’ Co-Star Spat In His Face During Filming
Will Smith shared the shock of a co-star spitting in his face during an adlib scene for his newest film Emancipation. The King Richard actor sat down with his three children Willow, Jaden, and Trey Smith as they took over his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk. The Facebook Watch show is usually hosted by Jada, her mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and Willow.
“As the years have gone on, I’ve gotten more and more locked into these characters for longer periods of time,” he said. “And it’s just the weight of this story, the weight of these experiences — the quality of these actors. It was emotionally, it was physically, it was spiritually taxing.”
He continued: “One of the first days on set, there is a scene with one of the actors, and he leans down in my face and says, ‘You a cold one, ain’t you?’ and then he ad-libbed…”
The Philly native reenacted the spitting scene and all three kids began laughing.
“I was like, ‘Makeup!'” Smith recalled. “No, but it was like … I was like, ‘Whoa’. Every actor on this set was taking it really, really seriously.”
Emancipation marks Smith’s first role after the infamous Oscars slap. The film was released on Dec. 9 on Apple TV+ and follows the story of a slave named Peter (played by Smith) who embarks on a journey to freedom. The film takes inspiration from the 1863 photo of “Whipped Peter,” an enslaved man who joined the Union Army hoping to be reunited with his family.
Take a look at Will’s time on the Red Table Talk below:
Will Smith: 10 Of His Films That Are Classics
