Will Smith is at a time in his life where he is naturally reflecting on the choices he made as a younger man. It’s hard to say what he regrets, with the exception of appearing in Wild Wild West. He definitely regrets that.
At Cannes Lions on Tuesday, Will Smith talked about his experience rising to fame. At some point, he feels he put aside his craft in favor of gross, icky money. The Hollywood Reporter says that Smith has lately been inspired by Muhammad Ali to pursue more philanthropic activities, and also shit on a film that earned $222 million worldwide:
“I had so much success that I started to taste global blood and my focus shifted from my artistry to winning. I wanted to win and be the biggest movie star, and what happened was there was a lag – around Wild Wild West time – I found myself promoting something because I wanted to win versus promoting something because I believed in it.”
Added Smith: “I consider myself a marketer. My career has been strictly being able to sell my products globally, and it’s now in the hand of fans. I have to be in tune with their needs and not trick them into going to see Wild Wild West.”
Smith is currently endorsing a project called Just Water, a water company that produces a paper and sugar cane-based bottle. He also derides the way Hollywood is having to rethink their approach to blockbusters, saying, “Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s you had a piece of crap movie, you put a trailer with a lot of explosions and it was Wednesday before people knew your movie was shit… But now what happens is 10 minutes into the movie, people are tweeting ‘This is shit, go see Vin Diesel.’”
In Will Smith’s mind, Wild Wild West is worse than a Vin Diesel movie.
Image via Getty.
