- Will Smith, 53, appears on the new season of “My Guest Needs No Introduction from David Letterman.”
- Smith told Letterman that “safety is an illusion” and that he “always considered himself a coward.”
- The episode was filmed before Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022.
Will Smith reflects on his professional, family and personal journey in an interview with David Letterman recorded ahead of the 2022 Oscars.
Season 4 “My next guest doesn’t need an introduction from David Letterman” dropped in
Netflix
On Friday, the Academy Award-winning actor made an appearance in the second episode. Smith’s episode begins with a disclaimer, “This episode was recorded prior to the 2022 Oscars.”
Towards the end of the interview, Smith, 53, talked about his realization that “the material world is totally, totally, totally incapable of sustaining our happiness”.
Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith, Jaden Smith and Trey Smith arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in March 2022.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
“Beyond the basics of protecting yourself and your family,” added Letterman, 75.
“You can’t protect your family, can you?” Smith said. “That’s not true. Protection and safety are an illusion. You have to learn to accept the reality that at any moment, anything can be gone in a second.”
Smith, father of threeadding: “So, with that reality, how can you be here? How can you be happy and be here?”
In the same interview, Smith talked about his November 2021 memoir, “Will.”Memoir includes candid details, including his son Jaden Smith asked about being a liberated minor at age 15.
“The first line of the first chapter was, ‘I’ve always considered myself a coward,'” Smith told Letterman. “When I was nine, I saw my father beat my mother and I did nothing. It left a traumatic impression of a coward.”
Will Smith cried as he accepted the Best Actor award for ‘King Richard’ at the 2022 Oscars.
Chris Pizzello/Associated Press
Smith added that reflection while writing the memoir has helped him become a more approachable actor.
“Life is so exciting for me now because I’m able to reach people in a different way than I’ve ever been, mainly because of my pain,” he said. “I’m really ready to dive into my art in a way that I think will hopefully satisfy me and help the human family.”
“My Next Guest Doesn’t Need an Introduction by David Letterman” follows TV legends interviewing global figures from various industries. Season 4 has six episodes and includes appearances from such celebrities as Cardi B, Billie Eilish and Kevin Durant.
Smith and Rock speak out after controversial Oscar slap
In April, Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars after the comedian made fun of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.Despite her public announcement that she suffers from hair loss, Rock, 57, joked about Pink Smith’s bald head.
Smith apologizes to college in acceptance speech and Later rocked in an Instagram post.
“I want to apologize publicly, Chris,” Smith wrote“I was out of place, I was wrong. I was embarrassed and my actions didn’t show who I wanted to be.”
American actor Will Smith, right, slaps American actor Chris Rock on stage during the 94th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California, on March 27, 2022.
Robin Baker/AFP via Getty Images
The academy had previously conducted a formal review of the incident Ban Smith from the Oscars for 10 years.
Rock has since acted on the comedy show and addressed the incident.
“I was beaten by the softest n—- ever,” rock says on the showaccording to Hollywood Reporter. He later joked that he got ‘Most of his hearing is back’ After beating, The Telegraph report.
“Anyone who says ‘verbal hurt’ has never been slapped in the face,” Locke said.
