Will Smith’s newest film, ‘Emancipation‘. is about to arrive. While it might have been Smith’s chance at winning an Oscar, a dark shadow hangs over the slavery biopic. It’s all because the actor made a contentious choice during a heated exchange with Chris Rock at this year’s Oscars. The film is about an escaped slave who travels through a country in disarray to return to his family.
Smith is fully aware of how the incident is still fresh in people’s thoughts and how it can affect their choice to see the movie. How does he feel about it? Read on to find out.
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Will Smith: “I Completely Understand If Someone Is Not Ready”
Speaking to Kevin McCarthy, Will said: “I completely understand — if someone is not ready, I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready. My deepest concern is my team – Antoine has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career.”
Smith continued, “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. At this point, that’s what I’m working for. I’m hoping that the material – the power of the film, the timeliness of the story – 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.”
Smith is also a producer for the film, which comes out on 9 December.
How Fans Reacted To Smith’s Statement?
Fans on Twitter debated over if Smith should be forgiven or not. Some users were of the opinion that a mistake by one cast member shouldn’t affect the whole film’s cast. Others said Smith would have been forgiven if he had reached out to Chris Rock privately to apologize. Some also think that considering this was Smith’s first public outrage incident, he should be forgiven.
‘Emancipation‘ has already generated hype for the next awards season. Director Antoine Fuqua stated recently to Vanity Fair that the movie shouldn’t be seen in the light of Smith’s feud with Rock. “The film to me is bigger than that moment,” Fuqua said. “Four hundred years of slavery is bigger than one moment. My hope is that people will see it that way and watch the movie and be swept away with the great performance by Will and all the hard work that the whole crew did,” he said.
‘Emancipation‘ has a high possibility of winning an Oscar. Although Smith is banned from the Oscars for a decade, he still is eligible to be nominated for the award. The film comes out on December 9th.
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