Line #68 Creator/WillSmith


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3	%% Per Administrivia/CreatorPageGuidelines, only tropes associated to a creator's works are allowed on this wiki's pages, and tropes that only apply to the creator's personal life as if the creator is a fictional character are not allowed. Please do not apply tropes about the creator's personal life as if they are a fictional character.
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6	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/will_smith.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:280:''[[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir ♪ Now this is a story all about how\
8	my life got flipped, turned upside-down... ♪]]'']]
9
10	->''"Whether he's playing a cool young fighter pilot in ''Film/IndependenceDay'' or a 19th century steampunk cowboy in ''Film/WildWildWest'' or a Converse-wearing Luddite in ''Film/IRobot'', there's something distinctly ... Will Smithian about every piece of dialogue he delivers. All of the other actors in his movies are saying lines in the script that either further the plot or set up jokes, while Will Smith gets to say things like 'Aw, hell no' and 'Now that's what ''I'm'' talking about' and a variety of other 'Will Smith lines,' for lack of a better term."''
11	-->-- '''Daniel O'Brien''', ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-reasons-why-bad-movies-are-allowed-to-happen/ "4 Reasons Why Bad Movies Are Allowed to Happen"]]
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13	Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actor and rapper.
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15	In West UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} born and raised, [[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir on the playground is where he spent most of his days,]] [[ExpositoryThemeTune chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool]], until Smith first entered the public eye as part of Music/DJJazzyJeffAndTheFreshPrince, a lighthearted hip-hop duo with hits including "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Summertime". He really came to fame with the NBC series ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', a successful and iconic {{sitcom}} that he only signed onto because [[MoneyDearBoy most of his possessions were taken by the IRS as punishment for tax evasion]].
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17	Smith then moved on into what has become a very successful acting career. While initially focused on lighthearted comedies and popcorn action, his UncleTomfoolery days are [[TomHanksSyndrome pretty much gone]], with Smith playing semi-serious or serious roles most of the time now and his comedic acting not being race-based. It also helps that he is the undisputed lead in any movie he's in, one of the few Black actors at this status. His most famous roles... well, the list is sort of legendary. [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000226/ Just have a look at his IMDB profile]]. Adding to this, even his stinkers tend to suck in tons of money; the failure of ''Film/WildWildWest'' prompted Smith to observe, "That's how big I am. I ''bomb'' over $100 million." Of all the films Smith has been the star of, only three (all {{biopic}}s) have failed to make back their budgets[[note]]the UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli biopic ''Film/{{Ali}}'' (which was still a critical if not financial success), ''Film/{{Concussion}}'', and ''Film/KingRichard''[[/note]] -- Smith is ''that'' much of a box office draw. He's also one of the best-paid actors, pulling salaries estimated at $20 million ''per movie''.
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19	In any given movie, expect a ShirtlessScene and expect him as well to say "[[CatchPhrase AW, HELL NAW!]]" at some point. [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama The 44th President of the United States]] also wouldn't mind being portrayed by him in a movie.
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21	Smith has been married to Creator/JadaPinkettSmith since 1997, and they have two children who are also in show business through acting and music: Creator/{{Jaden\|Smith}} and Music/{{Willow\|Smith}}. (He additionally has a son, Trey, from an earlier marriage.) He is also the founder of Overbrook Entertainment (named after the high school in Philly he attended), whose films he produces.
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23	Two decades after his first nomination, Smith finally won an [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActorInALeadingRole Academy Award for Best Actor]] for his role in ''Film/KingRichard'' in 2022. Unfortunately for him, this was after he controversially slapped Creator/ChrisRock for making a joke about his wife during the ceremony, which significantly {{overshadowed\|ByControversy}} both his win and the ceremony as a whole in media coverage. He subsequently publicly apologized to Rock and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and eventually received [[PersonaNonGrata a ten-year ban from attending the Academy Awards and affiliated ceremonies]].
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25	Not to be confused with legendary tough-guy actor Creator/WilliamSmith. Also, tropes that specifically pertain to his years with DJ Jazzy Jeff should be put on [[Music/DJJazzyJeffAndTheFreshPrince their own page]].
26	----
27	!!Filmography
28	* ''Where The Day Takes You'' (1992) - Manny
29	* ''Film/MadeInAmerica'' (1993) - Tea Cake Walters
30	* ''Theatre/SixDegreesOfSeparation'' (1993) - Paul
31	* ''Film/{{Bad Boys\|1995}}'' (1995) - Mike Lowrey
32	** ''Film/BadBoysII'' (2003)
33	** ''Film/BadBoysForLife'' (2020)
34	* ''Film/IndependenceDay'' (1996) - Capt. Steven Hiller
35	* ''Franchise/MenInBlack'' - James Darrell Edwards III/Agent J
36	** ''Film/MenInBlack'' (1997)
37	** ''Film/MenInBlackII'' (2002)
38	** ''Film/MenInBlack3'' (2012) [[note]]Notable in that this serves as the longest gap he's had between films until ''Bad Boys 3'' came out, and it showed he's still a reasonable box-office draw.[[/note]]
39	* ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'' (1998) - Robert Clayton Dean
40	* ''Film/WildWildWest'' (1999) - Captain James West
41	* ''Film/TheLegendOfBaggerVance'' (2000) - Bagger Vance
42	* ''Film/{{Ali}}'' (2001) - UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli -- Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
43	* ''Film/IRobot'' (2004) - Detective Del Spooner
44	* ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' (2004) - Oscar
45	* ''Film/{{Hitch}}'' (2005) - Alex "Hitch" Hitchens
46	* ''Film/ThePursuitOfHappyness'' (2006) - Chris Gardner -- Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
47	* ''Film/IAmLegend'' (2007) - Dr. Robert Neville
48	* ''Film/{{Hancock}}'' (2008) - John Hancock
49	* ''Film/SevenPounds'' (2008) - Tim Thomas
50	* ''Film/AfterEarth'' (2013) - Cypher Raige
51	* ''Film/{{Focus}}'' (2015) - Nicky Spurgeon
52	* ''Film/{{Concussion}}'' (2015) - Bennet Omalu
53	* ''Film/CollateralBeauty'' (2016) - Howard Inlet
54	* ''Film/{{Suicide Squad\|2016}}'' (2016) - Floyd Lawton/Deadshot
55	* ''Film/{{Bright}}'' (2017) - Officer Daryl Ward
56	* ''Film/{{Aladdin\|2019}}'' (2019) - Genie
57	* ''Film/GeminiMan'' (2019) - [[ActingForTwo Henry Brogan/Junior]]
58	* ''WesternAnimation/SpiesInDisguise'' (2019) - Lance Sterling
59	* ''Film/KingRichard'' (2021) - Richard Williams -- MediaNotes/AcademyAward winner for Best Actor and nominee for Best Picture (as producer)
60	* ''Emancipation'' (2022) - Peter
61
62	!! Discography
63	'''With DJ Jazzy Jeff'''
64	* ''Rock the House'' (1987)
65	* ''He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper'' (1988)
66	* ''And in This Corner...'' (1989)
67	* ''Homebase'' (1991)
68	* ''Code Red'' (1993)
69	'''Solo'''
70	* ''Big Willie Style'' (1997)
71	* ''Willennium'' (1999)
72	* ''Born to Reign'' (2002)
73	* ''Lost and Found'' (2005)
74	----
75
76	!!His works provide examples of:
77	%%As with all Creator/ pages, trivia tropes about the creator specifically are to be posted here, not a Trivia/ page, as they technically are InUniverse in the case of the person's career.
78	%%However: As with all Creator/ pages, items that could go on a specific work's trivia page go there, not here.
79	* BuddyCopShow: Plays one member of the pair of protagonists in several movies belonging to this subgenre, notably the ''Film/BadBoys1995'' and ''Film/MenInBlack'' series.
80	* CatchPhrase:
81	** "Aw, hell naw!", usually uttered in a ThisIsGonnaSuck moment.
82	** "Day-um" drawn out into two syllables, as an expression of shock.
83	* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning:
84	** Will turned "Just the Two of Us", Bill Withers' song about a man's love for his woman, into a song about [[ParentalLoveSong a man's love for his son]].
85	** His reprises of songs from ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' for the 2019 live action adaptation include new lyrics.
86	* TheDanza: "Will Smith" in ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''. Smith has stated in multiple interviews that co-star Alfonso Ribeiro advised him to do this as people would spend the rest of his life calling him by his character's name, so he may as well get them to yell his real name. He was quickly proven right whenver they went out together and had people yelling "Will!" and "Hey, [[IAmNotSpock Carlton!]]" at them.
87	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: Not surprising given that he was a rapper before he was an actor, he did the themes for a number of his movies. "Men in Black" and "Wild Wild West", and became radio hits. He did all the songs for the Genie in 2019's ''Aladdin'' as well as "Arabian Nights".
88	* GratuitousSpanish:
89	** Since he was a featured artist on the Music/MarcAnthony and Bad Bunny song "Esta Rico", this was bound to happen.
90	--->'''Will Smith:''' (spoken) ''Haciendo historia!''\
91	''Sacude tu cadera'', always taking pictures, laughing, blowing kisses...
92	** It also happens in "Miami" - the last line of the chorus is "Bienvenidos a Miami" ("welcome to Miami") - and randomly throws in "medianoche"[[note]]"midnight"[[/note]] in a line in "Will 2K".
93	* IAmNotLeonardNimoy: It's much easier to think of his character as "Will Smith". Turned out he was straight out invoking this with ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''. He chose to go by his actual name so that he would never be "associated" with the character's name, supposedly on the advice of Alfonso Ribeiro (who already struggled to leave behind his ''Series/SilverSpoons'' character, and will be Carlton for the rest of his life).
94	* LargeHam: In his earlier days he was this, especially on the Fresh Prince.
95	* MidVidSkit: The "Film/WildWildWest" music video is a {{Talky Bookend\|s}} in which Will's character from said film, Jim West, [[CatapultNightmare wakes up from a nightmare]] involving the movie's villain Dr. Loveless. Salma Hayek's Rita Escobar comforts him, goes to get him something and is promptly kidnapped by Loveless' henchwomen. Just after the last third of the song starts up, a chandelier comes crashing down, kicking off a scene where Jim rescues Rita.
96	* MrFanservice: He often gets shirtless scenes, and it's taken even further in ''I, Robot'', wherein he's shown completely naked and showering at one point and in ''Film/WildWildWest''.
97	* PlayingAgainstType: The titular Hancock of ''Film/{{Hancock}}'' and ComicBook/{{Deadshot}} in ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' are angry assholes with just enough heart to make them likable, in contrast with his usually cool and charm characters.
98	* RaceLift:
99	** In ''Series/TheWildWildWest'', James West was white, played by Creator/RobertConrad. In ''Film/WildWildWest'', West is black, played by Smith.
100	** Ditto [[Characters/SuicideSquadOperatives Floyd Lawton/Deadshot]], who's white in the comics and was played by Smith in ''Film/{{Suicide Squad\|2016}}''.
101	* ShoutOut: He got one from Eminem in "The Real Slim Shady" (responds to a line "All you rappers yellin' bout who you put in a hearse, do me a favor, write one verse without a curse" from Will's "Freakin' it"). ''Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records / Well, I do / So [[PrecisionFStrike fuck]] him and fuck you too!'' Ironically, Music/{{Eminem}} and Music/DrDre appeared on the ''Wild Wild West'' soundtrack.
102	* StarMakingRole:
103	** ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' made him famous on the small screen.
104	** In Hollywood, ''Film/IndependenceDay'' was his big box-office launch.
105	* TomHanksSyndrome: Started off as a comical coming actor, now he is becoming more of a dramatic actor taking on more serious roles, eventually winning an MediaNotes/AcademyAward for ''Film/KingRichard''.
106	* TransAtlanticEquivalent: He was the American equivalent to Music/SlickRick during his early "Fresh Prince" days, with Will debuting just slightly after Rick did, and having used a similar narrative style in his songs. However, facing declining record sales in 1991, Will would eventually move away from Slick Rick's style, and develop what would eventually become his "Big Willie" style of rapping.
107	* UncleTomfoolery: Started his career like this especially as Will in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel Air''. Agent J in the first ''Film/MenInBlack'' and Oscar the fish in ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' the animated movie fit as well.
108	* UrbanLegend: No, he never got into MIT as widely believed. He never even applied to any universities coming out of high school because he wanted to rap. He went to a summer program at the school before he made his mind up to not to go to college to see if he liked engineering but decided it wasn’t for him. He says that he had a really high grade point average and SAT scores, his parents had a friend who worked there, and they were actively looking for more black kids at the time, so he probably could have gotten in but he’ll never know for sure.
109	* VerbalTic: "Ha-ha!", 'WOOO!", Whaaat whaaat", and "Uuhhh" (that last one was actually a song title on ''Willennium'').
110	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
111	** Per his 2021 memoir ''Will'', he was offered a role in ''Film/EightHeadsInADuffelBag'', but turned it down on the advice of his manager.
112	** Was the original first choice to play Neo in ''Film/TheMatrix'' but passed up on it to be in ''Film/WildWildWest'' (though amusingly enough, his wife was cast in the sequels as Niobe). Smith is philosophical about it though, saying the casting of Neo and Morpheus was perfect and he would probably have messed the film up if he’d taken the role.
113	** Was also Tarantino's first choice for the lead in ''Film/DjangoUnchained'', but Smith pulled out of that project after realizing how OutOfFocus Django would be for the first half of the movie.

Context Creator / WillSmith