Will Smith continued to open up about the now infamous moment at the Oscars where he walked onstage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife. By candidly discussing how he failed as a human being, Smith is hoping to protect his upcoming film, Emancipation, from being overshadowed by the viral assault. The actor received a hand in that department from The Daily Show‘s Trevor Noah, who actually made Smith cry by being so gracious.
“[There are] many nuances and complexities to it, you know, but at the end of the day, I just, I lost it, you know,” Smith confessed to Noah. “I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody’s going through.”
As Smith expanded on the personal journey he’s been on since slapping Rock onstage, Noah shared that he pushed back on a friend who called him and said that what everyone saw that night was the “real Will Smith.” Via The Hollywood Reporter:
The Daily Show host continued that things were becoming “relentlessly shi*ty” and Smith reacted for the first time.
“It was a lot of things,” the actor said. “It was the little boy that watched his father beat up his mother, you know, is that you know, all of that just bubbled up in that moment. You know, I just that’s not who I wanna be.”
When Noah told Smith he thinks he made a mistake and doesn’t think that’s who the actor is, The Daily Show audience cheered, and Smith began tearing up.
Smith agreed that he pushes himself too hard, and he’s been humbled by the experience that’s forced him to grapple with the fact that he’s human like everybody else.
“I’ve always wanted to be Superman,” he told Noah. “I’ve always wanted to swoop in and save the damsel in distress, you know. And I had to humble down, you know, and realize that I’m a flawed human, and I still have an opportunity to go out in the world and contribute in a way that fills my heart, and hopefully helps other people.”
Emancipation premieres December 9 on Apple TV+.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)