With quite a lengthy acting resume, Will Smith has had a longstanding career in the entertainment industry. More recently, The Hollywood Reporter stated that the Fresh Prince star joined his children Willow, Jaden, and Trey Smith for a takeover of Facebook Watch's Red Table Talk to reflect on Smith's latest project, Emancipation. The slavery-focused drama from director Antoine Fuqua, currently streaming on Apple TV+, is Smith's first film since the actor's controversial 2022 Oscar incident where Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock.
During the chat, Smith did not address the Oscar controversy or the aftermath that occurred as a result of the event. His wife, Jada Pinkett Smith (who was the subject of Rock's joke that led to Smith slapping the comedian) and her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, (both of whom typically co-host the Facebook Series), were both notably absent from the Red Table Talk episode.
Through the 35-minute show, the King Richard star reflected on the overwhelming emotions that came with portraying an enslaved man. For those not in the know, Emancipation is a fact-based movie that follows a slave named Peter (Smith) who escapes to the North and joins the Union Army. Additionally, Peter's scars from a brutal whipping ultimately serve to help the abolitionist movement with its goals.
Will Smith Said the Experience of Playing Peter in Emancipation Felt the Same as 'Actual Memories'
"Once you've experienced those things, they go into the same banks as your actual memories," Smith stated in regard to wearing his chains. "You don't have a separate place for acting. Your brain and your body recognizes it the same way it recognizes actual memories. You have nightmares about it the same way, so it's all of that kind of stuff."
Smith later added, "When you go that one click too far, Will Smith disappears, and then what happens is, psychologically, you go farther and farther into Peter, and you don't realize that 'you' are slipping away, and then it's over, and you go back, and you look for you, and you're gone. It's a hard thing to explain, right? So what happens — you play these characters, and when you play them long enough, it's like moving to another country and speaking another language. If you speak the other language long enough, you'll start to lose your native tongue."
The star additionally noted that the only other time he'd experienced anything even remotely similar to filming Emancipation was when he was shooting the 1993 movie Six Degrees of Separation. Smith said that was "the only other time in my career where I got lost, where I went too far with a character." Still, Smith doesn't believe he ever crossed the line with his character in Emancipation. "I wouldn't say I went too far with Peter — I just lost track of how far I went. I got twisted up in there a little bit."
Emancipation is available to stream on AppleTV+ now.