William Carroll Smith Jr. is a renowned American actor, director and hip-hop performer. Winner of the Grammy Award. In 2008, Smith topped the list of the highest paid artists in Hollywood.
Biography
The future artist was born in September 1968 on the twenty-fifth in the American city of Philadelphia. There were no hereditary actors or singers in his family. Will's mother worked as a simple teacher at school, and Will Sr. was a production engineer. When Will Jr. was thirteen years old, his parents decided to separate. They lived separately for a long time, but officially divorced only in 2000.
Professional career
Despite the fact that Smith is known to most as an actor, he began his path to fame with music. In the early eighties, he met street musician Jeff Townes, with whom he later formed a hip-hop duo. The unusual music and extravagant manner of performance quickly fell in love with the public. Known as Jeffy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, the duo quickly moved beyond street gigs. By the end of the eighties, the band received the prestigious Grammy music award, this award was the first to be given for the performance of rap.
In 1990, NBC offered Will Smith a job on The Prince of Beverly Hills. In fact, Smith played himself, "Prince" is his musical pseudonym, which he used when playing music on the street. Since Will has already managed to gain fans and declare himself to the entire music industry, the series turned out to be extremely successful. The broadcast ran for six years, during which 148 episodes of twenty-four minutes were released.
During his six years on the project, Will also dabbled in the big screen. Smith's first serious work was the crime drama Go with the Flow, which was released in 1992. The following year, he took part in two large-scale projects at once, but Smith's direct participation was limited to episodic roles.
In 1995, the crime comedy "Bad Boys" was released. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence starred in the project. The story of two dark-skinned police officers who are completely different from each other, but by the will of fate became partners, brought huge success to little-known Hollywood actors. The picture itself also became incredibly box office: with a modest budget of nineteen million dollars at the box office, it grossed more than 140 million. American tabloids, including Orange News, recognized the newly minted police duo as the best in cinematography.
In addition to his work in films, Smith also took part in the scoring of the animated series "Fairy Tales for Children", where for five years he was the voice of one of the most striking characters in Pinocchio. And in 1996, another super popular film "Independence Day" appeared on the screens, a fantastic drama about an alien invasion grossed eight hundred million dollars at the box office.
In 1997, the first part of the cult series "Men in Black" was released. Will Smith's duet with Tommy Lee Jones instantly won the hearts of all fans of science fiction and alien stories. The action comedy with elements of fiction has become one of the most popular and widely discussed films in recent years. The film grossed five hundred million dollars.
The beginning of the 2000s in Smith's career was marked by the feature film The Legend of Bager Vance. The events of the new picture unfold in the 1920s in the United States, in the midst of the "Great Depression". The film did not find the proper response in the hearts of TV viewers and was left without any film awards. The fees for a budget of eighty million were only half of the money spent.
This was followed by two sequels at once: in 2002, the movie "Men in Black 2" was released, and the next year, a couple of black cops from the movie "Bad Boys" delighted fans. Both films, as expected, were once again extremely successful.
In 2006, Smith decided to experiment. In the melodrama "The Pursuit of Happyness," he starred with his son Jaden. The first experience in cinema, it should be noted, became more than successful, the audience liked the picture, and the fees exceeded the budget by six times.
The second appearance on the screen with his son took place in 2013, when the picture "After our era" was released. The second experience was truly disastrous, the play of the matured Jaden was not at all impressed and even upset the audience. The film also won the Golden Raspberry Award twice. The "infamous" award was given in the category "Worst male supporting role", as well as in the category "Worst screen combination".
To date, Will Smith has over thirty major roles. He also recorded and released four music albums. In 2020, the sequel to the legendary saga of black police officers is being prepared for the premiere, the new film is called Bad Boys Forever.
World Cup 2018 in Russia
Will Smith is a football lover and enjoyed taking part in all events dedicated to the 2018 World Cup. He starred in the video for the song Live it Up, which actually became the anthem of the championship. Smith sang one of the verses of the song. He also spoke at the closing ceremony of the World Cup, which took place at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow.
Personal life
The famous artist has been married twice. He separated from his first wife, having lived together for only three years in 1995. On the last day of 1997, he married Jada Pinket. A year later, they had a son, Jaden, and in the 2000s, a daughter was born, who was named Willow.
