His slap shadowed his reputation: Who is Will Smith?

Smith was born on September 25, 1968, in Philadelphia, USA, as the second child of a family of four children. His mother, Caroline Smith, was on the board of a school; his father, Willard Carroll Smith Sr., was owned a company that produced refrigerators. His parents separated when he was 13. 

He grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in West Philadelphia known as Wynnefield. He was a successful student attending Overbrook High School. Smith was nicknamed Prince because he acted like a star at an early age and was popular. After a short while, this nickname would turn into the Fresh Prince, and Smith would be remembered as such for many years.

The actor, who became interested in rap music during his teenage years, met Jeffrey 'DJ Jazzy Jeff' Townes at one of the parties he went to. The duo got along well and formed their first band and stepped into music. Their band was called "DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince", which was their nickname. The singles "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Summertime", which were released from their first albums, gained great success. The duo proved their talents as the winners of the Grammy award, which will be given for the first time that year (1988) in the rap category.

For Smith, who was found to be very sympathetic, offers began to come one after another from Hollywood. When the date showed 1993, he was in front of the camera with his first movie "Six Degrees Of Separation". Then came the 1995 Bad Boys. The film was commercially successful and grossed worldwide. However, critical responses were generally mixed.

In 1996, Smith starred as part of an ensemble cast in Roland Emmerich's Independence Day. The movie was a huge blockbuster and was the second highest-grossing movie in history at the time. It made Smith a blockbuster. In the summer of 1997, he played Agent J in the hit Men in Black alongside Tommy Lee Jones. It received critical acclaim from critics praising the performances of Jones and Smith as well as its humor. Thus, the actor took firm steps forward in his film career.

However, Smith's great passion was music and he wanted to do something about it. That's why in 1997 his first studio album "Big Willie Style" took its place in music markets. The actor was revealing his talents in the field of music in his first solo album. The album, which rose to number 8 on the American charts, became one of the most popular works of that year with the singles "Gettin'Jiggy Wit It", "Men In Black", "Just Two Of Us" and "Miami". Will Smith won the third Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance for "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It".

In 2001, Smith, who portrayed the famous athlete in the autobiographical film of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, embraced the best actor award at the Golden Globe ceremonies with this performance. Smith also received his first Oscar nomination for this character. The actor-musician, who released his 3rd album "Born To Reign" in 2002, took number 12 in the US charts with this album. In the same year, he took part in the sequel "Men In Black II" and released the compilation album "Greatest Hits".

2003 returns for Bad Boys II, the sequel to Smith's 1995 movie Bad Boys. Despite receiving generally negative reviews, the film was a worldwide box office success. The following year, he starred in the science fiction movie I, Robot. The film was also a box office success despite mixed reviews.

Smith's last album, Lost and Found, was released in 2005. He managed to make his fans happy again with his first single "Switch". In 2005, Smith entered the Guinness Book of Records for attending three premieres in a 24-hour time frame. Smith and son Jaden played father and son in the 2006 biographical drama The Pursuit of Happyness. The production, which has a very important place in his filmography, earned Smith an Oscar Nomination for Best Actor.

He starred in the movie I Am Legend, which was released on December 14, 2007. Aside from marginal and positive reviews, its opening was the biggest ever openings. Smith later starred in the superhero movie Hancock (2008). Smith reprized his role as Agent J in Men in Black 3, which opened on May 25, 2012, and played his first major lead four years later.

Smith starred in After Earth with her son Jaden in 2013. The movie was a disappointment at the local box office. Describing the film as "the most painful failure in my career", Smith took a year and a half hiatus as a result.

Smith co-starred with Margot Robbie in the romantic drama Focus, which hit theaters on February 27, 2015. Smith starred in director David Frankel's drama Collateral Beauty. Weeks after filming Smith, his father was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2016. The film had the lowest box office opening in Will Smith's career. The film also received almost universally negative acclaim from film critics.

Smith performed the official song "Live It Up" with American singer Nicky Jam and Kosovo singer Era Istrefi at the closing ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Moscow, Russia. Smith portrayed The Genie in Disney's live-action adaptation of Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie. Aladdin grossed over $1 billion worldwide, surpassing Independence Day to become Smith's highest-grossing film.

In 2020, he reunited with Martin Lawrence for the third installment in the franchise, Bad Boys for Life. In June 2020, it was announced that Smith will play Peter, a runaway slave, in Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua.

Smith played Richard Williams, the father and coach of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, in the 2021 movie King Richard. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture. It also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a lead actor.

Eventful slap

At the Oscars ceremony in 2022, Smith was on the agenda when he slapped host and comedian Chris Rock, who joked about his wife. Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, had been diagnosed with alopecia areata and was going to have her hair shaved. Sensitive to this issue, Smith was named Best Actor for King Richard later that night. In his acceptance speech, he apologized to the Academy and other candidates, but not to Rock. After the public backlash, Smith issued a formal apology.

On April 1, 2022, Smith submitted his resignation from the Academy in writing, and his resignation was accepted with the official announcement. However, the investigation continued. On April 8, 2022, the Academy announced its decision to ban Smith from future Oscar galas and related events for 10 years. Several film projects involving Smith were put on hold due to the controversy.

Private life

Smith is very good at chess, which he learned from his father at the age of seven. Also, Smith can speak Spanish very fluently. He was ranked 5th on the list of the 50 Smartest People in Hollywood in 2005.

He has a son named Trey Smith with his first wife Sheree Smith, whom he married on May 9, 1992. Smith and Sheere divorced in 1995. Smith married actress Jada Pinkett Smith in 1997. They met when Pinkett auditioned for the role of Smith's character's girlfriend in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air film. Two children of the actor were born from this marriage.