Rapper-turned-actor Will Smith had one dream pushing him his entire life. That was, to become the biggest star in the world. Obviously, the path was not easy, and he had to make a lot of sacrifices on his way to the top.

Will Smith

One of the most interesting was to let go of some roles in lieu of pursuing more commercial success. The reason was of course he wanted his name to be known in every corner of the world. Basically, he claimed he wanted to play roles that people would offer Tom Cruise.

Will Smith wanted to beat Tom Cruise

Will Smith and Tom Cruise stand to be two of the most sought-after actors of current times. And while Cruise achieved that success early on starting with his 1986 blockbuster hit Top Gun, Smith had to struggle a bit more.

Will Smith and Tom Cruise

Although his first bout of acting in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air brought him two Golden Globes nominations, it wasn’t until his 1995 action movie Bad Boys and 1997 cult classic sci-fi flick Men In Black, that he reached a wider audience.

However, even then, he continued to pursue commercial success in his career with movies like I, Robot, Hancock, I Am Legend, and so on.

He even got Academic Awards nominations for his spectacular performance in movies like Ali, and The Pursuit of Happyness. However, he still was not completely satisfied. He explained in an interview,
“I wanted to play roles that you would give to Tom Cruise. I wanted to be a superhero.”

Will Smith in Wild Wild West

And so, even after having a shift in perspective with Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, he kept pursuing commercial success because did not want to show Black people in that light. He elaborated more, saying,

“In the early part of my career… I didn’t want to show Black people in that light…. And the first time I considered it was Django. But I didn’t want to make a slavery film about vengeance.”

Will Smith in King Richard

Although he missed out on a few impactful roles because of this decision over the years, he stuck to it. In fact, he even landed his Best Actor Academy Award with King Richard, where he played the role of Serena Williams’ father. Something that still remains a dream of Tom Cruise.

Thankfully for him, he also landed if not a superhero, but a supervillain tasked with saving the world as DC’s Deadshot in The Suicide Squad.

Will Smith’s perspective changed with Emancipation

As mentioned, Will Smith’s primary motive was to make movies that showcase Black excellence. And after decades of doing that, he finally found it suitable to tell the stories he has gathered over time. He explained,

“The idea is I spent the first half of my life gathering, gathering, gathering, and now the second half of my life is going to be giving it all away.”

Will Smith as Peter in Emancipation

What helped him especially was his Apple TV+ movie Emancipation. And while it is based on a real person named Peter, who in a bid to get away from his plantation owners, swam through the swamps of Louisiana, and came back stronger and as a powerful man to free the other slaves.

As such, according to Smith, he finally found a story he could tell that showed the power of Black love. He noted,

“This was one that was about love and the power of Black love. And that was something that I could rock with. We were going to make a story about how Black love makes us invincible.”

As it was always his main incentive to show people through his movies how to be happy in this world, he surely achieved that with this movie.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys 3

Not only that, but he also released a tell-all memoir in 2021 called Will, where he talked about his struggles with his career and personal life in detail. Well, it can be surely said that Will Smith has gotten progressively bolder in his career decisions over the years.

Emancipation is available for streaming on Apple TV+