Will Smith’s first film since the Oscars incident is scheduled to release, but he is aware that not everyone may want to see it. In a recent interview, the actor stated that he would “totally understand” if audiences were hesitant to see Emancipation when it opens this Friday.
He told Fox 5, “I absolutely get it.” “If someone isn’t ready, I would totally accept that and give them space to not be ready,” said the speaker. Smith’s first significant film appearance since slapping Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in March for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, is in Emancipation.
However, Smith is more worried about the other members of the cast and crew of the movie than he is about himself.
My team is what I’m most worried about,” he remarked. “The team members on this project have produced some of their greatest work to date. And my sincerest wish is that nothing I do would harm my team. So that’s what I’m working for right now. That’s what I want to happen. I’m hopeful that the subject matter, the impact of the movie, and the story’s relevance will at the very least help people realize and appreciate the wonderful artists working on and around this movie.
Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer), is based on the true account of a slave who joined the Union Army after escaping from a Louisiana plantation. The movie also stars Ben Foster and Charmaine Bingwa in addition to Smith.
After the incident for which he was barred from the Oscars for the following ten years, Smith apologized to Rock.
In an emotional video released in September, Smith said, “I am deeply sorry and I’m trying to be sorry without being ashamed of myself.” I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of crap because I’m human, I made a mistake, and I’m human.
On Dec. 2 and Dec. 9, Emancipation will make its theatrical and Apple TV+ debuts.
