Will Smith Once Confessed Seeing This Movie Was Better than Sex
Over the years, Will Smith fans have learned a lot — perhaps, at times, too much — about the actor’s personal life. But regardless, the actor’s dedication to his career and his fans has rarely been in doubt. Whatever Smith does, he commits to 100 percent, and his success is a testament to the amount of effort he puts into his work. So Smith’s admission that seeing a particular movie had a profound effect on him puts a lot of his movie career into context.
Will Smith has starred in an impressive number of hit movies
Smith made a few movies — including 1995’s Bad Boys — while he was still starring on TV’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But he didn’t truly become an A-list movie star until after his show ended. Films such as Independence Day and Men in Black cemented the actor as a legitimate box office draw. And ever since, he’s largely lived up to that.
Although Smith’s career features some missteps — most notably 1999’s Wild Wild West — he also had headlined a ton of blockbusters that endure to this day. I Am Legend, Hitch, and The Pursuit of Happyness all prove not only his box office clout but also his range as an actor. In 2022, Smith earned his first Academy Award for King Richard.
The actor once revealed how a certain movie changed his life
With all the popular movies he’s made, Smith’s fans might be curious to get some insight into how he approaches his movie career. At the San Diego Comic Con (via Time) in 2017, the actor appeared to discuss his Netflix film Bright. And in the process, he revealed the film that changed his life forever as a young boy.
“When Star Wars came out, there weren’t special effects. You couldn’t do that. So we were just completely blown away. For my entire life, I’ve been chasing trying to give that feeling to fans. … There was nothing that I had experienced in my life that matched that point of ecstasy. I had sex a few years later. It was close, but no Star Wars.”
Perhaps Smith was playing to the crowd in emphasizing how much Star Wars impacted him. But even if he’s not, Smith is far from the only person for whom Star Wars changed everything. George Lucas’ 1977 classic has introduced generations of moviegoers to so much classic storytelling archetypes and mythology, after all.
Has any Will Smith movie matched the impact of ‘Star Wars’?
So Smith has spent his career trying to inspire audiences the same way Star Wars affected him. The big question then is whether or not he’s succeeded. While Star Wars is a high bar to reach, many of Smith’s films have remained in the cultural zeitgeist since their release. In particular, Independence Day became a phenomenon when it was released due to the scale of its visuals and the extensive ensemble cast assembling against a single threat.
Men in Black — while more comedic in tone — had plenty of spectacle to spare and received critical acclaim. It’s arguably the movie that gave Smith his first undeniable lead role. And its imaginative story and compelling sparked a franchise. Truly, Smith’s fans might each have their own idea of which of the actor’s films came closest to matching that ineffable Star Wars feeling. But it’s clear from Smith’s filmography he’s willing to keep trying to reach it.
