Lifestyle

Celeb Interview with Will Smith

The incredibly versatile actor Will Smith talks to us about love, life and his latest film “Hidden Beauty.” A special interview about searching for the joy we all ultimately long for.

In a special interview with Will Smith

Posted on wellness

The incredibly versatile actor Will Smith talks to us about love, life and his latest film “Hidden Beauty.” A special interview about searching for the joy we all ultimately long for.

In David Frankel's star-studded film “Hidden Beauty,” Will Smith plays a grieving father who, after his terrible loss, must find a way to reconnect with the world. (The rest of the drama is similar to a who's who list of Oscar winners and nominees, such as Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet, and Edward Norton.)

Will Smith's character tries to make sense of his loss by writing letters — not to people, but to things like love, time, and death. And then, quite unexpectedly, he receives answers that put the world in a completely new light for him.

What prompted you to play Howard?
I loved the fact that this guy was in control of his life. Everything was perfect and he had everything. He had his life absolutely under control when he suddenly suffered a stroke of fate and had to regain faith in the possible joy in life. I found this journey exciting. The character was very close to me. Howard often thinks about life the same way I do and he had to learn to move away from his “I can solve all problems in life” attitude and grieve for a while in order to be able to cleanse himself of it afterwards in order to be able to feel something like joy again. Pain and joy and development are inexorably linked.

What do they mean by depth and strength?
For example, in my head I've decided that Howard is committed to Buddhism. At the beginning of the film, he tries Buddhism. There is a scene about the Buddha's teachings when Howard writes the letters and there is one thing that Buddhist monks do: Twelve or fourteen hours a day they work on these beautiful sand mandalas and they work and work for them all day long. Then they get up, look at the picture for 60 seconds and blur this wonderful work of art, destroying it for the meaning of transience. That's why I worked on the practice with the dominoes. Howard has these domino mazes and taps the stones to make them fall over and he turns around and doesn't even look, as the Buddhist monks' practice requires. He can't let go of things. Working on “Hidden Beauty” has changed me forever.

Which of the elements — time, love, or death — would you get along with the least, or which would be the most painful?
Nothing torments me more than love. There is nothing in life that I've ever felt more pain than when I was in love. Even when I deal with my father's death, thoughts that come up again and again, or reactions that arise include: “Jada, you don't love me enough! ”. It's like, “Listen, since we're all going to die, we should spend more time together.” It's the longing for love that goes even further than death and punishment through time.

They've already slipped into some “Bad Boy” characters. Are you moving more towards emotional roles now?
I have more life experience. It allows me to empathize with different, more complex and deeper human emotions. As an artist, I am my own tool and my life experience is my source. I would like to be able to move forward, find new things and provide new ideas.

After Howard's tragedy, his life begins to change after he meets 3 people. Can you remember life-changing moments in your life?
I had big, life-changing moments and, of course, they're about love once again. I'm a serious, hopeless romantic. I think my biggest experience with love was when my daughter was born. I remember when Willow was born, I sat there with Jada and when I looked at them, I felt more complete than ever before. That was the maximum amount of love I've ever experienced. I have never been so sure, pure and happy in my life, I think, subconsciously chasing this feeling every day of my life.

What is the hidden beauty that Howard then finds in the end?
Howard tried to solve his problems with his mind. He thought that he could think his way through this problem and then finds out that he had to bleed, suffer, and grieve. He had to let go and when he finally succeeded in doing so, the hidden beauty emerges — in fact as the joy he had been looking for from the start.

There is a quote from Khalil Gibran that I love: “Pain is the knife that hollows us out so that we have more room for joy again.” I thought that was such an interesting idea — you suffer from pain and are torn open just for the purpose of seeing more light and joy again and having a positive attitude. I think that's the hidden beauty of the kind of suffering Howard goes through in the movie.

The Will Smith Workout
Inspired by Will Smith's role in “Hidden Beauty,” we recommend teaching meditation and yoga.

The more than well-trained Will Smith naturally has a fixed training plan. While preparing for more demanding roles, he works with a personal trainer on special workouts and thus transforms his body into that of his roles, which is a constant challenge.

The role of Muhammad Ali (2001) was one of the characters that required an enormous increase in muscle mass. For “I, Robot,” the actor had to run 6 days a week, do weight training 5 days a week, and do boxing training twice a week to get leaner and reduce body fat.

If he is not currently preparing for a new role, then his training program consists of a set of repetitive exercises with and without equipment, which you can also incorporate into your circuit training.