Welcome back to the show, my friend.
Man, I am so happy to be here.
Good to see you. You look happy.
-Yes. -I mean, you-you always look happy.
But I'm honestly gonna say, you look happy.
Yes. This-this, uh...
this last year has probably been the best year of my adult life.
What-what does-- What-- When-when people say that,
th-they normally mean, like, "Oh, I-- Like, I got a raise"
-or "I got a..." But you are Will Smith. -Yeah.
-Yes. Yes. (laughing) -So, if-if Will Smith says,
"This has been the best year of my life,"
we're like, "What were the other ones? What does..."
Well, why? Like, why would you say that? What does that mean?
No, you know, um, uh, on my-- on my 50th birthday,
I-I went-- I jumped out-- I did the bungee jump thing.
-The helicopter over the Grand Canyon. -Right, right,
-right, right, right. -You know, and...
That was the thing the white people told you
-to do, right? -Yes, yes.
-I remember that, I remember that. -Yes.
It's why you need white friends.
-That's true. That is true. -Right? Um...
So, I d... (laughs)
So, I did the bungee out of the helicopter, right?
But it was-- it was, um...
it was a bigger thing than that for me, right?
I had painted myself into a little bit of a...
of-of a Will Smith corner, right?
So, there were-- there were things that,
because I had kids and because I was Will Smith,
there were things I couldn't say and things I couldn't do
-and certain projects I couldn't take. -Huh.
And I had sort of painted myself
into a little bit of a fearful corner.
And that-that sort of marked a moment
where I told myself, "You're... That-That's it.
"I'm gonna... I'm gonna do what I want,
"I'm gonna say what I want, I gonna live the way I want
"without the fear of somehow losing something
that-that... that was precious I've created."
And I've just... I've been more free
and more joyous and more peaceful
than in my entire adult life.
-(applause and cheering) -That is truly amazing to hear.
-Yeah. -Because, like...
people would never think... people would never think
that Will Smith could be at the place in his life.
And in a... in a... in a weird way,
I feel like that is the story of Gemini Man.
-Right? -Yes, exactly.
Because-because in the film,
you play the best assassin in the world.
-Yup. Yup. -Right?
And you play this man, and he goes, "You know what?
-I'm-I'm done with the game." -Yup.
-But the game's not done with you. -Yes, exactly.
And as we see in the trailer,
they send the younger version of you...
-Yes. -...to go and kill you.
-Yes. -'Cause that's the only person good enough.
Yes. It's 'cause-'cause I'm so good. I'm so good.
(laughter)
The only way that me could get killed is...
-It would have to be me killing me. -(laughter)
-All right? -It's-it's-it's...
-it's a crazy concept... -Yeah.
-with wild technology, but-but... -Yup.
And I know you've talked about that a lot,
but... but I mean, this-this is another challenge.
-Yup. -I mean, we've seen you... we've seen you play all types...
-all types of characters. -Mm-hmm.
We've seen you just be the only person in the movie,
-just you and a dog. -Yes. Yes. Yeah, I played that.
And then, now you are like, "No, I'm gonna be me... -No.
-fighting against me." -Yeah.
I just don't need other actors, man. That's, well, you know...
(laughter)
(applause and cheering)
Oh, man.
Yeah...
But what-what's challenging about that?
-So... -What's challenging about playing old Will Smith
and young Will Smith in the same scene?
So you know what-what is the-the most difficult part
is, like, playing youth, right?
-Right. Right. -So there's a naiveté to youth.
And there's a look in-in someone's eyes
-when they really don't know, right? -Right.
But then, as you get older,
there's, like, a certain thing that, like...
It just gets in your... in your blood
and in your cells when you know things, right?
So having to go back and play young, like-like...
It's like sex, right?
-You can't un-know sex, right? -(laughter)
-Wait. -I've tried many times.
Do we have some room? I want to show you.
-I'm gonna show you. Let me show you. -I tried. Yeah.
-All right. -All right, so,
before you have sex, before you have sex, right,
-you walk like this. -NOAH: Let's get some lights on there.
-Let's get some lights on there. -Get some light.
Get some light. Get some lights, right?
-NOAH: Let's get some lights on the... -Get some lights.
Throw the lights. Throw the lights on here.
-Just throw-throw the lights. Throw the lights. -All right.
-All right, let's do this. -Before you have sex.
-All right, go. Yes. -All right, so this is before you have sex.
Before you have sex.
-Yes. -Before you have sex, you're, like...
(laughter)
-Right. Right. -Right?
-Okay. That's pre-sex? -That's pre-sex.
-Cool. -And then the first time you have sex,
-it changes your back, right? -Okay.
And it's, like,...
(laughter)
(applause)
(cheering)
You know... (laughs)
Right? So...
as an... as an actor, as an actor,
-you can't un-ring that bell, you know? -Right.
So you have to really go back, and I went back and I studied
-some of my old material -That's interesting.
to try to find youthful naivete.
Let me ask you this, though.
You are Will Smith-- and I-I know this sounds like
I'm flattering you-- but you always...
-No, I'm cool with that. -(laughter)
-That's why I came here, man. -Yeah. But, I mean...
but every time I see you, you-you look like Will Smith.
Like, I've never thought of Will Smith being old.
Just, like, it's Will Smith. Will Smith is just Will Smith.
I feel like... like, I watched you when I was younger,
and then I just caught up to you and now we're the same,
and then it's, like, and then I feel like
I'm gonna be old one day, and be like, "Hey, Will,
what's going on?" and you're still gonna be Will Smith.
So, like, like, I have to ask you,
is there a level of vulnerability that comes
with acknowledging that you are aging as Will Smith?
Yeah. You know, that-that was, uh...
that was another part of the-the experience that I had.
Like, uh, turning 50, I've never...
I've never really thought about age and felt it that way,
but, like, last year when I turned 50, it was, like,
it's a five in front of it?
Like... the five-- like, 40 was cool, 30 was cool.
Like, 50 was, like, whoa, man, we need to...
-jump out a helicopter or something. -(laughter)
You... you know, it really...
it, uh, it hit me a little bit.
But the-the accepting, uh, being older
and even for Gemini Man, a lot of those things came up,
and you're thinking about the previous life,
and you think about the...
-the karma of the mistakes you've made, and... -Mm-hmm.
and what would you... not do, you know,
if you... if you had known, and all of those things came up.
But, uh, I've solved the problem.
I'm... I am... I am having
an absolute ball with my life right now.
One thing that has fascinated me about you is,
for a long time, you were an enigma.
Hey, hey, man, you can't say that on TV.
(laughter)
You were... you were Will Smith. We saw Will Smith
-at the movies... -We use that in private, man!
-You my enigma. And so you... -(laughter)
you were... you were at... you were at movie premieres,
and you were in magazines and T...
-but we didn't know Will Smith, right? -Right. Right.
All of a sudden, we saw Will Smith on YouTube,
we saw Will Smith on Instagram, but we didn't...
-we didn't see a curated Will Smith. -Right.
We saw Will Smith teasing his kids and having fun with them.
We saw Will Smith goofing around with Jada.
We see Smith going, "Hey, man, I'm a human being
-Yeah. -"who is also a megastar, but I'm a human being.
-Yeah. -"I feel, I love, I laugh, I dance.
-I don't take myself that seriously." -Absolutely.
That-that in and of itself is a big chance
-and a step to take as a person. -Yeah.
Why-Why do you, and why do you keep doing it?
So wh-when I first was, uh,
setting out to become-- I said,
"I want to be the biggest movie star in the world."
And that was pre-Internet,
-it was, uh, pre-social media. -Right.
So during that time, the idea was
you couldn't be a movie star
-if you didn't maintain mystery, right? -Got it.
So the-the common belief was nobody's gonna go
to a movie theater if they see you every day.
Right? So you would stay out
and you would maintain the mystery,
and the only time that they'd get to see you
is the Fourth of July on the big screen.
-Right. -Right.
So what happened was as social media came,
there was a-- there was a shift.
And I-I was trying to hold on for-for a little while,
and I-I realized that the new mentality is
nobody's coming to the movie theater
if they don't see you every day, right?
People want to feel like they're friends.
They want to know.
So it's a completely different shift.
And another thing happened for me with social media.
Um, I was, I was--
I had so many creative ideas
that were-were dying on the vine inside of me.
-Got it. -Right.
So when you put out a movie-- Gemini Man--
it might be two and a half years
from the time we started till it comes out.
So that's one piece of content in two and a half years.
But what's social media's allowing me to do
is all of those ideas and all of those concepts
get to-to come out.
And there was a, there was an analogy I used,
I was experiencing creative constipation.
-Okay. Okay. -Right? Right?
-No, go with me this, right? -I'm with you. I'm with you.
-So I was experiencing creative constipation, right? -Uh-huh.
So, uh, the Internet has allowed me
like-like a laxative... right?
-To just start flowing. -And I just--
So now I get to put it all over the fans.
-Got you. -Yeah.
-Will Smith is now putting it all over the fans. -Yeah.
Yeah.
Let me-Let me ask you this before you go.
Um, you know...
Who said I was going?
-I-I-I... -(cheers and applause)
Please. Please.
(cheers and applause)
Please.
You're Will Smith but I have places to be.
Um...
-No, no, let me ask... let me ask you this. -Uh-huh.
You know, when you... when you make a movie like Gemini Man,
everyone would always jump to the first assumption,
which is like, "What advice
would you give your younger self?"
And, like, that's, like, an immediate assumption
-you would have as a person when you watch that movie. -Mm-hmm.
-But being a parent means you are a Gemini man. -Mm-hmm.
You know, you already have
-many new versions of yourself. -Many, yes. (laughs)
-You know, you have your kids, who we all know and love. -Yeah.
-Mm-hmm. -What-what advice do you give them?
What are the things that you tell them
that you don't want them to replicate in their lives?
-Yeah. -Because, I mean, you... You're extremely successful,
so it's hard to say, "Don't make my mistakes."
-Don't make... Yeah. -'Cause your mistakes got you here.
-Yeah. -So what do you actually say to your kids?
-I made some pretty good mistakes. -That's the thing.
-I made some good mistakes. -Right? So what do you actually
say to your kids? What do you hope they will change
in their lives while still maintaining
what you've gotten to get you to this level?
You know, from this-this time
and-and, you know, doing the deep study
during Gemini Man and looking at it
and those questions came up,
and-and what I really found
is nobody can know for you.
Right? People can know for themselves,
but they can't... they can't know for you, right?
Um, my... I was making the decision
when I-I graduated from high school
between music and going to college.
-Mm-hmm. -And my mother said,
"You'll never make anything of yourself
if you don't go to college."
Right? And, you know, that was true for her.
-Right, right. -It wasn't true for me.
Right? So I've learned,
and with my kids, I got really humble, right,
and-and not wanting to be on them
as if I could possibly know
the decisions that they need to make.
So I've learned to be open
and to watch and to pay attention
and to trust that, you know, the same God
that held my hand through the world
is gonna hold theirs.
And I'm there to support their journey,
not to force mine upon them.
-Wow. -(cheering and applause)
Yeah.
-Yeah, see? -Uh...
-Now... -Yeah.
Now, you don't want me to leave now.
No, now I don't want you to leave.
Yeah, now, now you don't want me to leave.
-You know, now. -(laughs)
You know, but now I got something to do.
Now I got something to do.
-You know? -Oh, man.
You know what? You're-you're not old,
but you're definitely wise, Will Smith.
No, I-I love that about...
Thank you so much for being here, man.
-I appreciate it, man. -It's great seeing you again.
-Thank you, man, thank you. -Thank you for the movie.
Thank you for the social media. We love that you spray us
-with all of that that was contained within you. -Yeah.
The analogy didn't work. It didn't hold up.
-Hey, hey, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. -It did matter.
-But you get the idea of it. -And we still enjoy it.
Gemini Man will be in theaters October 11.
Will Smith, everybody.