Will Smith Shares Intense Experience Filming "Emancipation"

Iconic film and TV star, Will Smith has been in the news for the good, the bad, and the ugly. We already know about The Oscars debacle involving Chris Rock, and he has moved on from that it seems. He was already back under the bright lights of Hollywood with the Apple TV original film, Emancipation. It saw a global release to theaters on December 2nd, 2022, and was able to be streamed on Apple TV+ a week later. It received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike on Rotten Tomatoes, but the do-it-all talent's life was put on the line with great impassion.

Will sat down with Kevin Hart on his Peacock talk show Heart to Hart to discuss his role as Peter, a slave that was living in a southern state that rebelled against slavery. In March 1863 Peter did everything in his power to escape the brutality of one of the worst periods in history. For 10 days Peter was ensuring that he was going to able to survive, going so far as to mask his scent with onions. After all of those trials and tribulations, he finally reached the Union army stationed in Baton Rouge, where he could say he was a freed slave.

Will Smith Wanted To Feel The Pain

That true story in history is why Will Smith wanted to really feel how it was to be a "worthless human being" in Emancipation. He said to Kevin Hart, "I went too far in ‘Emancipation.’ Just bringing it up, I start to get teary. I wanted to feel the degradation of slavery, and I went too far in. The level of human brutality, what we will do to each other." Furthermore, he explained in even more detail, "I wanted the real weight of them. I wanted real chains... they were fitting it for size."

You have to commend Will for taking a role, especially one that replicates slavery, to give audiences the most authentic take possible on a terrible point in our history. What do you think about Will's respect for the role? Did you see the movie, and if so how was it? We want to know what you have to say in the comments section below.