Will may give it another whirl—the music thing, after being inspired by his son Jaden Smith (with whom he created Just The Two of Us in 1999). Both Will’s musically inclined children Jaden or Willow aren’t exactly a slouch with a pen and in the creative winds, currently, so in the nature of keeping his creative juices flowing-he’s in good company and right at home.
As well, it could have been a spark of inspiration that got his musical genes mutating again when he did an impromptu piece with Jimmy Fallon on his show last week, as we reported.
Either way, Smith told the Press Association:
“I went into the studio with Kanye. I’m thinking about it. I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet but I’m exploring. I’m in a creative ceiling. My son tells me I have to write out the things I don’t like. I can’t write and stop, I have to keep going and going and write them out. I’ve never worked like that before but I think I might give that a shot.”
In addition to his creative ceilings, in a candid interview during a press conference for his new movie Focus (atop the OSG big screen), Smith confesses to having his spirit come tumbling down after the box-office blow of his movie After Earth.
Read on:
Will Smith’s failure at the box office with After Earth was a crushing blow for the actor and rapper, but he’s still making films. According to People Magazine, Smith admitted at a press conference that After Earth had some lasting effects, including a feeling like his latest film, Focus, marks a turning point for Smith’s career.
Speaking at a press conference for Focus in California, Will Smith said,
“For me, this film really marks a transition in my life and emotionally and in my career.”
“After the failure of After Earth, a thing got broken in my mind. I was like, ‘Oh, wow. I’m still alive. Oh, wow. Actually, I still am me, even though the movie didn’t open number one. Wait. I can still get hired on another movie.’”
Surprisingly enough, Will Smith’s mind wasn’t already broken from Wild Wild West — the 1999 movie that was almost universally panned by audiences and critics. That movie also sunk in the box office, especially painful after the $170 million budget (at least After Earth was made for only $130 million.) Apparently, that failure was not quite on the same level.
Smith went on to talk about his evolving mindset.
“I realized that I still was a good person. So when I went into Focus, I completely released the concept of goal orientation and got into path orientation. This moment, this second, these people, this interaction… It is a huge relief for me to not care whether or not Focus is number one or number 10 at the box office.”
He went on to say that he approached his work on Focus as more an artist, what affect that will have on his performance is anyone’s guess.
Once again, it seems strange that After Earth was the catalyst that changed Will Smith’s
(cont’d)
