Prior to the Academy Awards, there were murmurs about Smith giving acceptance speeches two years in a row.
But the actor knows there’s no chance of that now.
Listen to their conversation on this week’s episode ofEW’sThe Awardistpodcastand read some highlights below.
Will Smith in ‘Emancipation’.Apple TV+
What drew you all to tell this story?
I knew I wanted to make it by the time I was on page 20.
CHARMAINE BINGWA: I was on the edge of my seat as I read it.
Will Smith and Ben Foster in ‘Emancipation’.Courtesy of Apple
BEN FOSTER: By asking a lot of questions.
[Director Antoine Fuqua] and I began discussing where racial violence comes from.
And then we got down to that nervy subject called white fear.
Imani Pullum and Charmaine Bingwa in ‘Emancipation’.Apple TV+
SMITH: Ben didn’t speak to or acknowledge me on set for the entire five months of shooting.
I remember looking at him like, ‘Oh, that’s right.
We’re not playing.
This is serious, important material.’
FOSTER: Well, thank you, Will.
I saw a man going deep in, and we didn’t need to speak.
So for whatever it’s worth, I thank you for snapping me in, too.
SMITH: This was, without question, the hardest film I’ve ever shot.
The swamp, the gators, and snakes, and spiders and then we had a COVID shutdown.
We had a hurricane.
We had the heat index clipping up at 115 degrees.
I mean, it was absolutely grueling.
But all of that adds to what you see on camera.
It’s like you might feel the difficulty of the shoot in the texture of the scenes.
It was grueling, but I love it.
I am as proud as I have ever been of a piece of art.
BINGWA: My team knew the intensity of the shoot, and they sent me a massage voucher.
I sobbed the entire 90 minutes through that massage.
It made me grateful because I had somewhere to take my stress [my character] had nowhere.
They’re literally clapping and standing up in the middle of the screenings.
These kids grew up with a Black president.
They actually are open and want to know the truth of the history.
It feels like we’re making a real contribution.
I can’t imagine the tremendous artistic weight, but what he’s accomplished with this film is astounding.
