Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty
Will Smithsays he loses “a couple winks of sleep every night” worrying that his Oscars controversy will overshadow the work of other creatives he collaborated with onEmancipation.
In a new interview withEntertainment Weeklypublished Monday, Smith, whowon Best Actor earlier this yearat the 94th Academy Awards shortly after smackingChris Rockonstage, told the outlet that the “only discomfort my heart has around” continued fallout from the incident “is that so many people have done spectacular work on” the new film.
“I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team,” the actor, 54, said. “But I’m going to do everything I can to make sure everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve.”
“I had seen the image of Whipped Peter as a child, but as his story started to come into focus, I was moved in all of the most beautiful ways,” Smith toldEWduring an interview with costarsBen Fosterand Charmaine Bingwa.
“When you look at the brutality that he suffered, and then realizing that through that he was able to sustain faith, gratitude, and love in the face of those kinds of atrocities — I knew that I wanted to learn from Peter,” he added.
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Smith alsoexpressed a concern that his “actions don’t penalize my team"onEmancipationin an interview Sunday withFox 5 DC reporter Kevin McCarthy.
“I completely understand that if someone is not ready [to see the movie], I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready,” Smith told McCarthy in a clip of the interview. “My deepest concern is my team — [directorAntoine Fuqua] has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career.”
Will Smith.David Livingston/Getty
Smith continued to say that the creatives he worked with onEmancipation"have done some of the best work of their entire careers” and added that “my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team.”
“At this point, that’s what I’m working for, that’s what I’m hoping for,” Smith said of why he hopes audiences see the movie. “I’m hoping that the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story, I’m hoping that the good that can be done would open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognize and support the incredible artists in and around this film.”
source: people.com
