*Well look what the cat drug it. OK, not exactly, but would you believe Will Smith showed up in person Wednesday night to accept an award for the first time since slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars?
It happened at the AAFCA/African American Film Critics Association Awards where Smith, alongside his “Emancipation” director Antoine Fuqua, accepted the Beacon Award.
When paid his props to the cast and crew he passed the mic to Big Will.
“‘Emancipation’ was the most individual difficult film of my entire career,” Smith told the audience. “It’s really difficult to transport a modern mind to that time period. It’s difficult to imagine that level of inhumanity.”
In the critically praised AppleTV+ movie, Smith plays an enslaved man named Peter. He spoke about filming one scene where another actor ad-libbed and spit on him during a take.
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“It was the second day of shooting and 110 degrees,” he said. “I was in a scene with one of the White actors, and we had our lines, and the actor decided to ad-lib. So, we’re doing the scene. I did my line. He did his line. And then he ad-libbed and spit in the middle of my chest. If I had pearls on, I definitely would’ve clutched them. I wanted to say, ‘Antoineeeeee,’ but I stopped, and I realized that Peter couldn’t have called the director.”
Smith continued describing the scene.
“We do take two. I do my line. He does his line and spits in the middle of my chest again. I just held in that moment, and there was a part — it makes me teary right now — there was a part of me that was grateful that I got to really understand,” Smith said. “And then, in the distance, I hear a voice, and Antoine says, ‘Hey, let’s do a take without the spit.’ And in that moment, I knew that God was real.”
After that, the embattled superstar praised the writers, producers, directors, and actors in the audience for telling stories about the Black experience.
“In this room are people who really suffer for the art to bring these stories … to tell our stories and hopefully that has the impact to change a heart or to change a mind,” an emotional Smith said.
He also expressed gratitude to AAFCA President Gil Robertson, who presented him with the award alongside Emancipation actress Charmaine Bingwa. Smith ended by praising Apple TV+ for continuing to support the film even as the production went over budget.
“It was the first time I had heard from a studio that the story was more important than how much it cost to get it done,” Smith said. Although he jokingly noted that Apple has very deep pockets because “they make iPhones.”
It’s worth noting that Smith did not attend the NAACP Image Awards last weekend, where he won the best actor award for his performance in the film, but he expressed his gratitude on social media for the recognition.
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