Will Smith

Will Smith (born Willard Carroll Smith II on September 25, 1968, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. His work spans music, television, and film, and his honors include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards. Films in which he played the lead have earned more than $10 billion at the worldwide box office.

Smith first became known as one half of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, which won the first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 1989 for "Parents Just Don't Understand". As a solo artist he reached number one in the US with "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" and "Wild Wild West". From 1990 to 1996 he starred on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, playing a fictionalized version of himself, which launched his acting career.

On film he led box-office hits including the Bad Boys series (1995–2024), the Men in Black series (1997–2012), and Independence Day (1996). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing boxer Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001) and for The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), and later won the award for playing Richard Williams, father of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard (2021), a role that also earned him the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild awards.

At the 94th Academy Awards in 2022, Smith walked on stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The incident drew wide criticism; Smith resigned from the Academy and was banned from attending its events for ten years. He and his wife produce films and television through their production companies Overbrook Entertainment and Westbrook Inc.