The Fresh Prince and the King: That Oscar moment was rooted in something much deeper | Channel

Will Smith in King Richard.

OSCARS: Behind one of the most controversial moments in the history of the Oscars lies a much deeper truth, writes entertainment editor Leandra Engelbrecht. How the Fresh Prince channeled his King Richard role to protect his family.

For Will Smith, it was a case of ‘art imitates life’ at the 94th Academy Awards.

Moments before Smith won Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams – tennis superstars Venus and Serena’s father – in King Richard, the 53-year-old smacked presenter Chris Rock on stage for making a distasteful joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s appearance.

READ MORE | Will Smith smacks Chris Rock on stage at Oscars

The Wild Wild West actor said in his acceptance speech: “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. Love will make you do crazy things.”

On how he related to Williams, Smith further said: “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family. In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world.

“Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who is one the most strongest, most delicate people I’ve ever met. I got to protect Saniyya and Demi, the two actresses that play Venus and Serena… I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people.”

At a global press conference for the film last year, Smith said that a viral interview of a 14-year-old Venus Williams in 1995 changed his parenting at the time, reports Tennis.com.

A visibly exasperated Williams interjected when ABC News Day One journalist John McKenzie, persisted with a line of questioning.

“The look of Venus’ face…that image burned in my heart because that’s how I wanted my daughter to look when I showed up. It was like the look on Venus’ face…it was like she had a lion, and she was so confident and so comfortable that her lion wasn’t going to let anything happen to her,” he said.

Smith added: “I fell in love with Richard Williams – that was 20 something years ago, and when the opportunity to be a part of this came up, that was the first thing that I remembered. I knew I wanted to show a father protecting a daughter like that to the world.”

To get into character for the role, Smith said that he was “trying to follow the same steps that Richard followed.”

Smith’s connection with his own daughter, Willow, helped him get into character.

“I could use my relationship with Willow and her career to really find that space that Richard found with Venus and Serena, where it’s not pushing, it’s not driving, it’s not pounding.”

Speaking about Richard Williams in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Smith said: “He was a long way from a perfect man, but [he was] perfect in his belief and his love and his passion and his cultivation of his family.”

In an interview with Sports Net, the actor addressed how Williams was often painted as a controversial figure in the tennis world.

“Richard Williams was so vilified, and misunderstood people thought they knew him, but they didn’t. There were so many things to be able to bring to the screen and to honour and to shine a light on. It was a complete and absolute pleasure to put on Richard Williams’ life for a couple of months.”

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