Why Will Smith Has Always Avoided Starring in Slavery Movies—Until Now

Though he can currently be seen in awards contender “King Richard” (streaming on HBO Max), Will Smith is already at work on another project—and with it, he’s breaking one of his long-held rules. “Emancipation,” an Apple TV+ film about an enslaved man making his escape, will be the actor’s first on-camera foray into the subject.

“I’ve always avoided making films about slavery,” Smith said, speaking to GQ. “I didn’t want to show Black people in that light. I wanted to be a superhero.” 

When he first arrived in Hollywood, Smith was conscious of the limited roles available for Black actors, so he intentionally modeled his career after those of his white peers. “I wanted to play roles that you would give to Tom Cruise,” he recalled. 

It worked: In the 1990s and early 2000s, Smith became a bona fide box office draw, fronting his first industry tentpole with 1996’s “Independence Day.” It didn’t take long for his name to become synonymous with fan-favorite action fare like the “Men in Black” franchise and “I Am Legend.”

It took several decades in Hollywood, Smith says, for him to reassess his stance on films about slavery. “The first time I considered it was ‘Django [Unchained],’ ” Smith said of the 2012 Quentin Tarantino flick; but he ultimately thought the film placed too much emphasis on vengeance. 

Everything changed, however, when director Antoine Fuqua came knocking with a new project. Fuqua was determined to tell a different story with “Emancipation,” based on the story of “Whipped Peter,” an enslaved man whose whipping scars were captured in a now-infamous photograph. In Smith’s hands, Peter would not be a victim, but instead the kind of action hero the actor is known for playing.

Smith was drawn to the film’s message of perserverance, which he considers an outlier in traditional Hollywood slavery narratives. “This was one that was about love and the power of Black love,” he said. “And that was something that I could rock with. We were going to make a story about how Black love makes us invincible.”

“Emancipation” is currently in production, with a release date still to be announced.