Will Smith on How ‘Collateral Beauty’ Helped Him Deal With the Loss of His Father
In Collateral Beauty, Will Smith plays an advertising executive who experiences a personal tragedy. In a sad twist of fate, Smith was just embarking on a very difficult period for his own family as he was preparing for the movie. Smith shared the story with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show.
“What was really interesting is I got the screenplay right when my father was diagnosed,” he said. “So I have the screenplay, and I’m doing all of this research about a guy who experiences death, at the time my father was given six weeks.”
As Smith was doing research on how people and different religions deal with loss, he was able to connect and discuss it with his dad, something that he is now grateful for. “My father and I were sharing it during that time, so the performance for me, and the movie for me, and the ideas are so deeply personal,” Smith shared. “What happened is, my father, he lived for four months, beyond that point. They gave him six weeks, and what happened is: Every day became so beautiful.”
The Oscar-nominated actor remained his composed and charismatic self during his initial chat with Ellen, but his eyes got noticeably teary when he went on to talk about the film. “This film for me is the most personal and beautiful journey,” he said. “When art and life comes together in that way, and when you create something that could potentially help people get through difficult times, it’s fantastic.”
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