  Will Smith may be gregarious and outgoing in real life, but he's as dour as can be in Seven Pounds, a film about a mysterious man seeking redemption.
|
LOS ANGELES -- Movie stars are rarely told no. They are even more rarely told they suck. But if you have to do it, here's our advice: Use a thick Italian accent.
It works for director Gabriele Muccino, who directed Will Smith to an Oscar nomination for The Pursuit of Happyness and hopes for similar acclaim with Friday's dour drama Seven Pounds.
"I have a very, very strong connection with him. When I have to say, 'No, I don't like that,' I say, 'I don't like that.' And he'll say, 'Okay, let's adjust it.' We know exactly where our boundaries are. We're very straight-forward," says Muccino.
"I wasn't intimidated at all by working with a movie star. The only thing that counts is the final result. If I have to say to an actor, 'You suck,' then you suck, let's figure out something else and try again. Will knows when I say, 'It's brilliant,' it's brilliant. And when I say, 'It's bad,' it's bad. So this kind of honesty helps everybody. He does the same with me. If he doesn't like something, he tells me and I think about it. But if I think I'm right, I don't give a s--- and tell him we're doing it my way."
Of course, any Hollywood relationship, particularly those based on business partnerships, are fragile. And one wonders how far that trust between Smith and Muccino will go should Seven Pounds fail either at the box office or with critics. But for now, says Muccino, "There's a strong respect for each other that I can hardly believe it will end with this movie."
However the film's received, there's no question Smith's performance is unlike anything he has done. As the psychologically scarred survivor of a tragedy on a secretive mission of redemption, he is grim, unflinching and mostly cheerless.
In person, Smith is the polar opposite: Gregarious and charming, shaking hands and asking names. He punctuates answers with a room-filling laugh. He never appears dulled, bored or disengaged. He is, somewhat by his own admission, a quintessential people pleaser. Should Smith ever play Barack Obama -- as most expect he will someday -- it will be pitch-perfect casting not just because of the colour of his skin or the shape of his ears but because of his innate gift -- and desire -- to connect with audiences both near and distant.
Playing a character in Seven Pounds who had essentially shut down emotionally was "exhausting," he says.
"It was based on the idea of trauma. That was the part I couldn't relate to, being broken by trauma. I always play characters -- even in Independence Day -- who have fantastic reactions to trauma, who stand up and beat their chests. But that is less than authentic for most of us."
Learning to simply be still in scenes, he admits, is a new discipline. "For me it's more about the director, working with someone who knows how to tame that beast. Coming from sitcom television and music, you burn up every single second. You don't leave anything. You burn it up and pass out when you walk off the stage. So I took that concept into acting -- you earn every single second.
"(Ali director) Michael Mann was like, 'Let me do some of the work. Relax, I'll do it. I just need you to believe it and think it and I'll find it.' It's (like) that Nestea commercial -- you close your eyes and fall backwards. I need that feeling with a director. If I don't trust the director I can't get to that place."
Likewise, it's doubtful Muccino could have made the movie he wanted without Smith's backing.
As a box-office commodity, Smith is arguably peerless -- surpassing the likes of Cruise, Pitt and Hanks and able to attract audiences. Even The Pursuit of Happyness, a drama about a homeless father, brought in $163 million in North America.
"I've done this movie with the same freedom and spirit as The Pursuit of Happyness," Muccino says. "The movie was embraced the way it was written. Nobody ever believed it was going to be an easy movie. Nobody ever believed it was going to be a light, bright comedy. Everybody thought it was going to be dark and be different and be a challenge. So we had to figure out whether we're ready to jump without a parachute. And we were because the movie isn't the easiest movie to jump in. There was nothing comparable that would assure you about the final result."
Still, for all his professional and personal success, Smith insists he takes none of it for granted. Even two decades after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, he says, "You can't break the poor people mentality. Once you grow up poor, it's like you don't take anything for granted. And it can have a negative side to it because you can never truly relax.
"There's that feeling ... I remember my father was the dude who would climb up the pole when the electricity got cut off to turn it back on. Just what that life was growing up, I can remember fondly now, but how devastating a space that must have been for my father. I could never shake that feeling ... I work from a dangerous place in my mind sometimes. I work from the yin and yang of hope and fear.
"I think, in essence, I am fearful. I'm motivated by the fear of Jada (Pinkett-Smith) not loving me one day. I'm motivated by the fear of not being able to help my kids. When I sit down here right now in this interview, it's important you get exactly what you need because one day I'm going to be here and need some help real bad. I'm trying to put something in my karma bank right now."
More Artists
