Will Smith talks about 'life trauma' in interview with David Letterman before Oscars 2022

As Will Smith was recently banned by the Academy for slapping comedian Chris Rock on the Oscars 2022 stage after the latter made a joke about the baldness of the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, a new interview recently surfaced online depicting how the King Richard actor was talking about his life trauma and protecting his family. 

Will Smith talks about his life trauma in David Letterman's interview

In an old interview with David Letterman for the Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Will Smith was seen opening up about his life experience and how writing his book made him unlock a part of himself as an actor. While Letterman affirmed that the interview was shot before the actor's Oscars slap gate. Will Smith, in the interview, talked about writing his 2021 memoir and added how he wanted to take a break from acting. He said, "My experiences and my life, and the writing of this book have unlocked a part of me, as an actor, that is like nothing I've ever experienced."

Will Smith further reflected on the trauma he faced during his childhood and revealed how he always thought of himself as a coward because he could not intervene when his father beat her mother up. While revealing the lines from his 2021 memoir, he mentioned,  “The first line of the first chapter is, ‘I’ve always thought of myself as a coward. When I was 9 years old, I saw my father beat up my mother, and I didn’t do anything. And that just left a traumatic impression of myself as a coward.” Moreover, the actor revealed how this made him portray a positive image of himself throughout his career with a determination that he could handle anything in his life. "When I came out of it, I realized that anything that happens in my life, I can handle it. I can handle any person I lose. I can handle anything that goes wrong in my life. I can handle anything in my marriage," Smith added.

Will even mentioned that life was quite exciting for him at present as he was able to reach people differently than ever because of his pain. Adding to it, Will Smith reflected on how he was ready to dive into his heart while hoping it to be fulfilling and helpful for his family. "Life is so exciting to me right now because I can reach people differently than I've ever been able to reach people, largely because of my pain. I'm really ready to dive into my heart in a way that I think will be, hopefully, fulfilling for me and helpful for the human family." Moreover, he talked about protecting his family and revealed that both aspects, protection, and safety were not real. 

"Protection and safety is an illusion. You have to learn to live with the reality that any moment, anything can be gone in one second. So with that reality, how can you be here? And how can you be joyful and be here?"

Will Smith and Chris Rock's Oscars 2022 incident 

The King Richard star stormed on stage and slapped Chris for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved hair, which has been caused due to alopecia. The instance was followed by the Academy's decision to ban Will from all their events for a period of 10 years. Reacting to their decision, Will mentioned," I accept and respect the Academy's decision." 

Image: AP