Whedonesque : Comments on 11974 : Will Smith watches Buffy and Angel.

Huh! Well then I wonder if their daughter Willow (born during Buffy season 5) was named after you-know-who.

Aw man...imagine the potential if Joss and Will Smith teamed up! Even if it was only with the latter producing or something...

BlueEyedBrigadier | December 06, 12:00 CET

I have always loved Will Smith's movies.

madmolly | December 06, 12:26 CET

Apparently, Will's son commented the other day on Access Hollywood that the person he would most like to meet or work with was Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

BTW, Hitch is one of the best romantic comedies out there, its smart and heartwarming. Yeah thats right im a sap.

jerryst3161 | December 06, 12:53 CET

I knew there was a reason I've always liked this guy. Clearly a man of outstanding taste.

Oh, and his wife rocks. Literally. :)

Kaine | December 06, 14:11 CET

I've heard "The Pursuit of Happyness" is great..

gossi | December 06, 14:22 CET

This sounds like a fun family. The things Will says about being a parent remind me of my mom. :-)

billz | December 06, 14:56 CET

At a con a couple of years ago, J August Richards told us that his first year on Angel, Will recognised him at a party - he was pretty blown away!

RachVG | December 06, 15:17 CET

I think this is a prelude to Will Smith & Joss working together on a future project.

Hey, I hear the lead to Wonder Woman is still yet to be casted! :)

Matt_Fabb | December 06, 15:43 CET

What a cool guy, and not just because he's a Verse fan.

Reddygirl | December 06, 16:05 CET

So there's Will Smith and Stephen Spielberg who watch Buffy and Angel, do we know of any other famous Hollywood types who do the same?

Simon | December 06, 16:11 CET

Well he's not quite Hollywood but Simon Pegg has said that Buffy has just overtaken the X-files as his favourite show.

heb | December 06, 16:35 CET

Will Smith is a cool guy! And he named his daughter Willow? Hehe

kballgetlost | December 06, 16:37 CET

I don't know, heb. The way Simon Pegg's career is progressing I think he will be easily considered Hollywood by next year's end. Well deserved, too.

Kaine | December 06, 16:46 CET

Simon: George Lucas

jlp | December 06, 16:55 CET

George Lucas auditioned James Marsters for the role of Annakin Skywalker. JM said he knew he wouldn't get it as he's obviously not 17, but GL's daughter is a massive Spike fan. Plus, they're both Modesto boys and JM was among the first people to ever see Star Wars.

lynnie | December 06, 17:08 CET

JJ Abrams, James Gunn.

gossi | December 06, 17:13 CET

Shane 'Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' Black cited Buffy as his favourite contemporary TV show in an interview a while back.

Further confirmation, if it were needed, that Will Smith is a thoroughly sensible, personable and likeable chap. Sounds like they have a very definite way of living, hope it works out for them (and he keeps his nose clean - first black president of the USA ?).

BTW, is 'connoisseur of all faiths' Hollywood 'please keep hiring me' speak for atheist or what ?

Saje | December 06, 17:38 CET

Amy Sherman Palladino (creator of Gilmore Girls) is famous to me :)

MySerenity | December 06, 17:58 CET

MySerenity, while you're at it, might as well mention Lauren Graham :)

jfhlbuffy | December 06, 18:27 CET

So what does Spielberg think of the shows?

Tonya J | December 06, 18:30 CET

That they need more sharks and/or World War II in them.

Saje | December 06, 18:35 CET

That's right, Saje. Actually, it's a little known fact that Spielberg was the uncredited co-writer of the Angel episode Why We Fight. ;)

Kaine | December 06, 18:48 CET

I have always loved Will Smith movies. Even the bad ones, like Wild Wild West, I have found it difficult to hate them entirely. Now, he does have a Whedonverse connection -- he "worked with" Alan Tudyk in I, Robot.

Reading this interview, I remember why I've always loved WIll Smith. He's just this really good actor who has proven that you don't have to do anything gory, too violent or full of sex to make money and be successful. I think the two Bad Boys films were tame for being rated R and genuinely hilarious.

And of course, he watches two of the best shows there ever was..now if only someone will send him Firefly DVDs.

CaffeinatedSquint | December 06, 19:00 CET

Buffy and Angel--that's cool. But they missed one. ;-)

Edit: Jinx Browncoat! Buy me a Badger homebrew!

[ edited by RBB on 2006-12-06 17:02 ]

RBB | December 06, 19:00 CET

Spielberg likes the shows? Holy crap. That's insanely cool.

Also insanely cool that Will Smith digs them; I've always liked him--The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air remains a guilty pleasure--and though I've honestly liked few of his movies since Men in Black, which I've loved, he remains an ever-likeable personality.

UnpluggedCrazy | December 06, 19:01 CET

Now, he does have a Whedonverse connection -- he "worked with" Alan Tudyk in I, Robot.

He also worked with Adam Baldwin in Independence Day.

Simon | December 06, 19:05 CET

Greys Anatomy's Shonda Rhymes is also a fan of the shows.

Numfar PTB | December 06, 19:40 CET

Willow is named after Will, and Jaden is named after his wife, Jada.

cityof | December 06, 19:59 CET

Jennifer Beals has hard core BtVS love. She's admitted to being "obsessed" with the show.

Willowy | December 06, 20:02 CET

"What a feeling ..."

Tonya J | December 06, 20:04 CET

Russell T Davies. Loves the shows and Spike is his favourite character.

lynnie | December 06, 20:13 CET

Well, if these powerful Hollywood types are all such big fans of Joss' work, why don't they use their influence (and money) to get MORE JOSS MOVIES MADE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
C'mon, people!

petranef | December 06, 20:27 CET

Well, if these powerful Hollywood types are all such big fans of Joss' work, why don't they use their influence (and money) to get MORE JOSS MOVIES MADE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I think Joss does that well enough, really - he's just already booked up till, like, 2008 on stuff.

That's the one thing I slightly regret about Joss' move from TV back to movies - a movie takes at least a year of your life. In TV, in a year you can churn out a lot more. (If you're Joss, in fact, you can oversee 59 episodes of TV, like he did in 2002). Although I think that may induce going insane if kept up for a while.

[ edited by gossi on 2006-12-06 18:41 ]

gossi | December 06, 20:40 CET

"I think Joss does that well enough, really - he's just already booked up till, like, 2008 on stuff."

Which, unfortunately for me, includes a movie about a superhero that I have absolutely no interest in. Sorry, Joss. I'll watch, I'll probably even enjoy it, but I just can't get excited about Wonder Woman.

Shoulda been Ms. Marvel! ;)

Seriously, as much as I can't wait to read what Joss is going to do with Runaways, my first interest is in his original creations. With the exception of the Buffy comics and Goners there is a distinct lack of any of that on the horizon, which is a real shame.

Kaine | December 06, 21:36 CET

"Being in a field that I understand is beautiful for me. I'd much rather he be an actor than a subatomic physicist."

I was going to be offended, but then I realized how uncomfortable I would be, if I had to be an actor.

OneTeV | December 06, 22:14 CET

The late John Ritter was a fan.

I am under the impression that Ron Howard is a fan. Both of Ron Howard's parents have acted in Buffy episodes. His mom, Jean Speegle Howard, played the real Natalie French in Teachers Pet. Rance Howard was in Angel "Carpe Noctem"

Anne 5_by_5 | December 06, 22:22 CET

OneteV, I wouldn't be offended - it's an illogical statement. If he'd had an affinity for science he probably wouldn't be an actor. I have to fall into the category of not understanding the Will Smith love. Like the Men in Black films and I, Robot, but that's about it. I haven't seen the majority of his other films and I think that's because he doesn't have sharp edges or any very defined qualities that makes him stand out in a sea of Hollywood actors. I do like though, that he seems like a very non-egotistical, together, kind man, who is very open to people and experiences. That's a plus.

[ edited by Tonya J on 2006-12-06 20:31 ]

Tonya J | December 06, 22:25 CET

By chance I heard a snippet of his son's interview where he said he most wanted to meet Buffy, so I kinda figured. How awesome. Is it sad that I suddenly find myself liking Will Smith even more?

onthedrift | December 06, 22:41 CET

Um, I was almost offended about the preference to acting vs subatomic physicist, since I am in the sciences and love the Sciences, and would want my potential children to do whatever they can aspire to. However, I guess in the case of Will And Jada, they both know the business, intimately and would be able to offer their help, advice, their counsel in terms of navigating the business. Whereas with other domains, they would feel totally helpless in aiding their children, so I can understand that. Plus it would be like passing down the experiences, and the craft down to their children, which happens in other domains etc.

kurya | December 06, 23:00 CET

TonyaJ- have you seen "Six Degrees of Separation". Smith is brilliant in it. It has it's humorous moments but it is not a comedy.

Which makes me think...has anyone done a Six Degrees of Joss yet?

madmolly | December 06, 23:50 CET

Oh yes, it's been so long, I'd forgotten. He was quite good in it. His major bent though, aside from occasional forays into the serious, is doing Jerry Lewis roles for the new Millennium (which isn't at all bad or wrong, I just don't dig it as much as others do).

Tonya J | December 07, 00:08 CET

Will Smith also gave another cool interview for Readers' Digest recently. He didn't mention Buffy, but he did mention Plato. What's not to like about the guy? :-)

jclemens | December 07, 00:22 CET

lol madmolly I was about to mention Six Degrees of Separation, he was so good in that. His new movie looks very good too.

Odysseus | December 07, 00:22 CET

Oh, I love me some Will Smith. Even more reason to now!

Though to be honest, his new movie looks too schmaltzy for me, and I'm kind of sick of the trailers already. Overkill!

Rogue Slayer | December 07, 00:55 CET

"acting vs subatomic physicist"

Will Smith apparently won a scholarship to MIT before embarking on a rap career. I think he is referring to his own path not taken.

Anne 5_by_5 | December 07, 01:27 CET

Maybe I should've been clearer. As a subatomic (high energy) physicist, I had the "caveman reaction from the Geico commercial" when I first read that comment. (I do wonder when Geico will do a commercial about it being "so easy that an astronaut could use it", which would lead to the inevitable caveman vs. spaceman conflict.)

OneTeV | December 07, 02:02 CET

Will Smith apparently won a scholarship to MIT before embarking on a rap career

Whether that's true seems a bit fuzzy (though it's all over the net). From the Reader's Digest interview:

RD: Is it true that at one point you were planning to go to MIT?
Smith: My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college.

which doesn't sound like a scholarship offer. He doesn't seem the sort to hide his light under a bushel either, if he'd had a scholarship to MIT I reckon he'd be open about it (and why not, seems like something to be proud of).

He also talks a lot about God later on so it seems I was way off beam assuming he was a closet atheist. Fair play to him.

(and I kind of get where you're coming from OneTev. Communication and positive thinking are important but so are facts, dates and subatomic physics, IMO. Either approach is pretty meaningless without the other)

Saje | December 07, 02:15 CET

Will Smith has just earned himself some more cool points in my book!

old_tattoos | December 07, 03:22 CET

Re: Simon's wondering aloud what other "famous Hollywood types" are Buffy fans, I remember hearing Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel gush on a red carpet somewhere, after being converted by their GG cast and crew. And speaking of crew, the executive producer of How I Met Your Mother, confesses in this fun Aussie article that he and his wife became "almost embarrassingly huge Buffy dorks" to the point where they sometimes "worry that Alyson is uncomfortable around us." Quite cute.

[ edited by barest_smidgen on 2006-12-07 02:13 ]

barest_smidgen | December 07, 04:03 CET

" I wouldn't be offended - it's an illogical statement. If he'd had an affinity for science he probably wouldn't be an actor. "

If you take the whole quote including the line before it, "Being in a field that I understand is beautiful for me." it is not an illogical statement at all any more than it is insulting to scientist or any other field. As kurya implied, he seems to simply be saying that he would rather his son do something Will Smith himself understands then something he does not. The statement coming right after a paragraph in which he talks about what a pleasure it is to introduce his son to something that haas been so fulfilling to him just emphasized that interpretation in my mind.

"Which makes me think...has anyone done a Six Degrees of Joss yet?"

It was done on a Flicker thread. I suck at linking though.

Put me in the liking Will Smith for a long time column. His interview on Inside the Actor's Studio also upped my respect for him considerably. The fact that he is a BtVS and Ats fan makes a lot of sense.

I can understand not seeing him as clearly defined, his roles have been diverse, but that is also why I do not understand the Jerry Lewis reference at all. But I don't get out much so maybe I just have not seen the right set of his movies. As far as I remember I've only seen Fresh Prince, Independence Day, Six degrees of Separation, Men in Black I and II and Ali. None of those even remotely suggest Jerry Lewis to me.

I would actually love for some of the Hollywood mover and shaker love for BtVS and Ats to translate into some good roles in mainstream projects for more Whedonverse actors...

newcj | December 07, 06:22 CET

When I think about Will Smith, my perception of him is as an actor who has done a lot of goofy comedy, starting with The Fresh Prince ... to the Men in Black movies, to the Wild, Wild, West remake to Hitch. Comedy seems to come easily to him. He makes me think of how Jerry Lewis started out as a comedian but started slipping into serious roles later in life. YMMV.

Tonya J | December 07, 06:40 CET

Will Smith for President? I'd vote for him. (Beats the hell out of the alternatives.)

note: I was under the impression MIT didn't take scholarships. Anyone know for sure if they do?

Love's Bitch | December 07, 12:55 CET

December 06 2006