Will Smith's new memoir, simply titled Will has already led to some surprising revelations that have given us a fresh look at one of the biggest movie stars in the world, even though the book isn't even out yet. But now, it has been revealed that the Independence Day star once considered killing his own father, and was fairly certain he'd be able to get away with it.
Will Smith has spoken before about the fact that his father, Willard Carrol Smith Sr. was abusive. Smith's parents separated when he was 13, but clearly the abuse his mother suffered still weighed on the actor, as it wasn't back then, as a teen, that Smith considered killing his father. It was much more recently, when he was a big star. In fact it was his celebrity that made the actor think that if he followed through, he might get away with it. In the excerpt published by ET, Smith says...
That when I was big enough, when I was strong enough, when I was no longer a coward, I would slay him. I paused at the top of the stairs. I could shove him down, and easily get away with it. I’m Will Smith. No one would ever believe I killed my father on purpose. I’m one of the best actors in the world. My 911 call would be Academy Award level. As the decades of pain, anger, and resentment coursed then receded, I shook my head and proceeded to wheel Daddio to the bathroom.
Will Smith's father died in 2016, and so the actor is talking about a period of time fairly recently, no more than a fey years ago, when he considered killing his own father. This was not for what he was doing currently, but as vengeance for what he had done. And he even considered the fact that, because he was Will Smith, it would be unlikely it would be suspected to be anything more than an accident.
And to be fair, he's probably not too off the mark. If we heard the news that Will Smith's father had died in an accident and had fallen down the stairs, few people would assume that anything truly terrible had happened beyond an accident.
It sounds like this was just a fleeting thought, that only really occurred once. Still, it's an understandable thought. He wouldn't be the first person to grow up with abuse to contemplate such things. Beyond that. many others have certainly followed through on those thoughts.
What's clear is that fans of Will Smith who really want to know what goes on in the star's real life will want to read this new memoir. The book arrives in stores on November 9.
