Will Smith doesn’t mention the slap, but does talk some of his greatest hits (literally) on Hot Ones
Smith's trip through the gauntlet included discussions of how to make a hit in Hollywood, his own personal hits, and getting hit by Michael Bentt for Ali
Aux News Will Smith
The word “hit” can mean many different things. Sometimes, it’s a critically and commercially acclaimed box office success, like Will Smith’s Bad Boys franchise has been for decades now. Other times, it means hitting someone in the face, say, at the 2022 Oscars, which Will Smith also knows a little something about.
While the latter did not come up (as expected) in Will Smith’s recent go at the Hot Ones wing gauntlet, the Legendary actor discussed a bunch of other types of hits, including one directed at him on the set of his 2001 boxing biopic, Ali.
Almost begging for the Twitter/X repost treatment, host Sean Evans prompted Smith by asking, “What’s the most painful, inadvertent hit you’ve ever taken while shooting a sequence?” Smith responded that it was from his co-star, Michael Bentt, who played Ali’s rival, Sonny Liston.
“I was leaning back and my trainer was trying to get me to get the angle of my spine forward and in this second I just was like you know what, commit. And I committed and leaned forward and almost as an instinctual reaction Michael Bentt threw a right hand, and I put my head down and he caught me with a right hand right on top of my head,” Smith said. “I felt an electrical shock go down the back of both arms to my elbows… that was like the hardest I’ve ever been hit on a movie set.”
Smith also took some time to address his personal definition of the word “hit,” as it refers to the current state of Hollywood. “The definition of a hit is still pretty much the same. Essentially it’s just harder to get one… you used to be able to put some explosions in the trailer and a couple of good jokes and people were there,” he said. “Television is so good, there are things that people just aren’t going to leave their house for anymore. There’s definitely a higher demand for a certain type of film for people to leave their homes.”
If anyone can be relied on to consistently deliver those types of films it’s Smith, who recently went viral for a clip of him acting and essentially directing himself in Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, all with an extremely heavy rig strapped to his chest. As for his personal Mount Rushmore of hits that he sees as defining his career, it’s The Pursuit Of Happyness, the first Men In Black movie, I Am Legend, and King Richard.
14 Comments
Sean Evans is a really good interviewer. He knows what he’s doing.
I remember seeing a few Hot Ones in which the guest is going through what they’re going through and is talking about stuff, and he seemed to just butt in with an unrelated question.
Maybe that’s a good technique specific to Hot Ones, but usually that’s not really good interviewing.
I haven’t seen that one, but I would agree that’s not good interviewing. I’m impressed by his research and the general quality of his questions.
Ugh, wtf? Fuck Will Smith and fuck Hot Ones for having him as a guest.
He should be shunned from Hollywood.
Who do you suppose does the Scoville measurements they display for each sauce? I assume they come from the manufacturer? (They don’t actually mention those on the Heatonist storefront where you can buy the sauces — those just have a heat rating out of 10.)
That “self-filmed” footage everyone has been oohing and ahhing over for the last couple days, just looks terrible to me. I hate it. It’s like a migraine-inducing video game. Not a film.
it looks cool in the movie.
Fuck Will Smith.
“Hell no.”- Jada Pinkett Smith
Right after the Oscars, a few people got pushback for saying some variation of “this is how Weinstein happened,” but…it is truly rich watching an industry that spent the last 7 years patting itself on the back for its supposed progress in not condoning bad behavior circle the wagons around Will Smith like this. Not just this show, Will Smith was laughing it up on Fallon like nothing happened too, same with Kelly Clarkson. Obviously Hot 97 didn’t touch it.Last chance is the audience. Tentpole movies have been disappointing all summer, hopefully one more gets added to the list.
it is truly rich watching an industry that spent the last 7 years patting itself on the back for its supposed progress in not condoning bad behavior circle the wagons around Will Smith like this
At this point I’ve come to expect it as just general human behavior.
It happens in politics, workplaces, families, etc. We’re a weird fuckin species.
I suppose. This just seemed like a particularly literal example of the hypocrisy. 5+ years of “we’re not just going to sit back and do nothing while someone powerful misbehaves” to literally sitting back and doing nothing while a powerful person misbehaves.
You may have forgotten how he was immediately and publicly rewarded for that misbehavior.Strangely the only group likely to outright cancel him among their membership is the right wing manosphere. The violence they have no issue with but being a “cuck-simp to a baldheaded fem-dom AND a closet case” is unforgivable. It’ll be a campfire tale about how Chadliness can be lost, a modern Samson and Delilah.
Such a phony