History Creator / WillSmith

%% * ActionHero: Has played several of them in his career.

%% * JustForPun: "The new millennium -- excuse me, ''Will''ennium."

* OlderThanTheyLook: [[SilverFox He's aged]] ''[[SilverFox extremely]]'' [[SilverFox well]]--seriously, he's in his 50s and yet he looks pretty much the same as he did back in the first ''Men in Black''-movie.[[note]]Will Smith was born on September 25th of 1968, and the first ''[=MiB=]''-movie was released on July 2nd of 1997--so Smith was still only in his 20s when the movie was made[[/note]].
%% * OneHeadTaller: Than a lot of his co-stars, especially [[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir Alfonso Ribeiro]].

* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his 50s now, but he still looks pretty much the same as he did back in the first movie for the ''Men In Black''-series[[note]]Will Smith was born on September 25th of 1968, and the first ''[=MiB=]''-movie was released on July 2nd of 1997--so Smith was still only in his 20s when the movie was made[[/note]].

* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his early 50s but he still looks the same as he did in 1997 for the first ''Men in Black''.

His most famous roles… well, the list is sort of legendary. Want proof? [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000226/ Just have a look at his IMDB profile]]. Add to this, even his stinkers tend to suck in tons of money. The failure of ''Film/WildWildWest'' prompted Smith to observe: "That's how big I am. I ''bomb'' over $100 million." Of all the films Smith has been the star of only two have failed to make over their budgets, the UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli biopic ''Film/{{Ali}}'', which was still a critical if not financial success, the drama ''Film/{{Concussion}}'' and ''Film/CollateralBeauty'' - Smith is ''that'' much of a box office draw. He's also one of the best-paid actors, pulling salaries estimated at $20 million ''per movie''.

His most famous roles… well, the list is sort of legendary. Want proof? [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000226/ Just have a look at his IMDB profile]]. Add to this, even his stinkers tend to suck in tons of money. The failure of ''Film/WildWildWest'' prompted Smith to observe: "That's how big I am. I ''bomb'' over $100 million." Of all the films Smith has been the star of only two have failed to make over their budgets, the UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli biopic ''Film/{{Ali}}'', which was still a critical if not financial success and the drama ''Film/{{Concussion}}'' - Smith is ''that'' much of a box office draw. He's also one of the best-paid actors, pulling salaries estimated at $20 million ''per movie''.

** Was the original first choice to play Neo in ''Film/TheMatrix'' but passed up on it to be in ''Film/WildWildWest'' (though amusingly enough, his wife was cast in the sequels as Niobe).

* GratuitousSpanish: Since he was a featured artist on the Marc Anthony and Bad Bunny song "Esta Rico", this was bound to happen.

* LargeHam: He can get very theatrical and bombastic at times. Just look at Bad Boys II and the whole Reggie scene.

** ''Film/MenInBlack3'' (2012) [[note]]Notable in that this serves as the longest gap he's had between films until ''Bad Boys 3'' comes out, and it showed he's still a reasonable box-office draw.[[/note]]

He has been married to Creator/JadaPinkett since 1997, and they have two children who are also in the acting and music business, Creator/{{Jaden|Smith}} and Willow.

* DoItYourselfThemeTune: Not surprising given that he was a rapper before he was an actor, he did the themes for a number of his movies. "Men in Black", "Wild Wild West", and "Switch" (from ''Hitch'') all became radio hits. He did all the songs for the Genie in 2019's ''Aladdin'' as well as "Arabian Nights".

* ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' (2004) - Oscar

** His reprises of songs from ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' for the 2019 live action adaptation include new lyrics.

Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor and rapper. West UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} born and raised, [[MemeticMutation on the playground]] is where he spent most of his [[ExpositoryThemeTune days, chillin' out, maxin' relaxin' all cool]], until Smith first entered the public eye as part of "Music/DJJazzyJeffAndTheFreshPrince", a lighthearted hip-hop duo known for such songs as "Parents Just Don't Understand" and "Summertime". He really came to fame with the NBC series ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', a relatively succesful SitCom that he only signed onto because [[IntimidatingRevenueService most of his possessions were taken by the IRS as punishment for tax evasion]]. He moved on into what has become a very successful acting career, including two UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations.

** ''Bad Boys 3'' (TBA)

* DoingItForTheArt: After the failure of ''Film/AfterEarth'', Smith has taken to doing roles for the hell of it rather than for the blockbuster revenue, thus his willingness to do sequels to ''Film/SuicideSquad'' and ''Film/{{Bright}}'' in spite of them also being critical failures.[[note]]Though both views were quite successful, ''Bright'' being Netflix's most viewed film at the time and ''Suicide Squad'' grossing around $750 million worldwide before going on to have uncommonly strong home video and TV revenues. Both clearly have sequel potential.[[/note]]

* SharpDressedMan: A lot of Will's characters including Agent J, Mike Lowry (particularly the purple suit scene in ''Bad Boys 2''), James West, and Hitch.

* ActionHero: Has played several of them in his career, including:
** Detective Mike Lowrey from the ''Film/BadBoys'' series
** Captain Steve Hiller from ''Film/IndependenceDay''
** Agent J from the ''Film/MenInBlack'' series
** Jim West from ''Film/WildWildWest''
** Detective Del Spooner from ''Film/IRobot''
** Henry Brogan from ''Film/GeminiMan''
* ActionSurvivor: Dean in ''Film/EnemyOfTheState''.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: According to Will, Jaden convinced him and the family into coming to London in order to celebrate Jaden's 18th birthday because Jaden was promoting a show. When the family arrived in a restaurant, Jaden asked for a tequila and when Will told him that he couldn't drink that because he was underage, [[{{Troll}} Jaden told him that that the legal drinking age is 18 in England]]
* AntiHero: ''Film/{{Hancock}}''.
* BadassAndChildDuo: With his son Jaden.
* BadassBaritone: He has a very deep and bass voice even when he's not singing.
* BellyDancer: In ''Film/WildWildWest''.
* {{Biopic}}: Portrayed UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli in ''Film/{{Ali}}'', Chris Gardner in ''Film/ThePursuitOfHappyness'', and Dr. Bennet Omalu in ''Concussion''. Has a latent wish to portray UsefulNotes/BarackObama.
* BlackAndNerdy: Those ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' action figures he showed off in an episode of ''The Fresh Prince of Bel Air''? Those were his personal toys. It is also presented on the show that Will has the cover from the first issue of ''ComicBook/{{Static}}'' that can be seen framed and hung inside off his pool house.
* BlackViking: [[Film/WildWildWest Jim West as a U.S. Army Captain in 1869]].
* TheCasanova: Will in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'', the eponymous ''Film/{{Hitch}}'' and Mike Lowry in ''Film/BadBoys''.

* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: Will turned "Just the Two of Us", Bill Withers' song about a man's love for his woman, into a song about a man's love for his son.

* DarkerAndEdgier: A lot of his more recent roles have been quite somber.
* DiscussedTrope: In "Just the Two Of Us":
** [[FalseSoulmate He discusses breaking up with Trey's mom]]. ([[AmicableExes They're still friends]]).
** [[StrongFamilyResemblance He says that Trey is him in miniature]].
** [[TechnologyMarchesOn Will mentions having to learn how a CD ROM drive works]].
** [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest He tells Trey not to displace his breakup grief on his next girlfriend]].
** [[DeathIsASadThing Will says that although his death will be sad, it's not the end of Trey's world]].
* DeadpanSnarker: A common humorous trait for his characters.
* DoItYourselfThemeTune: Not surprising given that he was a rapper before he was an actor, he did the themes for a number of his movies. "Men in Black", "Wild Wild West", and "Switch" (from ''Hitch'') all became radio hits.
** He did all the songs for the Genie in 2019's ''Aladdin'' as well as "Arabian Nights".

* GoodParents: In Film/ThePursuitOfHappyness as Chris Gardner.
** Also, in real life. Will and family were in Beijing for ''Film/TheKarateKid'', but Trey had to stay in California for school. Will flew out to be with him for all of his football games.
** Will himself had them in real life, contrary to the popular belief that he had a DisappearedDad like his character in ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''. His father and mother were both very involved in his life and raised him to be the successful man he is today, along with his siblings.

* HappilyMarried: His first marriage only lasted a few years but his second, to Jada Pinkett Smith, has endured since 1997.
* IAmNotLeonardNimoy: Admit it, it's much easier to think of his character as "Will Smith". Turned out he was straight out invoking this with Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir. He choose to go by his actual name so that he would never be "associated" with the character's name, supposedly on the advice of Alfonso Ribeiro (who will be Carlton for the rest of his life).

* {{Jerkass}}: ''Film/{{Hancock}}''.
* JustForPun: "The new millennium -- excuse me, ''Will''ennium."
* LadykillerInLove: ''Film/{{Hitch}}''.
* LocationSong: "Miami", a party song.
* LyricalTic: "Haha!" number in Willenium album alone seems to go four digits.
* MrFanservice: Aforementioned shirtless scenes!
** Taken even further in ''I, Robot'', wherein he's shown completely naked and showering at one point. Though his [[{{Pun}} Big Willie]] isn't shown, viewers still get a clear shot of his butt.
* NiceGuy: Known as one of the nicest, friendliest actors in Hollywood.
** So nice that he lost to Creator/MargotRobbie in an episode of the BBC's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKC7vOhr2vM Playground Insults]]''. He was unable to bring himself to insult her with any conviction, she felt no such inhibitions, and the result was a hilarious CurbStompBattle.

** Amazingly he is older now than James Avery (Uncle Phil) was in the first four seasons of ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''. He doesn't look it.
* OneHeadTaller: Than a lot of his co-stars, especially [[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir Alfonso Ribeiro]].
* PlayingAgainstType: The titular Film/{{Hancock}} and ComicBook/{{Deadshot}} in ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' are angry assholes with just enough heart to make them likable, in contrast with his usually cool and charm characters.
* RaceLift: James West in ''Film/WildWildWest'' and Deadshot in ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}''. Both characters were white originally.
* SoulBrotha: Agent J in Film/MenInBlack, especially the second one.
* SelfDeprecation: Most of his humor is this.

** "[[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir Now this is the story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down, and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there; I'll tell you how I became the Prince of a town Called Bel Air]]."

* TallDarkAndHandsome: At 6'2 and frequently featured on "sexiest man alive" lists, he definitely counts, especially in his younger days. And given his character, this often pairs with...
* TallDarkAndSnarky
* ThemeNaming: The aforementioned Trey is Will's son from his previous marriage - his two children with ''Jada'' are named ''Will''ow and ''Jaden''.

He is also the founder of Overbrook Entertainment where he produces the films from that company whether or not he actually stars in the films.

* ''Film/GeminiMan'' - [[ActingForTwo Henry Brogan/Junior]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiesInDisguise'' (2019)

** He discussed in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm2szuXKgL8 YouTube video]] that this is why he turned down Neo in ''Film/TheMatrix'' and made ''Wild Wild West'' instead, as the pitch meeting made the movie sound too odd.

* ''Where The Day Takes You'' (1992)
* ''Film/MadeInAmerica'' (1993)
* ''Theatre/SixDegreesOfSeparation'' (1993)
* ''Film/BadBoys'' (1995)
* ''Film/IndependenceDay'' (1996)
* ''Franchise/MenInBlack''
** ''Film/MenInBlack'' (1997)

* ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'' (1998)
* ''Film/WildWildWest'' (1999)
* ''Film/TheLegendOfBaggerVance'' (2000)
* ''Film/{{Ali}}'' (2001)
* ''Film/BadBoysII'' (2003)
* ''Film/IRobot'' (2004)
* ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' (2004)
* ''Film/{{Hitch}}'' (2005)
* ''Film/ThePursuitOfHappyness'' (2006)
* ''Film/IAmLegend'' (2007)
* ''Film/{{Hancock}}'' (2008)
* ''Film/SevenPounds'' (2008)
* ''Film/AfterEarth'' (2013)
* ''Film/{{Focus}}'' (2015)
* ''Film/{{Concussion}}'' (2015)
* ''Film/CollateralBeauty'' (2016)
* ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}'' (2016)
* ''Film/{{Bright}}'' (2017)
* ''Film/{{Aladdin|2019}}'' (2019)

* ''Bad Boys 3'' (TBA)

* ''Film/{{SpiesInDisguise}}'' (2019)

* ''Film/SpiesInDisguise'' (2019)