Will Smith admits he went 'too far' while trying to play an enslaved man in Empancipation

Will Smith has admitted he went too far while preparing for his role in the historical action thriller Emancipation.

During an interview on Kevin Hart’s Peacock show Hart to Heart, the Oscar winner revealed the repercussions he faced while filming the 2022 movie.

In the movie, Smith plays Peter, a slave in Louisiana during the 1860s after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery in secessionist Confederate states.

"I went too far in Emancipation," Smith recalled.

He added that merely discussing the experience makes him ‘teary’ as it took a complete toll on his emotional and physical state.

"I wanted to feel the degradation of slavery and I went too far in. The level of human brutality, what we will do to each other,” he told the comedian.

The Pursuit of Happiness star even revealed he went as far as to be tied up by real slave chains, adding he wanted to feel its 'weight'.

However, things took a turn when the key didn’t work to unlock them, which pushed the actor to the brink.

"So they got old chains and they put it on my neck and they were fitting it for size and I'm standing there and the prop master went to put the key in and the key didn't work. And I was like, 'Oh no. Will, relax,'" he continued.

"And I'm standing there and they're running around and they couldn't get me out of it. I'm standing there in those chains, right on that hyperventilating edge."

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But, despite the challenging shoot, he wouldn’t change a thing.

"It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had as an actor. Peter introduced me to God. My faith got solid after working on that movie,” he shared.

However, this isn’t the only time the actor channelled his inner Daniel Day Lewis.

“With Six Degrees of Separation, I got a taste early of the dangers of going too far for a character,” Smith told Vanity Fair back in 2015.

In the movie, Smith plays a con artist that preys on an affluent Manhattan couple.

“My character was in love with Stockard Channing's character. And I actually fell in love with Stockard Channing,” he continued.

“I wanted to perform well so badly that I was spending six and seven and eight days in character before shooting, and you have to be careful with that,” he added.