Will Smith once had to be persuaded to do an on-screen kiss, having kept trying to delay the intimate scene.
Smith, 54, may be one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but it turns out even a reputation of that size doesn’t stop nerves on set – with him having turned to wife Jada Pinkett Smith for confidence on set.
The actor had been filming Seven Pounds, the 2008 film directed by Gabrielle Muccino that follows an IRS agent (Smith) so overwhelmed by guilt after accidentally killing seven people, including his fiancée (Robinne Lee), that he sets out to change the lives of several strangers to make things right.
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Speaking about taking on the ‘haunting’ role, Smith told Newsweek at the time of the film’s release: “Usually with the films that I make there are ideas that I connect to, but lately I've been dealing with the bittersweet in life because it feels more natural.
“You don't ever get it really the way you want in life. That really fascinates me. As an actor, there are certain parts of a character that you create, and you train yourself to have those reactions and then it becomes hard to stop them when the role is over. You have to retrain yourself.
“My character in this film is like hot grits. You know you can't shake them off and when you do, it hurts.”
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But it turns out it wasn’t just the heavy nature of the story that provided a challenge to Smith.
Rosario Dawson, who plays love interest Emily in the film, once revealed he’d been reluctant to shoot a kissing scene between their characters.
“Here is the guy who was pushing our kiss to like the end and the end and the end of the schedule,” she told Access Hollywood.
“So the point was like, ‘OK, I know I don’t smell bad… I know I brushed my teeth… I did the deodorant!’”
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Dawson even tried offering her co-star encouraging words to calm his worries, having told him: “You are just nervous. You’re nervous about kissing me. Don’t worry baby, I’ll be gentle."
In the end, the only thing that helped was Smith’s wife Jada.
“He wanted Jada to be on set,” Dawson continued.
“And she was letting him know, ‘Baby you really need to bring it! Don’t embarrass me.’ So, she was on my side on this one.”
Topics: Celebrity, Will Smith, Film and TV, Jada Pinkett Smith