In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Will Smith says he loses “a couple winks of sleep every night” worrying that his altercation with Chris Rock at the Oscars will overshadow the work of his team members on his new movie entitled Emancipation.
In the interview with Entertainment Weekly, Smith stated that the “only discomfort my heart has around” the continued fallout from the incident “is that so many people have done spectacular work on” the new film and his fear is that people will not come out to watch it.
“I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team,” he said. “But I’m going to do everything I can to make sure everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve.”
Emancipation which is directed by Antoine Fuqua is Inspired by a true story. It is a story about one man who fights through many horrors in an attempt to reunite with his family. It premieres in theaters on December 2, and will be available to stream on Apple TV+ on December 9.
Speaking of the movie, Smith said, “I knew I wanted to make it by the time I was on page 20.”
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Smith continued to say that the people he has worked with on Emancipation “have done some of the best work of their entire careers” Smith said, adding “my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team.”
“I completely understand that if someone is not ready [to see the movie], I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready. My deepest concern is my team — [director Antoine Fuqua] has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career,” Smith went on to say in the interview.
Smith stated that he hopes the audience can look past his actions saying, “At this point, that’s what I’m working for, that’s what I’m hoping for. I’m hoping that the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story, I’m hoping that the good that can be done would open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognize and support the incredible artists in and around this film.”
