Will Smith Says He Was Initially Skeptical About Taking Genie Role in Aladdin Movie

Superstar rapper/actor, Will Smith plays the role of the Genie in the remake of classic disney movie, Aladdin (2019). In his recent interview on The Ellen Show, he said he initially didn't want to take the role, because he felt Robin Williams did a great job as the voice of the Genie in the original version (1992), and didn't want to touch it. But he said after getting into the musical aspect of the movie, he changed his mind.



Read his words below...

"So they called, and they said, 'hey, we want you to play the genie. We're doing a live action version of Aladdin.' And I was like, 'nah men!' No, Robin Williams like smashed that thing. You know, and it's like, you have to be careful stepping into you know projects like that...Robin, you know, he really smashed this role. He revolutionized you know, what you could do in these kinds of movies. So I listening and listening, and I was like I just didn't think I wanted to touch it. And then I started playing with the music, and the music is where I found my in to the genie. Friend Like me was the first song that I messed with in the studio, and then I found that sort of Hip Hop flavor that was sort of...what Robin did was he took his stand-up (comedy) persona, and used his stand-up persona. And I was like, 'oh, I could just use my sort of Fresh Prince persona, and use that, cos the genie's been forward and back in time, so you could pull references from anywhere. So I mirrored that, and the Hip Hop in was where I saw I could put my own signature while maintaining the nostalgic value."

Pic: Will Smith and Daughter, Willow Smith

A couple of days ago on his Facebook page, Legendary actor/multi-platinum selling rapper, Will Smith shared this pic with his daughter, Willow Smith, who is also into acting and the music industry.

Will Smith Addresses Rumors Alleging He and Jada Pinkett are Getting a Divorce

Are 'Will and Jada' getting a divorce? I think every 6 months or so, I read a new story about Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith divorcing, but it never seems to be true. I mean, this has been going on for about 7 years now; I guess people want this couple to split up so bad, so they can say 'Oh, it wasn't a match made in heaven after-all.'

The power couple got married in 1997, and 18 years after, their relationship is still waxing strong. Will is still the 'A List' actor he has been for almost two decades now, and Jada seems to have taken the back-burner with her acting career, to handle the home front. I guess it has worked perfectly for them. 

Pic: Willow Smith and Jaden Smith

Check out this recent pic of Willow and Jaden Smith. Like their Dad (Will Smith), they both are in the music, and movie industries. Jaden is working on his rapping skills, and Willow is currently about to release a new EP titled "3" and the picture below was taken from a live performance she and Jaden gave at a club in New York City, Friday night.

Pic of Will Smith and His Family

Rapper turned actor, turned rapper, turned actor, Will Smith hung with his family over the weekend, and it seems they were really having fun. From left to right...Willow Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, and Trey Smith (Will's son from his relationship before Jada).

Throwback Song: Summertime (Will Smith)

Although he is better known for his acting these days, Will Smith (The Fresh Prince) actually started out as a rapper. Summertime was a hit back in 1991 and the first single off he and DJ Jazzy Jeff's Homebase album of the same year. Listen to the song below.

Download the song here- Summertime

Recent Pics Of Will, Jada and Willow Smith

The Smith family have always fascinated me. I like how they seem to be so happy with their lives cos they don't put any boundaries to anything...no rules, and yet the husband respects the wife enough not to cheat on her, even though she has given him the go ahead to cheat if he wanted to. And the kids are just having fun with their lives, and doing what they want, but of course doing positive things. It doesn't seem like anything is forced. When Willow said she didn't feel like doing that Annie movie anyloger, Will pulled the plug on it. I like stuff like that. I like real, I don't like celebrities that fake everything.




Anyway, the Smith family where up and about New York this week, and some pictures of them were taken. Peep them below-

Did Will Smith's 'After Earth' Really Flop At Box Office

Weekend numbers came in, and Will Smith's new sci-fi movie, After Earth weekend gross came in at $27 million. To a layman, those are huge numbers, but movie critics consider Will a block buster actor, cos most of his movies do over $100 million their first week out, so this is a flop to them. And maybe if you consider the fact that the budget for this movie was $130 million, you would say, 'Yea, this is a flop.' But, personally, I don't consider it a flop.

I remember reading that The Matrix movie was meant to have predominantly African-American actors. Producers said that wouldn't fly, and so they had to have a white leading character (Keanu Reeves). Unfortunately, that's how things play out in Hollywood. Denzel Washington is one of the greatest black actors ever, but you would never see a movie with him as the lead character, without a bunch of white supporting actors around him. Think about it. Is it Man On Fire? Or Training Day? Or the latest one, Safe House? He always plays the role of a supporting actor, or a lead role, with a lot of white supporting actors.




I guess white America is cool with a funny flick with African-Americans predominantly in it, but when it comes to big screen action movies or Sci-Fi, it's a no go area. So, I think Will Smith took a bold step here; being that it's just him and his son (Jaden Smith) on the cover. And yea, the wonderful Sophie Okenedo (Half Nigerian, half British) played Will Smith's wife. Will co-wrote and produced this movie, so this is his little 'baby'...he would probably make his money back in the long run. And he really has big plans for this movie, so maybe it will grow on people. He envisioned After Earth as a multi-platform franchise, including books, graphic novels, and interactive video games, which would all inform and add to the ideas and concepts already developed in the finished film




One thing I can say about Will's career in a whole right now is that maybe he needs to leave his kids alone for a while, and just focus on himself. I have been reading a lot of negative comments on social media sites about Will Smith and his family; it appears people feel he is pimping his children to the world too much, and people are tired of it. Anyway, I think he is just being liberal, and allowing them do whatever they feel would make them happy. I know he pulled Willow out of the 'Annie' project when she said her heart was nolonger in it, so that says a lot.

















Below is the list of top 10 highest grossing movies at the Box Office from over the weekend-



10. Mud- $1,226,000 ($16,866,000)

9.  Yei Jawaani Hai Deewani- $1,651,000 ($1,651,000)

8.  The Great Gatsby (2013)- $6,265,000 ($128,256,000)

7.  Iron Man 3- $8,006,000 ($384,751,000)

6.  The Hangover Part 3- $15,930,000 ($88,086,000)

5.  Epic- $16,400,000 ($65,161,000)

4.  Star Trek Into Darkness- $16,400,000 ($181,156,000)

3.  After Earth- $27,000,000 ($27,000,000)

2.  Now You See Me- $28,050,000 ($28,050,000)

1.  Fast & Furious 6- $34,538,000- ($170,377,000)

Jaden Smith Shows Up In iron-Man Costume For Date With Kylie Jenner

Will Smith's son, Jaden Smith has been hanging out with Kim Kardashian's sister, Kylie Jenner a lot lately. Recently, Jaden was invited on a date by Kylie Jenner, and he showed up in an Iron-Man costume. By the way, Jaden is 14, and Kylie is 15. It's really funny that they are hanging out, cos recently, when Will Smith was asked about the similaries between the The Smith family and the Kardashian's, he said- " the idea of fame or exploitation or orchestrating the media is sometimes even less than desirable for us." Indirectly bashing The Kardashian's.


Anyway, it is all love amongst the kids. Check out the pics below-

Below is what Kylie Jenner had to say about the outing-

He’s crazy. He has fun, I just let him have fun with all his stuff. He showed up at dinner with me and my friend Pia. We invited he and his friend and he showed up in an Ironman costume, it was really great.









Hmm!

Will Smith Indirectly Bashes The Kardashians

In a recent magazine interview, Will Smith was asked about how similar his family is to The Kardashian's, and in a bid to make the difference clear, he slicks in a little diss.




"For our family, the entire structure of our life, our home, our business relationships—the entire purpose is for everyone to be able to create in a way that makes them happy. Fame is almost an inconsequential by-product of what we’re really trying to accomplish. We are trying to put great things into the world, we’re trying to have fun, and we’re trying to become the greatest versions of ourselves in the process of doing things we love. So the idea of fame or exploitation or orchestrating the media is sometimes even less than desirable for us."



The part in red is the 'indirect bashing'. Word has it that Kim Kardashian's mother was the one that brought up the idea of having the Kim Kardashian sex-tape out there, sort of like a publicity stunt. And we all know that tape was what brought The Kardashian's to Limelight.  And till this day, Kris Jenner still makes all the moves behind the scene to market her children to the world. This is what Will Smith was referring to in the last sentence above.

Will Smith Believed Eminem Would Either Flop Or Be The Biggest Thing

Will Smith goes way back in Hip Hop. He started dropping rap albums with DJ Jazzy Jeff in the late 80s, before doing his TV/Movie thing full-time, and then coming back to rap on and off. In a recent interview, DJ Jazzy Jeff spoke about Will Smith's reaction the first time he heard Eminem rap back in 1996. He said Will believed that Eminem would either be the biggest flop in Hip Hop, or he would be the biggest thing we've ever seen in hip hop. I guess Will Smith was right in a way.







 "I was a big fan of Eminem's—you know, especially of his super early stuff. I just kinda reached out to him, 'Yo man, big fan. Would love to do some stuff.' And he ended up comin' to Philly and we went in the studio, and just knocked out some stuff. It was crazy, because that was one of the times that Will [Smith] was in town. Will walked into the room, and I think I played Will 'Just The Two Of Us' .Will listened to it, and Will looked at him and said, 'You're either gonna be the biggest flop in Hip Hop, or you're gonna be the biggest thing that we've ever seen in Hip Hop. And Eminem never forgot that. It was so outrageous. You're gonna be the biggest flop, because I guess people are just gonna think you're so crazy. Or you're just a super genius'—and the super genius part really paid off."






The 'Just The Two Of Us' song was on Eminem's 1997 EP, The Slim Shady EP. And it also appears on his Aftermath debut album (The Slim Shady LP- 1999) as 97 Bonnie & Clyde. It's a really sick song; Eminem raps about killing his wife, putting her dead body in the trunk, and driving around with his daughter, Harley. I guess that's why Will Smith believed Eminem would either be a big flop, or the biggest thing Hip Hop had ever seen...cos no one was really rapping about stuff like that...and for a white boy to be doing hip hop like that was really different to people. I think Dr. Dre's stamp of approval really helped Eminem...it made people of all races accept his music.

Will Smith Reveals Why He Turned Down Role In "Django Unchained" Movie

The Django character in the very controversial Django Unchained movie was meant to be played by Will Smith, but was eventually played by Jamie Foxx, who I feel did a great job by the way. Anyway, Will Smith has given his reason for turning down Quentin Tarantino's offer to play Django-

 "Django wasn't the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead. The other character (Christoph Waltz) was the lead! I was like, 'No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy! I thought it was brilliant, Just not for me."

Well, I guess everyone has their preferences  I do respect Will Smith for always getting lead roles in most of the movies he appears in. Even Denzel Washington doesn't get lead roles the way Will Smith gets them...I mean for a black man in Hollywood. But, Jamie always does a great acting job. Jamie Foxx did such a great job that he almost overshadowed the lead role in the Django Unchained movie. And, at the Oscars a few weeks ago, Christoph Waltz (the lead character in the movie) won an academy award for the role of a supporting actor...that means the Oscar organizers classified Jamie Foxx as the lead character in the movie.

Jada Pinket Smith Speaks On Relationship With Tupac, and Open Marriage With Will Smith

This interview of Jada Pinkett Smith is 2 years old, but I am putting up cos I want to speak on something related to what she had to say. Jada Pinkett and Tupac went to the same Art School in their late teens, and they were pretty close. A lot of people believe that they actually dated, but Jada is letting the world know that they were pretty close friends, but their relationship was a platonic one.

“Pac and I were never in a romance but I feel as though we had those feelings. It was more of a “platonic romance” between each other. We knew us being together in a romantic way would destroy everything because we were both fire. We would burn everything up! So we knew in order to preserve our relationship there was no way we could ever add romance to it cause we probably would’ve killed each other!”

Tupac 'shouted her out' in one of his songs back in the day, and it was more in a respectful way, so i totally believe Jada Pinkett Smith here. She and Will Smith have been married for over 15 years now, and people still cringe when they hear that they are in a open marriage. For those that don't know, an open marriage is when the man and the woman in a marriage are open to see other people if they wish.

Below is what Jada Pinkett had to say about her open marriage with Will Smith-

We always have people that we’re attracted to that we talk about. That don’t stop just because your married. Somebody’s always gonna catch your eye. That’s real. Somebody’s gonna always be prettier than me, and somebody’s always gonna be more in awe of him than me, and he gonna be like *in Will’s voice* ‘yo she really like me’ (laughter) but as far as somebody being right for us… is there somebody right for a nice night? Maybe. But somebody that can sustain our life and sustain what we’ve built together, absolutely not!

This is really a "NO-NO" for a lot of people, but let me play devil's advocate for a bit. 99.9% of men are going to cheat anyway. I remember driving my parents down to see my mom's uncle a couple of years ago. We met another couple there, and they started a discussion of their old days. They spoke about a lot of things, but it surprised me when my mom's uncle (who was in his early 80s at the time) spoke on a time when he was cheating on his wife, and then the other men narrated their experiences, and how they went through hell at that point with their wives. But the shocker was that their wives were there, and they all laughed about it.

I think marriage is like a cage to most men, and men don't like to be caged. I'm claustrophobic, but sometimes I can stay in my little room, reading for 8 hour stretch. But if my brother told me he was going to lock my room door for just 30 minutes, I would freak out within 5 minutes. Considering the rate at which Hollywood marriages end in divorce, it is worth looking into how Will and Jada's marriage has lasted over 15 years...with two lovely kids to show for it.

Please note that I am not advocating for open relationships/marriages, I am just being scientific with some of my findings. lol!

Will Smith Speaks On Willow Smith Pulling Out Of The Annie Movie

Willow Smith, Will Smith's 12 year old daughter was meant to play the role of Annie, in a remake of the 80s classic movie with the same title, but she eventually pulled out. Will has let the world know that he was actually caught up in the whole fame and glam, and wasn't thinking of what his daughter really wanted versus what he thought was the best moves for her.

Let Will break it down for you...

In the past eighteen months,  I have spent a lot of time focusing on the emotional aspect of my life and my family. In 2010, in one year, our family had the “Karate Kid”, we had “Whip my Hair”, we had Hawthorne, and at the end of the year, we did the Nobel Concert when Barack Obama won his Nobel Peace Prize. Don’t be clapping yet, that wears you out. The thing that had become very clear to me is the danger of a material world and focusing so hard on coming up with money or a house or a job. You focus so hard on those things, and sometimes you can lose focus on why you are doing it in the first place. The only reason to do any of that is to have love.

Willow was supposed to be doing “Annie”, we got Jay-Z to do the movie, got the studio to come in and Willow had such a difficult time on tour with “Whip my Hair” and she said, “You know Daddy, I don’t think so” and I said, “baby, hold up! I said no,no,no, listen, you’ll be in New York with all of your friends and Beyoncé will be there. You will be singing and dancing,” and she looked at me and said, “Daddy, I have a better idea, how about I just be 12.”

I’m really learning through Willow the necessity that we have to snap ourselves back and refocus on the emotional needs of the people that we love. Someone’s emotional needs can be very very different from your dreams and what you think they should be doing and where they are supposed to be. (necolebitchie.com)

I think it's great he realized this early enough...most celebrity kids grow up to be alcoholics and drug addicts cos their parents push them too far, and not allow them live normal lives. Will Smith is really humble and mature to admit his mistake to the public; most celebrities would have given another reason, just to appear perfect in the public eye.

T.I Said Will Smith Tried Reaching Out To Obama To Help With His Prison Situation

T.I went to jail in 2009 on weapon possession charges; he went in again the same year he got out in 2010, for violating his parole. He has done some acting in the last couple of years; appearing in hit movies like American Gangster and Takers, so he definitely has some friends in high places. One of them is Will Smith, who he said volunteered to help reach out to U.S president Obama, if a pardon could be granted with his parole violation situation in the past.

"I didn't reach out to [Will Smith for a Presidential pardon]; we were just in conversation just speaking," he recalled. "We got the same birthday, and everyday on our birthday we speak on the phone just to say, 'What's up, how're you doing, what's going on?' That year on our birthday, I was just going through that [probation] situation, so when he had me [on the phone], I was like, 'Dude, it's tight right now.' His first thing was, 'How can I help?' and I said, 'Bruh, it's got to come from the top.' He was like, 'Oh yeah? I can reach up there [to the President].' I was like, 'Man, I don't even know. Don't put yourself out the way - it's a long shot'…at that point, he connected with my attorneys and took a shot."






I don't know if Will Smith or Obama would be happy with T.I putting this story out there...i mean, T.I making it seem like favours can be made in the corridor of power.

Will Smith Slaps Male Reporter for Trying to Kiss Him on The Lips

Will Smith slapped a Ukrainian reporter for trying to kiss him on the lips at the premiere for Men In Black 3 in Moscow. This is real funny, cos a couple of days ago, Will Smith made it clear that he didn't have a problem with Gay Marriage. Well, i guess he really doesn't have a problem with Same Sex marriage, but that don't mean he would be cool with a man kissing him on the lips when he is not Gay.

Will Smith just slapped a Ukrainian reporter across the face at the Moscow premiere of "Men in Black 3" -- and it was all caught on tape. The Ukrainian reporter tries to kiss Will on the lips on the red carpet and the actor angrily pushes him away and then backhands him across the face. You can clearly see that Will is incredibly pissed that the guy showed overt affection toward him. After Will slaps the guy, Will says, "He's lucky I didn't sucker punch him." (TMZ)

As the news continues to stream in, it turns out the kiss may have been a celebrity gag.

We're told the dude who kissed Will is a television reporter who often kisses celebrities -- it's his schtick. For the record, Will just came out in support of gay marriage. A source on scene tells TMZ, the reporter's mouth brushed up against Will's and that's why the actor reacted so violently. Despite the incident, Will stayed positive ... and happily continued to sign autographs for fans and do red carpet interviews. (TMZ)

I am thinking maybe the reporter was just playing a prank on Mr Will Smith. Watch the video here- will smith slaps reporter

Will Smith Cool With Gay Marriage

Actor/Rapper, Will Smith made in his views known about the current backing of Barack Obama on the issue Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S. Check out what he had to say below-



Smith (who played an openly gay character in the 1993 film Six "Degrees of Separation") came out in support of same-sex marriage earlier this week, on the heels of President Barack Obama's acceptance of the institution. Yahoo! News shares that Smith told reporters in Berlin on Monday that "If anybody can find someone to love them and to help them through this difficult thing that we call life, I support that in any shape or form." (RapFix)


So far, no one in the music industry has come forward to speak against Obama's actions...so, i guess we can all get along.

Will Smith's Wife, Jada Pinkett Smith Cloaks 40

Will Smith's Wife, Jada Pinkett Smith cloaked 40 yesterday, Sept 18. People were expecting a big celebration since 40 is a big birthday year, but nothing was confirmed. She probably spent the time with her family. They have been married since 1997, and they they have two kids together; Willow and Jaden, who are also in the entertainment industry.

Speaking of Will and Jada, there has been a lot of rumour of them splitting. I don't think this could be so, since they have a open marriage...they can sleep with whoever they want as long the one doing the sleeping tells the other. Hmm! So, what more can a man ask for? lol! Although a lot of people would go against this and argue how wrong it is, but if you count the amount of divorce cases in the world right now, you might re-consider your opinion on the matter.

Me personally, i think it would be great if i can actually do that with my wife. I look around and see men cheating all the time...lying to their wives and all that. I am sure if they knew all they had to do was ask, and if they got permission, they could go about and do what they wanted, then divorce cases would reduce. And with time they wont feel the need to even sleep around after a while. Because if you really weigh it, you would know that man has the urge to cheat most times because he feels it is interesting, and he is bored with just his wife. Once in a while, people in relationships, or in matrimonial homes would see someone they fancy, and if the person fancies them too, what is wrong with a little nibbling of the cake, without going all the way with the baker? 

There is a part of my country Nigeria where a man gives out one of his wives to a guest who wants to spend the night in his house. Can you beat that?

Mars Working On Will Smith's Comeback Album

Will Smith, the actor/rapper/visionary is working on a comeback album with producer, Mars. Will Smith released a couple of "not too hot" albums in the late 80s, but his big music break was in Homemade, which brought us the single, Summertime. And his biggest album was 1997's Big Willie Style, which had such singles as "Men In Black", "Getting Jiggy With It", "Just The Two Of Us", and "Miami"; and it went on to sell 14 million copies worldwide. His sales after that started dropping as he concentrated more on his acting career, and his last album, Lost & Found (2005) that had "Switch" didn't even go Platinum.

Mars talks about working on his come-back album, and also albums from Incarcerated rapper, T.I.

"[T.I.] will always be my brother, he'll always be a friend and production partner. I'll always be working with Tip. He's been sitting [in jail] for a year. So I've been thinking about my brother. I have all different types of directions, all types of different stuff," Mars explained in an interview. "We're working on Tip, we're working on the High School movie with Snoop and Wiz Khalifa. We're working on Will Smith, bringing him back. That's actually him on the other line right now. Snoop's daughter, we just put out her first single. We're doing the whole album. Mario wants me to d a mixtape with him, we're working on that. I'm working on Ashanti. We're just working on as much as possible." (XXL Mag)

I think that is a lovely list Mars has there, and i know he would definitely make some serious money off working with Will Smith. But, i am thinking, can Will Smith make a come-back? Does he even need to? I mean, he has all the money from the movie industry, why try to rap again. Maybe it is a passion thing, but i would love if he takes it serious. Remembering Will Smith as a rapper, he was not really a multi-dimensional rapper, so i am just wondering what he would bring to the table that would catch the attention of the people. What do you think?

Will Smith Makes $36,000,000 On One Project

I can remember when Will Smith was selling millions of copies of rap albums, but he has faced acting squarely now, but it don't mean i can't report some news about him. Will Smith is up on Forbes list this year for making $36,000,000 off one project. I can remember when Eminem said on one of his songs- will smith don't gotta curse in his raps to sell records, well fuck him, and fuck you too. When Will Smith was asked what he felt about the diss, he said Eminem could talk all he wants, but on a good day, he would make what the entire sales of em's album brings him on just one movie project. I think that is a good way to answer a loud mouth like eminem.

Below is the news on will smith's recent earnings.

(AllHipHop News) Philadelphia native/rapper/actor Will Smith remains one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, according to documents released by Forbes today (August 3rd) in  Forbes annual list of earnings for Hollywood's Top Male and Female actors. The magazine counted the Hollywood actors' earnings between May 2010 in May 2011. Will Smith has raked in over $36,000,000, and that's for just one film, “Men in Black 3,” placing him at the #4 position. Leonardo DiCaprio landed at # 1 on Forbes' annual list, pulling in $77,000,000 from two films, “Inception” and “Shutter Island.” Actor Johnny Depp came in 2nd place with $60,000,000, Adam Sandler landed at the #3 position with $40,000,000 and Tom Hanks rounded out the Top 5 with $35,000,000.