Will Smith was the latest guest on The Graham Norton Show where the Gemini actor not only talked about his upcoming role in the Aladdin remake but also his previous fears against himself. “A huge part of my childhood was marked by fear and a huge part of my drive in life was marked by fear," Will explained when discussing his bucket list. “You can generate great things, you can succeed and win, but you can never really be happy if you’re scared.”
He added: "I’d turned 50 and I’d created this wonderful life and this wonderful career, but I felt trapped by being Will Smith – I have kids so I can’t do that, or I’m famous so I can’t say that, or people look at me so I can’t behave like that – so part of the bucket list was to give myself the freedom to do all of the things that I had put in my mind that I couldn’t do. I’m now being adventurous, and I’ve always wanted to be that.”
Will has gone bungee jumping, swam in shark-infested waters, skydived and so much more as a way to live out all the things he thought he couldn't. His latest excursion will be his Genie role in the upcoming live-action Aladdin, a character he thought he couldn't take on, considering who played the original.
"It was actually terrifying for me getting the first call. It was a deep honour being asked, but Robin Williams didn’t leave much room for improvement – he revolutionized what you can do in animation," he said.
“I watched the movie a couple of times and it was only when I started playing with the music and rapping that it gave me an ‘in’ to maintaining the nostalgia and paying homage to Robin Williams’ genie, while adding a new flavour.”