Hollywood superstar Will Smith celebrates his 57th birthday today, but how much do you know about the actor who has been a household name for 35 years?
As many people know, Will Smith was Philadelphia born and raised, and on the playground was where he spent most of days, chilling out, maxing, relaxing or shooting some b-ball.
But how many other things do you know about the actor and rapper who turns 57 today? Here are some fun facts you might not know about Will Smith.
A chance meeting at a house party started his career
Will first found fame in the mid- to late-1980s as a rapper, performing as The Fresh Prince alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff. However, this may never have happened, had Will not gone to a house party a few doors down from his house in 1985.
Jeffrey ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff’ Townes was performing at the house party, but his usual hype man hadn’t turned up. So Will, who had been an aspiring rapper for some time, decided to fill in. The pair instantly hit it off on stage and legend has it that Jazzy Jeff was disappointed when his regular hype man eventually turned up.
Soon after, the pair decided to collaborate, and the next year the pair put out their first single.
He was the first rapper to win a Grammy Award
Success came quickly to the pair, with ‘Girls Ain’t Nothin But Trouble’ becoming a hit before Will graduated from high school.
Such was their mainstream success that they won the inaugural Best Rap Performance award at Grammys in 1989 for ‘Parents Just Don’t Understand’.
Fresh Prince saved Will financially
With this early success came money – and lots of it. But Will wasn’t careful with his spending – or his taxes. He got in trouble with the IRS for underpaying his taxes by $2.8 million and paying it back took its toll.
Will was struggling financially when NBC signed him up and decided to build a sitcom around him, which became The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and was a huge success throughout its run from 1990-6. Not only did it restore Will’s finances, it also made him a huge star in the US and around the world.
He turned down a role in The Matrix
After The Fresh Prince ended, Will moved into Hollywood movies, starring in hugely popular blockbusters such as Independence Day (1996) and the Men in Black franchise (which he also performed the theme song for).
Then in 1999, Will had a choice to make; did he go for the comedy action Western Wild Wild West, or a tech thriller called The Matrix? Will chose the former. Wild WIld West was a critical and commercial failure (although did spawn a hit single for Will), while The Matrix, with Keanu Reeves in the lead role, went on to become one of the most iconic movies of the past 30 years and led to several sequels. There has never been a Wild Wild West 2.
But Will isn’t bitter about this – while he has said he made a mistake going for Wild Wild West, he has said that Keanu’s performance was better than he could have done.
Will can solve a Rubix cube in under a minute
In two movies – The Alma Matter (1993) and The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) – the character Will plays is seen solving a Rubik’s cube quickly. But this wasn’t a Hollywood trick – Will really has a talent for solving the traditionally difficult puzzle. Indeed, he has solved a cube in less than 55 seconds on live TV in the past.
He met his wife when she auditioned to be his girlfriend
Will was married to Jada Pinkett for many years, although they separated in 2016 – but have never divorced. But the pair met for the first time when Jada auditioned for a role as Will’s girlfriend on The Fresh Prince. While Jada didn’t get the role – it went to Nia Long – she obviously made an impression on Will as they were married three years later.
