Nia Long opens up about her longstanding friendship with Will Smith, who is barred from the Oscars after being slapped
‘I’ll always love him’: Nia Long says she’ll never stop supporting Will Smith, her Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air co-star, even after THAT Oscar slap
Nia Long is opening up about her long friendship with Will Smith.
The 52-year-old actress co-starred with Will, 54, in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the ’90s, as his fiancée Lisa and the two have remained friends ever since.
In an interview with Yahoo’s Kevin Polowy on the Role Recall podcastThe NAACP Image Award winner discussed how far the comedic actor turned action star has come.
Friendship: Nia Long is opening up about her longstanding friendship with Will Smith. ‘I love him and always will.’ she said. ‘He’s had an amazing career’
“I love him and I will always love him,” she said. He has had an incredible career.
Nia described Will as “a cheerful person”.
Alluding to the pressure of being a black man in Hollywood, the Life in a Year star said: “He’s carried a load for many years to try to represent what perfection looks like or what achievement looks like.”
‘I don’t think, at least when we were kids, there was room to be human. And I think now he can be human.
Co-stars: Mia co-starred as Will’s fiancée, Lisa, on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s and the two have remained friends ever since.
Interview: In an interview with Yahoo’s Kevin Polowy on the Role Recall podcast, the NAACP Image Award winner discussed how far the comedic actor turned action star has come.
The King Richard actor’s Best Actor Oscar win was marred last year when he slapped host Chris Rock after the comedian made a derogatory comment about his wife Jada Pinkett’s shaved head. The actress suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune condition, which can cause her hair to fall out.
As a result of the incident, which was televised around the world, Will has resigned from the Academy and is banned from attending Oscar ceremonies for 10 years.
The actor apologized for his action, saying in a video posted in April: “There’s not a part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave at that time.” There is no part of me that thinks that this is the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.
Cheerful: Nia described Will as “cheerful” and said she learned a lot about acting while starring in the hit sitcom
The slap: Without apologizing for the infamous slap at the 2022 Oscars, Nia said, “I think we all have our moments in life where we have to reconcile things that we maybe hold back.” I think it’s hard to grow in this business and be front and center every day, all day.’
Not excusing her actions, Nia said, “I think we all have our moments in life where we have to reconcile things that we may have held back.” And I think it’s hard to grow in this business and be front and center every day, all day.’
The actress, who can be seen in Peacock in The Best Man: The Final Chapters and in You People, which will stream on Netflix on January 27, has had her ups and downs recently, including a public breakup with her ex-fiancé, Ime Ukoda. , after 13 years together.
‘You know, I’ve had some pretty devastating moments in my life in the last few months and I’ve had to say, “It’s okay. You’ll get over it…” Oh my gosh, I’m about to cry. You get up and keep it moving.
Hard Times: Nia has had her ups and downs recently, including a public breakup with her ex-fiancé, Ime Ukoda, after 13 years together. “I had to say, ‘It’s okay. You’ll get better.'” (Pictured in Beverly Hills in February 2017)