Nearly a year after his infamous Oscar slap to Chris Rock, Will Smith returned to an awards show stage at the Black Film Critics Association Awards on Wednesday night.
The 54-year-old actor accepted the Beacon Award at the 14th Annual AAFCA Awards, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
Smith’s appearance comes just hours after reports claim Chris Rock’s new live Netflix special will address the slap.
He was joined by his Emancipation director Antoine Fuqua on stage, opening his speech by revealing, “Emancipation was the hardest single film of my entire career,” before quipping, “It was all outdoors, that’s true. “.
“I remember it was the second day of shooting and it’s really hard to transport a modern mind back to that time period. It’s hard to imagine that level of inhumanity,” Smith said.
Slap: Nearly a year after his infamous Oscar slap to Chris Rock, Will Smith returned to an awards show stage at the Black Film Critics Association Awards on Wednesday night.
Speech: The 54-year-old actor accepted the Beacon Award at the 14th Annual AAFCA Awards, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
Will and Antoine: The 54-year-old actor accepted the Beacon Award at the 14th Annual AAFCA Awards held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
“I remember it was like 110 degrees, we were out there and I was in a scene with one of the white actors. We had our line and the actor decided to improvise,” continued Smith.
“So we’re doing the scene and I did my line and he did his line and then he improvised… spitting in the middle of my chest,” he said, as the audience gasped.
Smith himself gasped, adding, “If I had pearls, I definitely would have grabbed them,” adding that he wanted to yell at his director Fuqua, but stopped himself.
“I stopped and realized that Peter couldn’t have called the director,” Smith said, referring to his character, known as “Battered Peter,” whose famous photo of his flogged back was published in 1863 and revealed the horrors of slavery.
“So I sat there, took a deep breath, and we did Take 2, and the actor felt the improvisation had gone well… I do my line, he does his, and he spits in the middle of my chest again. I just held that moment and there was a part of me that was grateful that I really came to understand,” Smith said.
He then joked that he heard director Fuqua’s voice yelling, “Hey, let’s do a take without spitting,” adding, “And in that moment… I knew God was real.”
Smith then addressed his fellow black artists in the crowd, saying that they are people who really “suffer for art to bring these stories to the screen and deliver them in a way that has an emotional impact to tell our stories and hopefully, just a subtle chance to change a heart, or change a mind.’
He went on to thank everyone in the room, “for doing what they do to keep our stories alive,” and also thanked Apple, saying they “never flinched” when the budget kept increasing.
Ad-lib: ‘I remember it was like 110 degrees, we were out there and I was in a scene with one of the white actors. We had our line and the actor decided to improvise,” continued Smith.
“So we’re doing the scene and I did my line and he did his line and then he improvised… spitting in the middle of my chest,” he said, as the audience gasped.
Pearls: Smith himself gasped, adding, “If I had pearls, I definitely would have grabbed them,” adding that he wanted to yell at his director Fuqua, but stopped himself.
Peter couldn’t: “I stopped and realized that Peter couldn’t have called the headmaster,” Smith said, referring to his character, known as “Battered Peter,” whose famous flogged photo was published in 1863 and revealed the horrors of slavery.
“It was the first time I ever heard from a studio, ‘The story is more important than how much it costs to make it,'” Smith said to applause, before joking, “Then we added a few more things we wanted.”
He concluded his speech by adding: ‘More than anything, I want to thank my brother Antoine Fuqua. He didn’t commit to a single shot.
“His heart, his mind, his desire to deliver this story to all of you and to the world, I was blown away by everything he was willing to put me through to deliver this film. I appreciate everything about you. Peter has changed my life,” Smith concluded.
Director Antione Fuqua also spoke on stage, beginning with the importance of the award they received.
“The Beacon Award aims to highlight films that address challenging issues with insight, insight, and audience engagement,” he said.
“We were hopeful that Emancipation could bring to life Peter’s triumphant story, his unwavering faith and his deep love for his family,” added Fuqua.
Smith has a number of projects in development, though it’s unclear what his first film in production since the Oscar slap will be.
First time: “It was the first time I heard from a studio, ‘The story is more important than how much it costs to make it,'” Smith said to applause, before quipping, “Then we added a few more things that we wanted.”
Thanks to Antoine: He concluded his speech by adding: ‘More than anything, I want to thank my brother Antoine Fuqua. He didn’t commit to one shot’
Importance: Director Antione Fuqua also spoke on stage, beginning with the importance of the award they received.
Our hope: “It was our hope that Emancipation, that it could bring to life the triumphant story of Peter, his unwavering faith and his deep love for his family,” added Fuqua.