Interviewee: Will Smith
Interviewer: NBCToday

Will Smith’s success as an actor, rapper, and film producer is evident in the numerous awards and nominations he has received over the years.

Will Smith, or Willard Christopher Smith Jr, was born in West Philadelphia on September 25, 1968. As a kid, Will Smith’s charming and sly demeanor earned him the nickname “Prince.” Eventually, in the late 1980s, Will Smith found fame as a rapper known as the Fresh Prince. Not more than a few years later, Will Smith’s status as a celebrity began to magnify itself as he started to appear in the popular 1990s television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

After starring in the show for almost six years, Will Smith began to embark on several roles in a number of blockbuster films. Since then, he has amassed a great fortune by starring in eight consecutive films that reached a gross of more than $100 million in the domestic box office. He has starred in more than a few financially successful films such as Independence Day, Bad Boys I and II, Men in Black I and II, I am Legend, The Pursuit of Happyness, and Hancock among others.

In 2007, Will Smith was featured in an article published in the Newsweek magazine. In that specific article, Will Smith was dubbed as the most powerful actor on the planet. Aside from this recognition, Will Smith also received four Golden Globe Award nominations, as well as two Academy Awards and several Grammy Awards in the past years.

Apart from Newsweek, Will Smith was consistently featured as one of the 40 Richest Americans under the age of 40 in Fortune magazine.

At present, Will Smith maintains his residence in Star Island in Miami Beach, Florida as well as in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Stockholm, Sweden. He lives with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and their children.