Where There's A Will...

Will Smith is by far the biggest star in Hollywood, the only person who can even come near him is Johnny Depp and its a bigger gap than one might think. Every movie that Smith stars in becomes a box office hit and achieves well over $100 million at the gates, but he has never won an Oscar. Everyone knows Will Smith can play the funny guy and smile on cue but can he act? the answer is yes and he's a damn good at it. He first was introduced to audiences as a gay con asrtist in the 1993 flick, Six Degrees of Seperation but he got no recognition he later moved on to do Bad Boys and the sitcom, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air where he gained a reputation as a great comedic/action star.

It wasn't till 2001 when he did the biopic Ali and played the icon, the legend, the one who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, that Smith was regarded as a serious actor (he even put on 20 pounds of muscle to get to Ali's weight, in his prime, of 220 lbs) but he still didn't win the Oscar, though he was at least nominated this time. (Denzel Washington won for his role in Training Day)

However he fell back into what produced the big money and did the movies: Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, I Robot, Shark Tale, and Hitch. While these movies were all in there own way entertaining (and did huge at the box office) they weren't all that serious roles except for maybe I Robot where Will Smith showed he had a darker side to him rather than the bubbly, always smiling actor we were used to.

In 2006 Smith took his acting to a whole new level in the biopic Pursuit of Happyness, where he played the true gutter-to-corner office story of Chris Gardener. Smith showed a wide range of emotions in his acting and the audience was taken through heartache and finally hope at the end. Again Smith was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Forest Whitaker this time. Smith followed up the Pursuit of Happyness with I am Legend the following year and although he was good his performance wasn't Oscar worthy and he was not nominated.

2008 is now coming to a close and Will Smith still doesn't have that Oscar on his mantlepiece but it may finally be his time to win and I'm not talking about his role in Hancock. In Smith's new movie Seven Pounds he once again collaborates with Gabriele Muccino (director of Pursuit of Happyness) and delivers a stunning performance, this movie showed Will Smith at his best as he had the audience on the edge of their seats the whole time and ultimately had them in tears at the end (I was teary I must admit). The movie has faced mixed reviews so far but Will Smith was solid and opened up his range of acting more than ever before but will he win the Oscar? Only time can tell but for now he's ruling the box office and he is the king of Hollywood, Oscar or not.

Peace and Much Love To Ya