Will Smith | Originals for Peacock+

Will Smith

529 FOLLOWERS • 96 CREDITS • SEP 25, 1968 • 56

Biography

Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor and rapper. Known for variety of roles, Smith has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and four Grammy Awards. Smith began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996). He first gained recognition as part of a hip hop duo with DJ Jazzy Jeff, with whom he released five studio albums and the US Billboard Hot 100 top 20 singles "Parents Just Don't Understand", "A Nightmare on My Street", "Summertime", "Ring My Bell", and "Boom! Shake the Room" from 1984 to 1994. He released the solo albums Big Willie Style (1997), Willennium (1999), Born to Reign (2002), and Lost and Found (2005), which contained the US number-one singles "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" and "Wild Wild West". He has received four Grammy Awards for his rap performances. Smith achieved wider fame as a leading man in films such as the action film Bad Boys (1995), its sequels Bad Boys II (2003) and Bad Boys for Life (2020), and the sci-fi comedies Men in Black (1997), Men in Black II (2002), and Men in Black 3 (2012). After starring in the thrillers Independence Day (1996) and Enemy of the State (1998), he received Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his portrayal as Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001), and as Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). He then starred in a range of commercially successful films, including I, Robot (2004), Shark Tale (2004), Hitch (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Hancock (2008), Seven Pounds (2008), Suicide Squad (2016) and Aladdin (2019). For his portrayal of Richard Williams in the biographical sports drama King Richard (2021), Smith won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.

Overview

Known For

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Tony Awards

The Daily Show

The Graham Norton Show

MTV Movie & TV Awards

The Shop

LIVE with Kelly and Mark

Kids' Choice Awards

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman

The Oprah Conversation

James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

American Chopper

Carpool Karaoke: The Series

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

The Oscars

You're Watching Video Music Box

A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop

Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Special

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Men in Black 3

Bad Boys for Life

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

I, Robot

Bright

Seven Pounds

Amend: The Fight for America

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Will Smith: The Prince of Hollywood

The Pursuit of Happyness

Production Credits