Will Smith wrote his memoir and pieces are coming out that I’m finding most interesting.
In 1993 Will took a huge chance by being a part of a movie called “Six Degrees of Separation”. The art-house film was based on the real life story of a con man who convinced many of Manhattans elite that he was the son of Sidney Poitier.
In the film, Will Smith plays the young con man who shows up at the door of a wealthy couple claiming to be the friend of their Ivy League children and son of Sidney Poitier. It took some time for the families he conned to realize they were being conned and the let him stay with them. Especially one family socialite Ouisa Kittredge (Stockard Channing) and her art dealer husband Flan (Donald Sutherland).
Ok, we all caught up?
On making the film Will said his wife Sharee and he had a new son… “And to make matters worse, during shooting I fell in love with Stockard Channing. After the film wrapped, Sheree and Trey and I moved back to L.A,” the actor and singer continues. “Our marriage was off to a rocky start. I found myself desperately yearning to see and speak to Stockard.”
I’m compelled to read this because the film was one of my favorites and I would love to know the nuances of the behind the scenes.
“With Six Degrees of Separation, I got a taste early of the dangers of going too far for a character,” he told the magazine. “My character was in love with Stockard Channing’s character. And I actually fell in love with Stockard Channing.”
He continued: “It is a really dangerous place when you get good at it. But once I had that experience, I was like, No more Method acting. I was spending—for Six Degrees, I wanted to perform well so badly that I was spending six and seven and eight days in character before shooting, and you have to be careful with that.”