Will by Will Smith
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
Will Smith’s transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era, and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, is an epic tale — but it’s only half the story.
Will Smith thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: Not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn’t see it that way: They felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn’t signed up for. It turned out Will Smith’s education wasn’t nearly over.
This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy best seller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one person mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world’s biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself.
I have always been a big Will Smith fan….from his early days of rapping alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff to his blockbusting movie roles in Men In Black, Bad Boys, I Am Legend and King Richard (just to name a few).
BUT….when I witnessed the “slap heard round the world” live during the Oscars in 2022, my adoration took a quick slide for a second, I can not even lie.
There is A LOT to unpack and unravel here and PLENTY of commentary I could make about all of it….but this is a book review blog so I am not even going to GO there….and really I have zero business making some big statement.
Period.
What I will say is I think humans are a tricky species ….we are imperfect, mess up all the time, and are always having to regroup, reevaluate and grow from our life experiences and choices.
And also… love for family can be a STRONG force and can pull us to do all KINDS of things.
In this memoir, Will actually talks a LOT about these very things in his life.
(Not about the eventful Oscars of ’22 though…this book was written before that)
Will was vulnerable and honest in these pages even about things that do not make him look his best.
In his early years, he describes being a nervous and “unusual” child, opening up about his big imagination. He also describes his conflicting relationship with his father who he both feared and adored.
He tells the reader all about his journey of falling in love with hip hop thanks to his cousin, and the grueling road he took to stardom, both in music and then in Hollywood.
He really does have quite an interesting journey as a professional entertainer….quite fascinating to read about!
He speaks very openly about his and Jada’s relationship, the good AND the bad, the wonderful and the difficult.
He also shares quite a bit about other close relationships in his life–his kids, his mom, his grandmother as well as the friends he holds close.
In this audiobook, I loved that Will included some music—there is piano playing, sound effects, audio clips of performances and yes, he DOES rap AND sing too!
That’s always a really fun thing for readers to have on audio versions, so I was TOTES all about it! It just adds this special kind of entertaining element to the book experience.
I did feel like Will got a little big headed when he started talking about his big box office success (he calls himself “the biggest movie star in the world” quite a few times)….BUT I mean, the numbers don’t lie so it was legit. So he IS just telling the facts!
I mean…I don’t know how a person can truthfully talk about how huge their stardom was/is without sounding a little bit big headed….and also….if I was a giant movie star to the levels of Will Smith, I think I would be a complete DIVA about it🤣
Anyway…I thought this book was really insightful, truthful, emotional and of course humorous (because HELLO it IS Will Smith!)
And I will tell yall I am still a fan of his.
Something Will had me realizing while I read his words is that one decision (or even two or three or four decisions) in someone’s life does not define them as a person. Life just ain’t that simple or easy. We all live in the grey places, not the black and white easily defined areas.