What did Denzel Washington say to Will Smith post his first SAG win?
by Ana Walia | Mon, 28 Feb 2022 14:25:25 GMT
Will Smith and Denzel Washington at the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2022. Image Source: People

The 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards was held on 27th February 2022 at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. At the ceremony, actor Will Smith took home his first SAG award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for his exceptional and impressive work in ‘King Richard’.

Will Smith not only took the award home but also went ahead and appreciated his relationship with his mentor Denzel Washington. Will Smith spoke to People Magazine’s host Kay Adams after winning the award and said, "We've spent a lot of time together. So we've been talking, he's always been a mentor for me and he grabbed me and he said, 'This is your year’. He just hugged me and he said, 'I'm so happy for you. Just love who you're becoming. He knew me years ago, I would go to Denzel for advice so he's seen me through the years and he was just telling me how proud he is of who I've become and what I've become. He was saying that he felt like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders somehow." Denzel Washington was also nominated for the award under the same category as Will Smith for his performance in ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’.

Will Smith opened up about the relationship he shares with Denzel during his interview with GQ where he mentioned that he would always turn towards him for advice. Will added at the time, "Throughout the years, I would always call Denzel. He's a real sage. I was probably 48 or something like that and I called Denzel. He said, 'Listen. You've got to think of it as the funky 40. Everybody's 40s are funky.' He said, 'But just wait till you hit the f----it 50s’. He said, 'Just bear with your 40s.' I stopped and I was like, 'The funky 40s and the f----it 50s.' And that's exactly what happened. It just became the f----it 50s, and I gave myself the freedom to do whatever I wanted to do."

Actor Will Smith was highly appreciated for his portrayal of Richard Williams, father and coach of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams. The actor after winning the award also spoke about his career graph going upwards and expressed that it was ‘ a beautiful time in my life. Will shared that his work as Richard Williams and his work as other characters, he was doing all of that while writing his memoir and during the same time he was mining his childhood. He explained that while playing Richard he tried to understand his father and think about being a father to his kids. "It's been a time of deep personal reflection, and it is resulting in an artistic comprehension and a growth as a man, growth as an artist, that I've never had this kind of growth spurt in my life", Will added. 

While accepting the award for Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture, Will Smith said, "That may have been one of the greatest moments of my career just now because my name was called for King Richard sitting next to Venus Williams and her sister." Will went ahead to thank his castmates for helping and supporting him to showcase an inspiring story of a family on-screen and called Richard Williams ‘a dreamer like no one you’ve ever known. He added, "You guys are actors, so you know how sometimes your onscreen characters kind of bleed into real life. To walk you around this room tonight, to parent you on this film, to deliver you into this business has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life."

Will Smith shared with E! News when he was nominated for the award that he's extremely grateful and honored that Williams family trusted him and believed in him to portray their father on-screen along with the actors that worked on the project with him. Will added that walking in Richard Williams' shoes and having the opportunity to show the world that how misunderstood a father and a coach was meant a lot to him. He added that to illuminate the true plight of the Williams' family as the two incredible women work hard and make their way to the success and become iconic names in the sports history was much more. He lastly added, "I'm beyond grateful for this experience, for this ensemble cast being recognized, and am mostly proud to play a small part in shining further light and love on the Williams family!"

Once again, Denzel Washington and Will Smith will be up against one another as both of them are vying for the award for Best Actor at the Academy Award 2022.

Congratulations Will Smith

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