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Will Smith says ‘nobody in my family was happy’ after finding fame

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Published Aug. 4, 2023, 8:02 a.m. ET
Will Smith said "nobody in [his] family was happy" after his family was propelled to global stardom in 2010.
Will Smith said “nobody in [his] family was happy” after his family was propelled to global stardom in 2010.Randy Shropshire

Will Smith said “nobody in [his] family was happy” after his family was propelled to global stardom in 2010.

The Oscar winner, 54, became a household name after he landed the leading role in NBC’s “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” which he starred in from 1990 until 1996.

Decades later, his two children Jaden, 25, and Willow, 22, whom he shares with wife Jada Pinkett Smith, followed in his and Jada’s footsteps to make a name for themselves in the entertainment industry.

Appearing on the season three finale of Kevin Hart’s Peacock TV show “Hart to Heart,” the “Men In Black” actor said 2010 was “the greatest year as an artist, as a parent.”

“‘Karate Kid’ came out in June, ‘Whip My Hair’ came out in October,” Smith said of his children’s respective career accomplishments. “I’m building this dream of a family I’ve had in my mind. ‘I’m going to do it better than my father did it.’ We’ve talked about it, my father was abusive.”

Smith shares son Jaden and daughter Willow with wife Jada Pinkett Smith. He shares son Trey with ex-wife Sheree Zampino.
Smith shares son Jaden and daughter Willow with wife Jada Pinkett Smith. He shares son Trey with ex-wife Sheree Zampino. WireImage
As Jaden and Willow's respective careers began to take off, Smith said no one in his family "wanted to be in a platoon."
As Jaden and Willow’s respective careers began to take off, Smith said no one in his family “wanted to be in a platoon.” Anthony Behar/Sipa USA

“I told myself I would never have that kind of energy with my family and I had a dream, an idea of a family I was building. Pretty much 2010 to 2012 I had achieved everything I had ever dreamed,” Smith told the comedian.

Despite the substantial success his family had achieved that year, the actor admitted that “nobody in my family was happy.”

The "Men In Black" actor said 2010 was "the greatest year as an artist, as a parent."
The “Men In Black” actor said 2010 was “the greatest year as an artist, as a parent.” Getty Images
Smith said he realized in 2010 that "material circumstances do not equal happiness."
Smith said he realized in 2010 that “material circumstances do not equal happiness.” FilmMagic

“No one wanted to be in a platoon,” he shared. “Willow was the first one to begin the mutiny and it was my first realization that success and money don’t mean happiness.”

“Up until that point, I really believed that you could succeed your way — to a house and a family — and you could win your way to happiness,” he added.

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The “King Richard” actor said it was then that it clicked for him that “material circumstances do not equal happiness and, in a lot of cases, they can be the reason you’re not happy.”

“You can have so much stuff that it makes you miserable,” he said. “That was my first pull-back and I was like, ‘OK, what am I missing?’ I was driving the people around me in a way that I was leaving scorched earth around me.”

Smith also shares son Trey, 30, with ex-wife Sheree Zampino, to whom he was married from 1992 until 1995.