Will Smith arrives with Martin Lawrence to Bad Boys 4 set

By Sameer Suri For Dailymail.com 02:53 29 Feb 2024, updated 07:51 29 Feb 2024

Will Smith was every inch the smoldering Hollywood heartthrob on the set of his upcoming film Bad Boys 4 in Florida on Wednesday.

He was shooting that day with legendary comedian Martin Lawrence, who has been his co-star throughout the Bad Boys franchise.

Principal photography is currently on the verge of completion - Will posted a video exactly one week earlier announcing that there were only eight days of filming left.

And this week, on the eve of the wrap, Will exuded his unmistakable movie star magnetism in a swank ensemble with a prop gun tucked into his trousers.

He opted for blue slacks and a matching shirt, folding his sleeves up over his toned forearms and leaving his top buttons beguilingly undone over his chest.

Accessorizing with a glimmering chain necklace, a watch and a pair of sunglasses, Will sported an immaculately trimmed goatee.

Martin on the other hand cut a casual figure in a bomber jacket with a t-shirt and striped sweats, adding a splash of glitz with a glittering cross.

The pair could be seen graciously signing autographs for fans before heading into work on their picture, which is slated for release June 7. 

Will is currently mounting a career comeback after retreating from the public eye when he was heaped with opprobrium for his Oscars slap.

He infamously marched onstage at the 2022 Oscars and struck Chris Rock across the face for making a bald joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Last year, during the publicity whirlwind for her new memoir, Jada announced that she and Will had in fact been privately separated since 2016. 

However she also spilled that she had renewed their commitment because of the Oscars slap, declaring that they were now 'working' on the marriage

'When I was sitting at the Oscars, it clicked in. As soon as I was like: "Oh snap, you hit Chris?"' Jada dished during an interview with Vanity Fair.

'I was like, I'm riding with you. I didn't come into this place as your wife, but I'm leaving here as your wife because we got a storm we're going to have to deal with together. I am not gonna leave your side.'

Her marriage to Will fell under blistering public scrutiny in 2020, when she interviewed him on her chat show Red Table Talk about an 'entanglement' she had four years earlier with a dramatically younger man.

The relationship became even more notorious over the Oscars slap, which went viral all over the world and cast a shadow over Will's career.

In the wake of the slap, a behind-the-scenes clip surfaced from Red Table Talk, shedding alarming light on Will and Jada's marriage. 

Jada ambushed Will by asking him about their marriage for Instagram Live in order to promote a Red Table Talk episode with psychotherapist Esther Perel.

A visibly distraught Will repeatedly begged his wife not to 'start filming me without asking me,' but Jada brushed off his concerns as 'foolishness.'

The clip caused a storm on Reddit, with commenters calling Jada an 'abuser' and observing how 'broken' and 'tormented' Will looked.

During the 2022 Oscars, Will marched onstage and slapped Chris Rock for making a bald joke about Jada, who shaved her head because she has alopecia.

'Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can't wait to see it,' Chris cracked, in reference to the 1997 movie starring Demi Moore with a shaved head.

Will was seen initially laughing at the joke, but Jada rolled her eyes and then he took to the stage to give Chris a smack across the face.

Then Will flounced back to his seat and repeatedly shrieked at Chris: 'Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth!'

Less than an hour after his outburst, Will was awarded the best actor Oscar and received a standing ovation for his tearful speech in which he called himself a protector of his family and expressed a desire to be a 'vessel of love.'

Although he apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees during his speech, he did not issue a public apology to Chris until the following day.

After the awards, he went to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and danced to his own song Gettin' Jiggy Wit It while other partygoers cheered him on. 

As the backlash mounted - but before the Academy could decide what punishment it should impose for the incident - Will resigned from the organization.

Although his departure meant he could no longer vote for the Oscars, he at that point was still able to attend the show.

However the Academy then imposed a 10-year ban on his attending the ceremony, though he can still be nominated for and win Oscars.

Jada finally addressed the slap that June on an alopecia-themed episode of her show Red Table Talk, urging Will and Chris to patch up their differences. 

'Now, about Oscar night,' she cooed: 'my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile.'