THE FRESH PRINCE TURNS 50 Will Smith’s epic journey to the top

Actor, rapper and Hollywood hero, Will Smith reaches the milestone on Sept. 25. Here are 50 reasons we love him

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HE’S SO LOVED-UP with wife of 20 years Jada Pinkett Smith. “There’s nothing she could do – ever,” Smith told Rap Radar podcast this year. “Nothing that would break our relationship.” 2 HOW WILL SMITH celebrate his 50th birthday? He’s going to bungee-jump over the Grand Canyon. The event will be livestreamed 3 on his Youtube channel. OVER THE YEARS, Smith has been the go-to guy for Hollywood blockbusters, like the wildly entertaining – and over the top 4 – 1996 action flick, Independence Day. WE LOVE THE line in the film when Smith’s character, Captain Steven Hiller, punches an evil alien and says, “5 Welcome to Earth.” NOT EVERYTHING HAS worked for Smith. Speaking to Esquire in 2015 about his 2013 flop, After Earth, Smith said: “What I learned from that failure is how you win. I got reinvigorated after the failure of 6 After Earth.” BIG WILLIE CARES. In the same interview, Smith said, “I want to help people. The maximum joy that I have is when I can create something that makes someone else’s 7 life lighter, brighter or better.” A YOUNGER SMITH finally had a chance to show off his dramatic chops when he starred as a streetwise con-artist in the 1993 film 8 Six Degrees of Separation. SMITH ADMITTED HE fell for his co-star Stockard Channing on the set of this movie. In a 2010 interview with Esquire, Smith said, “I actually fell in love with Stockard Channing.” Ooh, he had the hots for Rizzo 9 from Grease. SMITH WAS DESTINED for stardom. At 16, he met Jeff Townes and they 10 formed the rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

THE DUO HAD huge success from the get-go with singles “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble”, in 1986, and “Parents Just

Don’t Understand” two years later. 11RIGHT

PLACE, RIGHT time. After a rap album flopped and Smith had blown all his money, he found himself at the home of music producer Quincy Jones in 1989. Jones forced Smith to audition for a TV role 12 on the spot. THE ROLE? IT was the lead in sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-air, which Smith, 13WHAT of course, nailed.

SMITH LACKED in acting experience he made up for with natural charisma and charm. And his confrontations with the stuffy Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) had us 14 in stitches.

SURE, THE FRESH Prince Of Bel-air was a funny show, but Smith did get to show off his more serious side. One of the series’ most heartbreaking moments came when Will unloaded to Uncle Phil (James Avery) about his crummy father. “I had 14 great birthdays without him and he never 15 even sent me a damn card,” Will said.

DOES ANYONE ACTUALLY know what “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” means? The catchy chorus of Smith’s 1998 single, which

made it to No.6 on the Australian charts, has become 16 part of popular culture. LET’S FACE IT, Smith’s 1999 single, “Wild Wild West” is about as wild as a knitting circle. But the film clip, which features Smith, co-star Salma Hayek and even an appearance from Stevie Wonder, 17WE’RE is a lot of fun.

JUST GOING to come out and say it: DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince’s 1993 single “Boom! Shake the Room” is the best single Smith has ever released. If the song doesn’t make you get up and dance, you 18 have lead in your shoes. THERE ARE PLENTY of buddy cop action flicks out there. What makes 1995’s Bad Boys special is the easy chemistry between Smith and co-star Martin Lawrence. Check the scene where their characters start off dissing each other and wind up singing along ( 19 badly) to “Bad Boys”. 20 BOYS WILL BE boys … again. They’ll be back in 2020’s Bad Boys For Life. SMITH IS STYLISH in the film clip for his 1997 single “Men in Black” – even when he’s dancing next to 21 a CGI alien. CAN YOU BELIEVE

Smith turned down the role of Neo in the 1999 flick,

The Matrix? The role went to Keanu Reeves.

22 THE ’90S WERE peak Smith. And 1997’s Men in Black had a lot to do with that. Smith and co-star Tommy Lee Jones defined cool in black suits and sunglasses. 23 SMITH IS SUCH a scene-stealer. Watch the moment in Men in Black where his stunned character Agent Jay learns a neuralizer has wiped a woman’s memories. 24 PROVING HE’S HUMAN and has off days, Smith fired up at a reporter who tried to kiss him at the Moscow premiere of Men 25 in Black 3, back in 2012. SMITH CAN SEE the funny side of it all now. He told podcast Rap Radar this year that he received 10 urgent messages from rapper Jay-z after the incident. Referring to the slap, Jay-z told Smith, “I just want you to know you’ll never make a 26THINK better piece of entertainment.” SMITH’S RAPPING days are over? Think again. This year he recorded a remix of son Jaden’s song “Icon”, 27HE complete with lines in Spanish. HAS TWO Oscar nominations for Best Actor – for 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness and 2001’s Ali. But no wins so far. 28ONE What’s Willie got to do? OF HIS toughest roles was playing boxer Muhammad Ali in Ali. He told Oprah Winfrey in 2016 he was “scared” to play his idol. 29 WHEN ALI DIED in 2016, Smith posted this touching tribute to the 30 champ on Facebook: “You shook up the World! You changed my Life. Rest in Peace.” SMITH IS FANTASTIC in The Pursuit of Happyness as real-life father Chris Gardner, who accepts an unpaid job as an intern at a stockbroking firm. Will’s own son, Jaden, plays 31 Chris’ son. IN ONE OF the film’s best scenes Smith’s character tells his son, “Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. You 32HE’S want something, go get it.”

A THOUGHTFUL dude, is Smith. “The very thing that sparks one person can break another,” he told Tucson.com. “For Chris Gardner, defeat only made him work harder and believe in himself more. And that’s a positive thing.”

33 HE CAN DO charming. But does Smith ever play against type? In 2008 film, Hancock, he’s a booze-swilling immortal superhero named John Hancock. Wasting away 34WHICH in LA, he has to learn to be a nice guy.

OF HIS sci-fi blockbusters is his favourite? “I’m obsessed with trying to put small character dramas into the middle of blockbuster packages,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “The most successful I’ve 35HE’S been with that concept is I Am Legend.”

NOT CALLED Big Willie for nothing. Smith stands at 188cm. His wife 36SMITH Pinkett Smith is more than 30cm shorter.

IS HONEST about his 1999 flick, Wild Wild West. He told a Cannes Lions audience in 2016, “I wanted to win and be the biggest movie star, and what happened was there was a lag – around Wild Wild West time. I found myself promoting something because I wanted to win versus promoting 37THE something because I believed in it.” BARRY SONNENFELDdirected film also starred Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh. Despite critics – and Smith – panning the movie it still made $US222 million worldwide. Not bad for a so-called dud 38SMITH of a flick. ALSO HAS an Australian connection. He has starred alongside our own Margot Robbie in two movies, 2015’s Focus and 2016’s Suicide Squad. Both movies had mixed 39ROBBIE reviews, but were box-office hits. AND SMITH are clearly pals after working on two films together. Asked what she thought of 40 Smith, Robbie told E! News in 2015: “He’s got this really lovely breath spray.” SAY WHAT YOU like about Suicide Squad, it does have some thrilling moments. Smith’s introduction as Deadshot, where he shows off his proficiency with weapons, is dead-set 41GIVEN enjoyable.

HE’S MADE so many sci-fi flicks, it’s no surprise Smith loved Star Wars growing up. Speaking to reporters last year at a panel for the Netflix movie, Bright, Smith said: “There was nothing that I had experienced in my life that matched that point of ecstasy [of seeing Star Wars]. I had sex a few years later. It was close, but 42 no Star Wars.” THE GUY KNOWS

how to swing. Smith hung out with champion Irish golfer Rory Mcilroy in Dubai, in 2014. “Great guy and a good golf swing,” 43OF Mcilroy tweeted about Smith.

COURSE, SMITH starred in the underrated 2000 movie The Legend of Bagger Vance, as caddie Bagger Vance. His co-stars were Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. 44WAIT, SMITH HAS another son? You probably know of Jaden and Willow, Smith’s children with Pinkett Smith. But did you know he has a son, Willard Carroll “Trey” Smith III, from his first marriage to Sheree 45SMITH’S Zampino, now Sheree Fletcher? CHILDREN, JADEN and Willow are talented. Jaden has starred in several movies, including opposite Jackie Chan in 2010’s Karate Kid, while Willow caused a follicle-flicking sensation with 46TWENTY- her 2010 tune “Whip My Hair”. TWO YEARS after The Fresh Prince Of Bel-air ended, Smith and Ribeiro posted an Instagram pic of the two together saying: “One of my favourite people on this Whole Damn Rock”. 47 THE FRESH PRINCE is the king of Instagram. He only joined the social media platform this year and he already has 21 million followers who can’t get enough of his 48IN funny memes and shots with his family. WEST PHILADELPHIA, born and raised … And he’s proud of his Philadelphia roots. When the Philadelphia Eagles made it to the Super Bowl this year, he posted pics on Instagram of himself in his 49FAME? team’s colours. SEX? WHAT’S life all about? 50 “Nothing makes you happy other than being useful to others,” he told Rap Radar . SMITH LOVES AUSTRALIA! The actor was out here for the Australian Open earlier this year, hanging out with fellow Hollywood star Will Ferrell. By Stephen Downie ■