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gosia

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  1. Media Credit: Google.com

    Will Smith's new movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness," premiered in Detroit last week. It will open nationwide December 15.

    The premiere of "The Pursuit of Happyness," starring Will Smith was in Detroit last week.

    The story is based on real life Chris Gardner, a highly intelligent, very congenial, but marginally employed and down-on-his-luck guy trying to raise a son alone and struggling to survive. It is a story of joy, pain, helplessness, strength, hopelessness and never giving up.

    "Happyness" executive producer Mark Clayman saw the story about Chris Gardner on "20/20."

    "My wife and I caught this segment about Gardner's homelessness," he recalled.

    "There was a scene where he re-visited a bathroom at a Bay-Area Regional Transportation (BART) station with his son and how he used to bathe him in the sink."

    "I saw this story as the embodiment of the American dream," said Will Smith. "The concept this country is based on is the hope that any person can create their life from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high."

    Smith said that this role entranced him because of his own life as a father and husband.

    While here in Detroit, Smith took some time to talk with the Michigan Journal.

    Michigan Journal: Why choose Detroit as the city to premiere "Happyness?"

    Will Smith: Detroit represents the scope of Gardners' story. This city has a great heart, a lot of life and potential, but is held back for reasons that sometimes aren't its fault. A lot of times, it's due to the bad rep that it has nationally. I felt that we needed to do this premiere - it has to be Deeeee-troit.

    MJ: One of the issues that "Happyness" confronts is the state of homeless people. We all have our thoughts of the homeless, but in reality Chris was homeless. Yet he didn't look like the average homeless person. Will your role humanize the plight of the homeless?

    WS: That's a great question. I really hope so. Chris wore a suit everywhere he went, even we he was living on the street. Yet, he had no home! Can you imagine that?! This really raised my awareness of a homeless person. Also, black homelessness. It's a real problem in San Francisco, like anywhere else in the world.

    MJ: In this role you're dealing with heavy emotional and social issues. Why the stretch?

    WS: It touched me as a man with hopes, dreams and fears. I always wondered what would have happened if God didn't bless me with the life that I have now. Could I be man enough to deal with a different life? Taking on his role is helping me answer that question. I went to South Africa some years ago and met Nelson Mandela. He said that I need to focus on the beauty of the human struggle. That struck me deeply.

    MJ: What does fatherhood mean to you?

    WS: More than anything. My love for my babies deepens every morning I see them. Although they're the most important people in the world, I'm a public figure. So that means I have to exemplify African-American fatherhood. Every day. Gardner exemplified black fatherhood, even when he had nothing. Gardner's story reaches out to all fathers of all races, backgrounds and walks of life.

    MJ: Speaking of family, "Happyness" debuts your son, Jaden. Did he always want to act or was this something that you and Jada wanted for him?

    WS: You know, Jaden is a funny 'lil man. He wanted this more than me and my wife. He loves amateur acting around the house and everything. When this opportunity came up, actually, Jada and me were against it because we don't like looking like we use who we are to advance our family. But he convinced us. Actually, we just wanted to shut him up. So we took him to audition. It was grueling. So grueling, in fact, Jada got into it with the casting director. We were about to take him out of the running, but we decided he needs to learn about this himself. Let it be his decision. Not only did he make it through, but he got the role.

    MJ: How involved was Gardner in the making of the movie?

    WS: He was very involved. We wanted him to be; this is his life. He was such a mentor to me; I still keep in touch with him.

    for those of you who have no access to this page;

    MJ: You're one of the most successful actors in the world. What motivates you?

    WS: You mean besides the $25 million per movie, the fly cribs, the fly rides and all of the girls? Naw, naw, in reality, those things are empty, meaningless. I was in Manhattan two weeks ago, and I saw a lady on the phone arguing with someone. She obviously was having a bad day. But when I walked past her a smile just overcame her. I guess she saw something I did. That's what keeps me going. Also, Nelson Mandela. I really want to live up to his expectation of me.

    MJ: Are you still a fan of hip-hop?

    WS: I love hip-hop and always will. I am hip-hop. Our hip-hop culture is the world's greatest culture because it's the world's only culture, other than sports, that unites every race for one common thing: rockin' the mic and rockin' the crowd. I released a record last year on my Overbrook label and my 'lil 16 year old nephew, K-Smith, will be dropping a CD soon. Me and 50 Cent are working on it. He thinks he can out-rhyme me, but I show him my 19 platinum plaques. Yeah...that calms him down. :interesting:

    MJ: What's next?

    WS: I have a movie coming up, called "I am Legend." I'm in a post-nuclear L.A., fighting vampire-like creatures.

    MJ: "Bad Boys III"?

    WS: Ha-ha, well, the critics didn't really feel, "Bad Boys II," but I don't make movies for them. I make 'em for you. Me and Martin are trying to work it out now.

    MJ: On behalf of the University of Michigan, thank you for sitting down with us.

  2. Accordine to fox news and many other sources ... Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Will Smith's preppy cousin Carlton on TV's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," is splitting from his wife of four years.

    Ribeiro, 34, filed for divorce from Robin Ribeiro on Wednesday, citing irreconcilable differences, according to Superior Court documents.

    He is seeking joint custody of the couple's 3-year-old daughter Sienna, with physical custody going to the child's mother. He intends to maintain visitation rights.

    The actor also appeared on the TV series "Silver Spoons."

  3. it's a perfect 10!! it took me some time to download it thanks to my slow ass pc but it was worth it, i LOVE this video, the last outfit makes will look soooo HOT, i bet all girls out here know what i'm talking about! i don't know why you complain about the line dancing or the rock part, i think it's awasome and very funny plus it's clear that will is just having fun so don't take it so seariously. :mrt2:

  4. check this out guys, i found this cool interview yesterday :pony:

    The Butler did it!, 21.2.05

    Forget Benson or hip hop ’s first manservant,Farnsworth Bentley.The coolest black butler ever has got to be The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ’s Geoffrey Butler.

    The fictional Banks family’s British hired help was an instant hit with viewers from the moment the show made its debut in 1990. This was probably due to the character’s brilliantly written desert-dry put-downs, which never failed to put his often pompous employers in their place.

    Veteran actor Joseph Marcell, 56, (pictured), who was born in St Lucia and raised in Britain, played the part of Geoffrey for the show’s entire six-year run.

    Even though Marcell has appeared on popular UK TV shows such as Empire Road, The Bill, EastEnders and Brothers and Sisters, he is still mostly recognised for the role that took him half way across the world and made him as famous as ‘a rock star’, as he puts it.

    People stop him in the street, kids go crazy when he enters a room and he received a standing ovation at a British comedy awards ceremony that nearly brought the event to a standstill.

    This is not surprising. When Marcell first appeared on our screens as Geoffrey 15 years ago, it was a major deal. A black actor from the UK going to America to film a television show was unheard of back then.

    The fact that the vehicle was credible, well-written and hilarious earned him the respect he still enjoys today. It’s been 10 years since The Fresh Prince ended but it is still one of the top syndicated shows in the US, airing in numerous countries around the world.

    Repeats continue to be shown on BBC Two and Sky’s Trouble TV. Marcell, who is now a regular on the popular US soap The Bold and the Beautiful, is back in the UK spending time with his wife and 16-year-old daughter, as well as chasing up theatre and film projects. We took the opportunity to meet up with him and discuss some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of The Fresh Prince.

    How did you get the role of the Geoffrey?

    In 1990, I was doing a play at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn called Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. The producers of [The Fresh Prince] sent me some script pages to audition to and put on tape. I did it and sent it back to them. They called back and said, "Do it again and do it this way," and I did. And then they said they wanted me in America.

    How were they aware of me? Some of the people involved in the show had seen me before in America with the Royal Shakespeare Company. That’s how the whole thing fell into place.

    What did you think of the script when you first read it?

    I thought it was hilarious. However, I must admit, I wasn’t aware of Will [smith] at all. I had seen one of his music videos, but it hadn’t registered,I really didn’t know who he was.

    How was the chemistry between the cast initially?

    I think it was cast perfectly as the chemistry was exactly there as soon as sat down to read. I think it was because we were all new, and that really was all of us, including Will, because this was his first acting job.

    We really liked each other and we found a way of understanding each other. We’d go to Hawaii, all seven of Will would pay. We would do trips like that regularly so we all bonded.

    Did you have any idea of how successful the show was going to be?

    Not at all.I just kind of thought: "Well, I can make a few bob for a couple of months and I won’t be quite as skint."

    But what you have to remember is, America is not like Britain. Things aren’t done for the fun of it. It’s a commercial investment.

    The people at NBC, Stuffed Dog [NBC’s production company] and Quincy Jones would not have invested something simply because it was a good idea. Somebody must have decided that the commercial possibili-ties of it were magnificent.

    I think, at the time, America was looking for that kind of black boy-next- door and that is how Will appears to America.

    What is your favourite episode of all time?

    My favourite Geoffrey episode of all time is called The Def Poet Society. That is when Geoffrey becomes a fic-tional poet and starts spouting lines such as: "Cannons to the left of them, Cannons to the right of them". I’ve never been given a part in a verse play after that [laughs].

    Another one is the earthquake episode, when Will is trapped down in the basement with his girlfriend [Tisha Campbell] and her knickers fall off accidentally. Now that was funny.

    Who were you closest to in the cast and do you still see any them?

    We all got on very well, but you have to remember that we were all dif-ferent ages, so the person that I am very close friends with is James Avery [Philip Banks]. We are very close friends and we still see each other all the time.

    I have kind of a good friendship with Karyn Parsons [Hilary Banks] and Janet Hubert-Whitten, who played the first Vivian Banks. We are very close friends as well.

    I haven’t seen Will for about a year – I saw him last Easter – but I see everybody else. We do get together. The last time we got together as a group was Alfonso Ribeiro’s [Carlton] wedding. That was in 2002.

    We were all supposed to go to the US premiere of Will’s new movie, Hitch, last night but I couldn’t go because I’m here in London.

    There were rumours of ego prob- lems behind the scenes.How did this affect the running of the show?

    America is very star-driven and the star can fire the director or the writers. So naturally, after the third year, Will wanted to control the show. He was no longer a kid and his people wanted control.

    For a lot of us, this was simply how the game was played and we accepted it. As long as I got my cheque and publicity, and all the things I agreed to, the politics of the show was not my business.

    But other people wanted to be involved in the politics of the show and got burnt for it. Janet didn’t feel it should be going in the direction it was going, but it wasn’t her show and unfortunately she over-estimated her own importance.

    How did Daphne Maxwell Reid, who replaced Janet as Vivian,fit in with the cast?

    She was a nice, pleasant lady and we all got on well with her, but she wasn’t Janet.

    Did the show open doors for you?

    In America it opened a lot of doors but over here it closed a lot of doors. For people who had employed me before I’d either become too grand, too expensive or they didn’t know how to cope with me.

    In America I did get typecast a few times, like when I did [Queen Latifah’s] sitcom Living Single and they wanted me to play a butler. I still did it though [laughs]. In America they can buy your pride.

    The show I’m currently doing, The Bold and the Beautiful, they originally wanted me to play a butler but luckily they realised that that would be a bit silly and changed it to a confidant – a bit of a spy and not a very nice person.

    It’s going fine but I’m taking a break at the moment because I had to come home.

    Do you think the show set the agenda for future US sitcoms?

    Oh yes, absolutely. But I don’t think either Living Single or [LL Cool J’s sit-com] In the House, which have been cited as followers and which I’ve done both of, have the same kudos, writing and charisma that The Fresh Prince had.

    But they have definitely taken from the foundations we laid down. I think that’s the same for a lot of the white shows as well.

    Fresh Prince is not the most original story but it’s a timeless story and the cast was set up in the way that America had never seen: a wealthy black family.

    The Cosby Show was a middle-class family, but this was a family with a mansion. Cosby’s daughters were serious people; the family didn’t have a daughter who simply wanted to spend money. This was the next stage up.

    What do people say to you when they recognise you in the street?

    People come up to me, shake my hand and say: "Oh my God, you’re so good. You make me laugh, you’ve res-urrected my life." I have to say that 99 per cent of the time it really is amazing to me.

    A few years ago I was given a black comedy award over at the Hackney Empire and I walked into the theatre and the place just erupted like I was a rock star or something.

    I’m like a secret that most black people know about and a only a few white people know about, and there’s nothing like being acknowledged and congratulated by your own; it’s marvellous and it happens to me in the UK, the USA and Canada.

    You ’ve worked on shows in Britain and America.How do the two compare?

    The actors don’t have as much power over here as they do in the States. With Brothers and Sisters you had all these scripts that weren’t written with the actors.

    It’s OK to do the first few like that, but once the roles have been occupied by actors, the writers have to come and see them.

    That’s the difference between us and America. Also, there are a lot of things that would not be allowed on US TV as far as black people are concerned – The Crouches, for instance. Black people in America would not allow them-selves to be portrayed like that.

    I haven’t actually seen it, but I’ve read about it and I think it’s outrageously offensive

  5. guess what i found on the net: court papers about ready rock's lawsuit, i coudn't believe this but it looks real to me, check this out; here is the link; i hope you can open this thing if not i can post the hole thing later on

    :smart:

    vls.law.vill.edu/Locator/3d/April2004/031171np.pdf

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