Will Smith Interview
Ali Interview Japan

I:Interviewer
W:Will Smith

I:Looking for WOWOW, which is pay television in Japan, and 70% of our program is about movies.

W:OK.

I:So it means a lot of movie fans are watching our station. We also have sports programs including a boxing program called Excite Match. It covers 17 levels of world boxing. We are broadcasting over 90 Excite Match programs a year. This interview will cover two programs, one is for our movie fans and the other is for our boxing fans. So first I will ask you questions for our boxing fans. I am a producer of a program for movie fans. So honestly, I am not familiar with boxing. And it Ôs not easy to understand that appeal of boxing, sometimes. So for you, what is the most appealing kind about boxing?

W:For me, the year and a half that I spent training gave me a entirely new respect for boxing. I don't think the average person who watches a boxing match realizes the level of science that is involved with boxing. For example, I am right-handed. So I'm right-handed and if I am fighting the person that is left handed. So that means that my left hand is forward and my right hand is back, but their right hand is forward and left hand is back. And what I want to do is keep my left foot outside of their right foot and that keeps me in the power position to hit with a straight right hand. And I don't think people realize that there is that much science that goes into studying your opponent. And in learning all of those things, I developed an entirely new respect for the science that is involved and the level of intellect it takes to be a successful fighter.

I:You said you didn't think you are smart enough to understand how to play Ali in a magazine. Why did you decide to take this role?

W:I met with the director Michael Mann. And it was the first time that it became clear to me how I would approach becoming Mohammed Ali. Um, he laid out... almost mathematically, he laid out to plan for becoming Mohammed Ali. He said that the way that human mind works is you have to start with physical. You have to start with senses in order to teach a human being, touch, sigh, smell, sound, taste. You have to start with the senses. So he said the first thing to do is to adopt the physical life of Mohammed Ali, We are gonna run the way that he ran. And we are gonna eat the way that he ate. We are going to spar the way that he sparred. We are gonna listen to the music that he listened to. We are gonna essentially adopt the physical life of Mohammed Ali. And then after we get good solid, physical base, then we'll move to the mental life of Mohammed Ali because through understanding the physical - what his body went through on a daily basis - it makes you more ready to understand what he had to deal with mentally. And then from the mental level, we will move into the emotional and then into the spiritual. And when laid it out that way, it became more clear to me what the approach would be.

I:We will be broadcasting the Tyson-Lewis match in June. Our viewers want to know your hunch, who is gonna win and why you think so.

W:I think Lennox Lewis has a really solid jab. He has a very heavy right hand. Lennox Lewis is not the type of fighter that puts himself in danger. You know, he doesn't take big gambles. He fights really safe fights. He doesn't mind winning on points. He doesn't need to knock the guy out. I think that classically Mike Tyson is dangerous for three rounds. I think that if Mike Tyson can get to Lennox Lewis within the first three rounds, Mike has a very good shot to win. Lennox Lewis doesn't have the best chin in boxing. So I think that, you know, if I had to bet all of my money, I would bet on Lennox Lewis but I think my heart is with Mike.

I:Okay. And please give a message to our boxing fans who watch Excite Match.

W:Looking forward to watching this big fight on WOWOW Ôcause the truth of the matter is WOWOW got it going on.

I:Thank you. And let's move to question for movie fans. I felt a strong spiritual sense during the movie. Especially when I heard the music Tomorrow, you know Tomorrow? During the two scenes where Ali is running on the street in Mozambique with children and a big fight scene, Ali against George Foreman. Yeah, my soul was shaking with music. Thank you so much. It's a great experience for me.

W:Thank you very much.

I:If you could answer the question, Who is Mohammed Ali? What would you say?

W:Who is Mohammed Ali? Wow, that's a pretty big question. Mohammed Ali is one of the most famous people in the world. Mohammed Ali is a fighter that made his name in a boxing ring but created his spirit outside of the boxing ring. He is a spiritual genius.

I:And you start your career as a rapper when you were twelve. How did you become interested in rapping at first?

W:When I was growing up, you know, probably about eleven, twelve years old, rap music was, it was just breaking out in... on the east coast of the United States. And you couldn't avoid rap music. It was really... it was underground but it was bubbling and it was coming up. And it just... every kid in junior high school and every kid in high school was being introduced to rap music and it just felt, so natural, and it felt so much a part of me.

I:After having fame as a rapper, why did you decide to change your career from rapping to acting? Television?

W:I think a lot of it had to do with Jazzy Jeff and myself released our third album. And it sold almost nothing. So I didn't have any more money. So I needed to do more something, "I got to do something." So I moved to Los Angeles. And during my trip to Los Angeles, I knew that LA had something going on. I didn't know what it was but there was an energy in Los Angeles. And I knew that I needed to be in LA to find whatever the new thing was. And uh, Quincy Jones introduced me to the potential for the television and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air came out of the music videos that I had created; the persona that I had created in the music videos. Quincy Jones thought I would be a good for the television show. And then after I have to study acting on the television show, I was really... I was inspired to get better as an actor.

I:This show was very popular because I heard from my English teacher. And you are always ambitious and despite of fame and fortune at young age, you wanted more, so you approached Warner Brothers executive?

W:Oh, Benny Medina...The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was based on Benny Medina's life. A gentleman named Jeff Pollock and Benny Medina were partners and they took me to Quincy Jones to create The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

I:When did you discover you had a passion for acting? And where does it come from?

W:I guess the rap records that I made always were almost like theater. The records that I made always had a story. They had a beginning, a middle, an end. I've always had a story sense and I think that the music videos that I made really lent themselves to acting. There's always some level of acting in the music videos. So from the little bit of acting I was doing in the music videos, it opened up the world of live action acting, probably two or three years after I had begun performing professionally.

I:And now you have a lot of great fame such as Grammy award winner, Academy nominee, box office star. And especially I feel your personality is so nice, funny and I love your sense of humor. Anyway, what is your key to fame in the music world and acting world? Are they different qualities or same quality?

W:I think it's really basically the same approach. I feel like I am not the most talented person in the world. I am not the best rapper in the world, I am not the best dancer in the world. I am not the best actor in the world. But what I have that's different is, you know, I don't allow myself to rest until I achieved the greatest potential that I can achieve. While other people are sleeping, I am working. While other people are eating, I am working. And that's always been my mentality to achieve success.

I:That's great. Your public image seems to be so nice. But I think Ali is a little bit eccentric. Do you find something in common with Ali's character?

W:I've had a lot in common with Ali. We are both "the greatest." No, I think there are things that are very similar. I think how we interact with people: women and crowds and the press. I think all of that is very similar. We both pretty much say what we think. We both have the ability to say things that people may view as harsh or inappropriate but to be able to say it with comedy, and that makes people to be able to accept it a little more easily.

I:I was so moved by your comment in press conference yesterday. You said you know who you are and who you want to be. I want to know what is your philosophy to live by.

W:Um, just keep it simple. You know, that's really my philosophy. In every religion that has ever been created on this planet, there are rules, and there certain basic rules that exist in every single religion on this planet. So those basic rules I view as the keys. You know, there's no religion that says: "You have to lie", you know. There's no religion that says: "You need to steal." Every religion says no lying and no stealing. So you start right there. You don't lie and you don't steal and everything will be ok.
It doesn't need to be any more difficult than that. And that's really how I try to keep my life very basic, very simple and very easy rather than trying to make it complex because it doesn't need to be.

I:Yeah. And I really want to recommend this movie to our viewers. So could you see the camera again and give a message to our WOWOW movie fans?

W:Hey, all my WOWOW movie fans out there, you've got to go and check out "Ali," It's incredible. We've got action scenes. We got, you know, we've got fighting. We've got women. We've got a wonderful story. We've got emotion. It's incredible. You got to check it out. And I was really good in it, I mean, if I can say that, you know. When you see me, you're gonna say "WOWOW."

I:Thank you so much. It's so nice talking with you.

W:Thank you very much.