He’s fought off aliens, drug lords, the CIA and robots. He even brought George Foreman to his knees. Now, in “Hitch,” his first romantic comedy since bursting onto the small screen as the Fresh Prince, Will Smith finds himself in the battle of the sexes.
Smith plays “date doctor” Alex Hitchens, creating situations to help ordinary guys snag the girls of their dreams.
A smooth operator, funny and debonair, Smith demonstrates in “Hitch,” which opens Friday, that he’s just as proficient at wooing the sultry Sara (Eva Mendes) as he is at beating back three-headed monsters.
Which doesn’t exactly come as a revelation. Even during his days as the fun-loving, slightly goofy Fresh Prince, Smith had “leading man” written all over him. But it has taken Smith, 36, more than a decade to make his way back to romance.
“I’m much more at home in the romantic comedy genre,” he says. “Anybody who loved the Fresh Prince will love ‘Hitch.’ “
But as he springboarded from the small screen to the big one, something happened: He morphed from a fresh prince of bubble-gum romance into the crown prince of action thrillers.
Smith ruled the box office with blockbusters such as “Bad Boys,” “Men in Black,” “Independence Day,” “Enemy of the State” and “I, Robot.” The films made him a superstar, but apart from his Oscar-nominated turn in 2001’s “Ali” (in which he decked Charles Shufford playing Foreman), he was in danger of being typecast.
And it was by his own design.
“Those kinds of movies were the ones that made me want to make movies in the first place,” Smith says. “When I was growing up, ‘Star Wars’ was the first film I appreciated. Then came ‘Die Hard,’ ‘Lethal Weapon,’ ’48 Hours.’ Now, my tastes have changed. … Today the film I can’t stop watching is ‘Casablanca.’ “
Part of the reason is professional practicality: “I’m 36. I can’t make those [action] films much past 40.” The other reason has to do with growing up.
“I have to relinquish childhood tastes,” he says. “The Cary Grant comedies, movies like ‘Forrest Gump’ or ‘Philadelphia’–those are more to my adult tastes.”
Smith says he was intrigued by the idea of a “date doctor” because relationship counseling has been his role in real life.
“I AM Hitch with all my friends and family,” he says.
Smith wasn’t a ladies’ man back in high school but says he was the confidant that girls–and guys, for that matter–approached to solve their problems of love. “I study ladies,” he says.
So when producer James Lassiter, Smith’s childhood pal who runs Overbrook Entertainment, the actor’s film production company, began to develop the idea for “Hitch,” Smith pushed for a script. He brought in Andy Tennant (“Sweet Home Alabama”) to direct and make his alpha-male vision clear.
“Will wanted to make a comedy with romance and not a romantic comedy,” Tennant says. “A romantic comedy is usually with a woman protagonist, who is more accessible to emotions. You put a guy in a movie about romance, you’ve got to make them laugh before they feel anything. We embarked on a path to make it funny.”
Married seven years, Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have one of Hollywood’s model marriages. The couple are parents of Jaden, 6, Willow, 4, and Trey, 12, Smith’s son from his first marriage. Instead of indulging in real-life drama over their merged family, the Smiths created and produced a comedy series for UPN, “All of Us,” loosely based on their experience.
“Jada and I don’t just love our relationship, we study it,” Smith says, adding that the key is “blatant honesty. … Jada knows who I am, and I know who I am.”
