Will Smith Says He ‘Went Too Far’ While Filming ‘Emancipation’: ‘I Wanted to Feel the Degradation of Slavery’ 

Will Smith

Will Smith Says He ‘Went Too Far’ While Filming ‘Emancipation’: ‘I Wanted to Feel the Degradation of Slavery’

Will Smith is getting candid about his experience filming the slave movie ‘Emancipation.’

During a recent episode of Peacock’s “Hart to Heart” talk show, Will Smith sat down with Kevin Hart and spoke about his experience portraying a slave in the Apple drama “Emancipation.”

Smith said,

“I went too far in ‘Emancipation.’ Just bringing it up, I start to get teary. I wanted to feel the degradation of slavery, and I went too far in. The level of human brutality, what we will do to each other.”

Will Smith then recalled a moment during filming when he accidentally got stuck in slave chains.

He explained,

“I had the chains on my neck and we were working. I wanted the real weight of them. I wanted real chains. They put it on my neck and they were fitting it for size and the prop master went to put the key in and it didn’t work. And I was like, ‘Oh no. Will relax.'”

Will Smith

He continued,

“I’m standing there and they’re running around and they couldn’t get me out of it. I’m standing there in those chains, right on that hyperventilating edge…They found it and got it out.”

The “King Richard” actor revealed that he still has dreams about his character Peter.

“I dream about Peter still. And that’s what happens when you spend that time and you push your mind that far and you just consume it and you surround yourself on all sides by it. And that’s what happened. It like starts to leak into your subconscious.”

Despite the difficulties he faced, Will Smith has no regrets about taking on the role of Peter.

“I wouldn’t give it back. It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had as an actor. Peter introduced me to God. My faith got solid after working on that movie.”

The historical action thriller follows runaway slave Peter (Smith) as he escapes from a Louisiana plantation in the 1860s.  He has to outwit cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on a torturous journey north.

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