Will Smith isn't concerned with landing huge box office numbers for his new movieCollateral Beauty, out in theaters next week. In fact, Smith isn't even worried what the critics think. As Smith revealed to an audience of fans at Facebook Headquarters Thursday, his role in David Frankel and Allan Loeb's drama helped him come to terms with the recent death of his father.
"I don't need the box office to be huge on this film," Smith said during the Facebook Live broadcast. "I don't need to win any awards, you know? I don't care. It was the film that I worked on that I was actually able to comfortably and beautifully say goodbye to my father." Smith revealed that he learned of his father's cancer diagnosis "about two weeks" into the preparation process for the film, which initially shocked him.
"First, you know, it stunned me, and then it was the magical work of the universe," Smith continued. "I could not believe that this was the film I was working on, and I was forced to face my father's mortality."
Smith also credited his father's sense of humor as integral in helping him focus on more important things than box office dollars. "I go to see him one day, and he goes,, 'Man, this shit is embarrassing,'" Smith remembered. "I said, 'What, dad?' and he said, 'Man, you tell everyone you gonna be dead in six weeks and three months later you're still hanging around.'"
Collateral Beauty opens Dec. 16.
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