Though the 55-year-old actor was brought to tears when he tested his spice tolerance on the popular show “Hot Ones”, the experience does not compare with the hardest punch he had to take in the 2001 movie “Ali”.
Will Smith had difficulty keeping his eyes open while tasting the show’s notoriously fiery hot sauces. Smith confessed that he wasn’t prepared for the intense experience: “I am the guest that is least prepared for this show.”
“It’s making my eyes water in a unique way,” he confessed after trying one flavor. “That one had a reaction with my tear ducts.”
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After completing all the hot sauces on “Hot Ones,” Smith was brought to tears and struggled to announce the release date for his upcoming film, “Bad Boys: Ride Or Die.”
He joked, “Someone’s going to have to drive me home.” As the spice level intensified, Smith reflected on his film career, sharing that the hardest hit he ever took on set was during the filming of the 2001 movie “Ali,” where he portrayed boxing legend Muhammad Ali, according to Daily Mail.
“Michael Bentt in Ali, Michael Bentt played Sonny Liston, and I was leaning back,” he said. “My trainer was trying to get me to get the angle of my spine forward and in this second I just was like you know what, commit.
“And I committed and leaned forward and almost as an instinctual reaction, Michael Bentt threw a right hand and I saw it coming at the last second and I put my head down and he caught me with a right hand right on top of my head. But it didn’t knock my head down. It compressed my head onto my spine.
“And I felt an electrical shock go down the back of both arms to my elbows. And all I could think was ‘Where the f**k are my keys?’… You know when you’re a little boy, you ever do the nine-volt battery?… I had that, like an electrical taste in my mouth. That was like the hardest I’ve ever been hit on a movie set. That was a rough one.”
Smith opened up about his experiences with the “Bad Boys” franchise and shared a story about nearly adopting a dog from his 2007 film “I Am Legend.” Reflecting on the success of the “Bad Boys” series, Smith offered his insights on why the franchise has resonated with audiences: “It’s like life is so hard. Everybody wants somebody that’s like, ‘It’s whatever man. What do you need? I’m there.’ Ya know? And I think that is the core of Bad Boys that is really resonant on a universal level.”
The legendary actor shared his experience of attempting to adopt Abbey, the dog he worked with on the set of “I Am Legend.”
“It was like Abbey spoke English,” he replied. “You could say, ‘Ay, Abbey, do you see where I left my phone?’ She’d be like,” Smith said, before mimicking the dog responding to him.
Smith is gearing up for the release of his newest film in the Bad Boys franchise, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” hitting theaters soon. This release comes two years after Smith made headlines in 2022 for slapping Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars, stirring controversy.
Smith’s upcoming film, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” is seen as his comeback, serving as a test to gauge his ability to attract audiences post-controversy.
According to an industry insider, the Bad Boys franchise is a safe bet for Smith’s resurgence, showcasing his talent and financial success. The insider emphasized that one mistake does not diminish Smith’s ambitious career trajectory.
The source told People: “He needs to keep box-office success alive.”
