It is one thing to read about history and its horrible events and understand them. But it is an entirely different thing to see them on a screen. Therefore, the visuals are more effective than just the written words. Recently, Will Smith starred in one such triggering film titled Emancipation. He portrayed the character of Peter (based on a real-life story of Gordon) who is a slave. To portray such a layered character, the actor had to train himself. Playing this emotionally and spiritually triggering character surely takes a toll on the actor. 

Recently, the Oscar winner actor took over his wife’s talk show, Red Table Talk, with his kids. They all talked about numerous things about the film and Smith’s experience while shooting it. Well, papa Smith had asked some of the college students to watch the film and ask questions to the actor. One student, named Devyn Dyett, asked an interesting question: “How did playing a slave for months on end, and people saying horrible and dehumanizing things to you affect your mindset? And what did you learn about yourself?” Here’s what Smith’s reply was.

Will Smith shares the most dehumanizing experience

At the premiere of the film, the Focus actor talked about how the shooting of the film affected him psychologically. Once again, the actor goes deep into the question and revealed getting called the N-word by very good actors was rough and it could twist the mind as well. He said as an actor, there was a magic moment when you feel the character wash over you.

The actor remembered the time when they were trying the neck chains before the shooting of the film. However, while trying the chains, Smith got locked in them. Although people were looking for the key to open them up, it was a horrific experience for Smith. On the show, during the conversation, he admitted, “I was embarrassed.”

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He was trying to find something which would help him understand the character more deeply, and the neck chains became just that. When he put on the chains, it stopped the agencies and made him feel deeply dehumanized. He said once, as an actor, if one feels these emotions too strongly, it goes into the same memory box of your mind. We don’t have a separate space for acting. This means the character takes over the actor and he/she feels one with it.

The Aladdin actor admitted he went too far with the character only when he starred in Six Degrees of Separation. After that, this was the only time he went too deep into the character. But it was different in the sense that he lost track of how far he came. 

Well, the hard work of the actor is clearly visible in the film Emancipation. As he said in the conversation, psychologically, he was one with the character so much that when it ended and he looked for himself; he couldn’t find him. Maybe that is the reason the character is extremely appealing. Stream the film here and you can witness the hard work the actor has put in.