The Inspiring Career of Will Smith

Have you ever heard of Will Smith? How about the Fresh Prince? Willard (Will) Carroll Smith Jr. is a famous rapper and actor who from his pre-teen years to now, has been rapping and acting with a passion. You will be reading all about Will today, from his Childhood, to his success story.

Will Smith’s childhood is what made him who he is today. He was born in Philadelphia, 1968, to “Willard C.Smith”, a Veteran and refrigerator engineer, and Caroline Bright, his Mother, who worked at a local school. He grew up in a middle class, baptist family. He started rapping at age 12. He got his name “prince” at a young age, which later inspired his stage name. His career finally took off after he met Jeff Townes, and they created the rap duo “DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince”, they were a hit right from the beginning, and this was just the start to Will’s career.

Will’s career has inspired and impacted many people, from acting, to rapping, to helping the environment. Soon after his rap career took off, Will starred on six seasons of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, which to some is considered an iconic show. He then went on to win 4 Grammys, Best Rap Performance, and Favorite Actor in three different movies, “Independence Day”, “Men In Black”, and “Enemy of The State”, along with 2 Oscars. He has also inspired many people with his famous words on hate. “Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too…”

In addition to his advice on hate, Will and his son Jaden Smith started an eco-friendly water bottle company to help with the environment. What inspired Will and his son to do this was while Jaden, at age 10, was surfing, he saw a bottle floating in the water. When he came home, Jaden studied all about the giant “Islands” of trash in the ocean. He came to his father Will with an idea of how to help, he wanted to create an eco-friendly water company. So they did. “The JUST Water carton is 54% paper, all of which is sourced from trees under the care of the Forest Stewardship Council that ensures forests are sustainably and responsibly managed. The shoulder and cap of the bottle are made from plant-based plastics instead of fossil fuels like petroleum” (Dahl par. 3). So because of the controlled environment with the trees being cut down, and made into bottles, and the caps being made out of sugarcane Will is helping the planet not use as many plastics and other non-renewable resources for carrying something as simple as water.

Will Smith has many skills and talents which helped him launch and sustain his career. His work ethic is one of the many traits he has developed to make him successful, his rapping skills also got himself out of trouble in school, and helped with his earlier career. His acting skills are the reason Will is where he is today, especially since he won 4 grammys and 2 Oscars. But Will Smith does not credit any of his success to talent, he believes that “The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.” (Malema par 2). Will spent years and years practicing rapping and acting, and if you were to credit all of his success to just “lucky talent” then that would be discrediting him as an artist, he spent so many years practicing the arts of rap and acting, from the time he was 12, to now.