It was at the African American Film Critics Association Awards that Will Smith gave his first acceptance speech since he gave Chris Rock an ear file at the Oscars last February.
Smith said in the speech that “Emancipation” has been the most difficult film to make so far in his career, because in the film he plays a slave in the 1860s.
“It’s very hard to live in our time and get into how people thought back then. It’s hard to imagine the level of inhumanity,” he said.
Will Smith also shared an experience during filming where a white co-star in the heat of the moment decided to spit on him.
“I wanted to call out to the director, but realized that my character had never been able to call out for help from anyone,” he said.
Will Smith stormed onto the stage at last year’s Oscars after Chris Rock joked about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia, a diagnosis that leads to hair loss. Smith has apologized to Chris Rock, but has been banned from all Oscar Academy events for ten years.