Will Smith tells his kids how shocked he was when a SPAT liberator star punched him in the face

Nearly nine months after he famously slapped Chris Rock with an Oscar, Will Smith is opening up about an unscripted moment in his new movie, Emancipation.

The 54-year-old actor debuted a clip of a new episode of his family’s Red Table Talk on Facebook on Tuesday, marking the first time he’s taken up the Red Table from his wife, Jada, with the full episode arriving Wednesday.

The Oscar-winning actor — who was turned down by the Golden Globes for Emancipation — revealed to his children Trey, 30, Jaden, 24, and Willow, 22, that an unspecified actor SPAT in his face for a scene.

“As the years went on, I became more and more locked into these characters for longer periods of time,” Smith began.

It’s just the weight of this story, the weight of these experiences—the quality of these actors. It was emotional, it was physical, it was spiritually exhausting,” he continued.

One of my first days on set, there was a scene with one of the actors leaning over at me and saying, “You’re cool, aren’t you?” Will said before turning to his daughter and mimicking the actor spitting on him.

The actor shared his bizarre reaction to spit, which had his kids laughing around the table.

I was like, “Makeup!” No, but it was like… I was like, Whoa, every single actor on this set was taking it really seriously,” Will admitted.

During his press tour for Emancipation, Smith admitted he lost sleep over his Oscar slapping Chris Rock, wondering if it would affect his film’s Oscar chances.

“The only upset in my heart is that so many people did an amazing job on this movie,” says Smith.

I hope my team will never be punished for my actions. I think (director) Antoine (Fouqua) and (cinematographer) Robert (Richardson), Ben (Foster), Charmaine (Bengoa) – everyone did such a great job.

He added, “I definitely lose a few winks of sleep each night thinking I could have punished my team, but I will do everything I can to make sure everyone is seen in the light they deserve.”

While it’s unclear if Smith will be nominated for his work in Emancipation – based on the true story of a slave known as ‘Whipped Peter’ whose smeared portrait provided universal evidence of the cruelty of slaveholders – he wouldn’t be able to accept an Oscar in person if he were to win. .

Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the organization enacted a 10-year ban from attending the Oscars after the slap.

Smith added that he saw the famous ‘Whipped Peter’ pictures as a child, though he came to learn more about him.

“I had seen the picture of Whipped Peter as a child, but when his story came into focus I was moved in all the most beautiful ways, ‘Adding Bill Collage Screenplay’ being one of my greatest reads. “

Smith added, “When you look at the brutality he suffered, and then you realize that through that he was able to maintain faith and gratitude and love in the face of those kinds of atrocities — I knew I wanted to learn from Peter.” .

Emancipation was released in theaters on December 2 and debuted on the Apple TV Plus streaming service on December 9.