“Complex and Complicated”: Will Smith Reveals Challenges of Portraying Venus and Serena Williams’ Father Richard

Fans are ecstatic about ‘King Richard’ as the movie is about to hit the big screens on November 19, 2021. The film portrays the life of Venus and Serena Williams’ father, Richard Williams, and how he transformed both his daughters into two of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Interestingly, renowned Hollywood star, Will Smith is playing the character of Richard Williams in the movie. Apart from being the lead actor, he is also one of the producers of the film. Smith talked about the experience and the challenge of portraying the iconic father and coach in a recent interview.

“A very complex and complicated character”- Will Smith on playing Serena Williams’ father role

In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Will Smith talked about playing the character of Richard Williams. He believes that it has been a very complex and complicated role for him.

“You know, Richard Williams is a very complex and complicated character. I think the thing that was most exciting for me was how much difference there was between the villainized public persona and what I was hearing from his children and what I was experiencing with the family,” said Smith in the interview.

Smith also revealed what was the most exciting thing for him. He stated that he had to keep both the things in mind, i.e. Richard’s public persona as well as what the family told him while doing the role.

Watch This Story: How Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, and Others Travel

Will Smith opens up about the thing that scared him the most about Richard Williams

In the same interview, Smith also shared an intriguing anecdote. He highlighted that since all of Richard’s notes and videos were available with the family, they had tons of research for the movie. Will was also shocked by some of the notes in which Richard had predicted the future of both Venus and Serena even before they were born.

“The family documented everything. So, there was so much video on the things. We had tonnes of notes and Isha was on the film every single day… And it’s really scary, the kinds of things that he was predicting and he was saying before they were even born. He was already dreaming before they were even born. They were having children to be No.1, No.2,” added the actor.

Apart from getting released on theatres, fans can also watch ‘King Richard’ on HBO Max. Will it be able to break every record on the box office?

Also Read: Will Smith’s Net Worth Compared With Serena Williams and Venus Ahead of King Richard’s Release