Will Smith feels as though he’s “failed every woman” he’s interacted with.
Will Smith at the premiere of Bright
The ‘Aladdin’ star has said he’s trying to “tell the truth” and be honest about his life going forward, and has admitted part of him believes he hasn’t treated women correctly in the past.
Speaking in a teaser for his upcoming appearance on ‘The Oprah Conversation’, he said: “I want to tell the truth. I want to let people have it. I’ve carried, most of life, the sense of failing every woman I interact with. I haven’t talked about that publicly.”
In another part of the clip, Will also said he “feared” falling in love with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, because he was scared he would get his heart broken.
He added: “Love being the most fearful place you’ll ever try and step into. Real love. That unconditional love … to be able to open a broken heart again.”
Meanwhile, the 53-year-old actor recently admitted he considered killing his father to "avenge" his mother, after she was subjected to abuse from William Carol Smith Sr. – who died in 2016 – when Will was young.
In an extract from his memoir 'Will', he wrote: "My father was violent, but he was also at every game, play, and recital. He was an alcoholic, but he was sober at every premiere of every one of my movies.
"He listened to every record. He visited every studio. The same intense perfectionism that terrorised his family put food on the table every night of my life...
"When I was nine years old, I watched my father punch my mother in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed. I saw her spit blood. That moment in that bedroom, probably more than any other moment in my life, has defined who I am."
The ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ actor also said his trauma has impacted his career, as he feels as though he needs to make up for “failing” his mother.
He added: "Within everything that I have done since then — the awards and accolades, the spotlights and attention, the characters and the laughs — there has been a subtle string of apologies to my mother for my inaction that day. For failing her in the moment. For failing to stand up to my father. For being a coward.
"What you have come to understand as ‘Will Smith’, the alien-annihilating MC, the bigger-than-life movie star, is largely a construction – a carefully crafted and honed character – designed to protect myself. To hide myself from the world. To hide the coward."
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