Will Smith thinks he is in the "greatest period" of his parenting.
Will Smith thinks he's a great dad now
The 'Emancipation' actor thinks he was just an "OK" dad when his 30-year-old son Trey - who he has with Sheree Zampino - was younger and he's gradually got better since he and wife Jada Pinkett-Smith had son Jaden, now 24, and daughter Willow, 22, culminating in him now finally feeling he has the "real wisdom" to be a great father.
Speaking on 'All the Smoke', he said: "This has been probably the greatest period of my fatherhood. I was an OK father for my first son. I got a little bit better with Jaden. I got my sea legs with Willow and probably the last couple of years of my life I had sufficiently suffered enough to have real wisdom.
"This last year with my kids has been the best parenting,"
The 'King Richard' star insisted it is "OK" for people to make mistakes when it comes to raising their children, so long as they learn through their mistakes.
He added: "If I had to say something to guide someone about it is, first and foremost, everybody sucks at the beginning. It’s OK to not be good at it. It’s OK to make mistakes and the best thing you can do for your kids is learn and grow yourself."
Will realised a few years ago he was unable to "connect" with his children in the way they wanted him to, prompting to reeximine his own relationship with his father.
He said: "Probably about two years ago, I guess I noticed a little bit of a lack in my ability to connect and love on a deep level.
"I started noticing it with Willow … and I noticed that I wasn’t as proficient at connecting and loving somebody. I could provide. I’ll lay it out. But in those moments when my kids were reaching for me, I was failing at the depth that they were seeking.
"And I decided, like, what did that mean? I felt that I had to deeply and truly examine my life.
"I had to examine my motives. I wanted to be the biggest movie star in the world. Why?
"And when I decided to write my book, I decided to dig into my life’s experiences.
"One of the major things that I addressed with myself was my father had been abusive in my house and I never talked about it. When I wrote the book, I told myself I was going to give myself the freedom to write it and purge.
"I went in and I did it and it was the first time my mother and I had ever talked about it. I was 50 years old before I ever talked to my mother about the fact that my father had beat her up."
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