The Pursuit of Happyness - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
WILL Smith is being tipped to land another Oscar nomination for his role as a desperate father in The Pursuit Of Happyness, which pairs him on-screen with his son.
The film is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, a struggling medical supply salesman in San Francisco in the early ’80s, whose life was transformed by a single moment.
That moment occurred when Gardner stopped a well-dressed man in a red Ferrari and asked him what he did for a living. The man was a stockbroker and it instantly made Gardner consider the possibility of switching careers, given that he had always had a good head for figures.
He subsequently won an internship at a prestigious brokerage firm but simultaneously had to deal with the loss of his wife and home – the former because she had grown tired of their struggle; the latter because of a combination of financial woes that also led to an overnight stint in jail for non-payment of parking fines.
With no permanent address, Gardner and his son were forced to reside in cheap motels until their money ran out and they took refuge in shelters, on the streets and, in one instance, on the floor of a subway station restroom.
Now 52, Gardner has since turned things around and is a hugely successful businessman whose story provides a great deal of inspiration to many – including Smith who thought it would make a terrific movie.
The ensuing tale marks the Hollywood debut of Italian director Gabriele Muccino (creator of L’Ultimo Bacio or The Last Kiss) and provides a telling reminder of Smith’s versatility as an actor – and not just a blockbuster star.
Smith is very proud of the film and believes that it’s one of three films that have captured his growth as an actor and a man – the others being Six Degrees Of Separation and Ali.
“When the journey of a film changes your perspective on living, that’s the beautiful artistic position,” he says. “It’s a performance that I’ll be chasing for the rest of my career.”
Of the deliberate mis-spelling of the name of the film, he explains that the question of the why brings with it a huge philosophical question. “The education of your children is everything, and for your children to be educated in a place where the people can’t spell happiness – that represents the ultimate parental failure,” he told US film magazine, Premiere.
Commenting on the casting of his son, meanwhile, Smith says that the decision to cast Jaden wasn’t taken lightly. But once Jaden had approached him and asked to be a part of the film, and then test read so convincingly, they knew they had the perfect choice.
To make sure, however, they tested him a further six times and “ran him through the whole wringer”. But Smith is equally as proud of the results, crediting his son’s presence with changing his own performance, and insisting that it was far more difficult to achieve than audiences may give him credit for.
“People think that because he’s my child it’s easier for him, but it’s actually the other way,” he adds. “Because he’s my child, it’s actually twice as hard as it would be.”
Audiences can judge for themselves when the film opens in UK cinemas in January.