Will Smith regrets pushing his kids to fame at young age
Oscar winner also speaks about experience that led him to re-evaluate his priorities
Hollywood star Will Smith admitted that he regrets pushing Willow Smith and Jaden Smith to fame at such a young age because “nobody in (his) family was happy”.
The 54-year-old made the honest confession when appearing on Kevin Hart’s Peacock talk show ‘Hart to Hart’, reports aceshowbiz.com.
The actor first said, “2010 was like the greatest year as an artist, as a parent. ‘Karate Kid’ came out in June, ‘Whip My Hair’ came out in October. I’m building this dream of a family I’ve had in my mind. ‘I’m going to do it better than my father did it’.”
“We’ve talked about it, my father was abusive ... I told myself I would never have that kind of energy with my family, and I had a dream, an idea of a family I was building,” he continued.
“Pretty much 2010 to 2012 I had achieved everything I had ever dreamed. I was beyond (my) wildest dreams.”
Unfortunately, Smith said his kids’ careers interfered with family bonding.
“Nobody in my family was happy. Nobody wanted to be in a platoon. Willow was the first one to begin the mutiny, and it was my first realisation that success and money don’t mean happiness. Up until that point, I really believed that you could succeed your way — to a house and a family — and you could win your way to happiness,” he explained.
That experience led the Oscar winner to re-evaluate his priorities. “You can have so much stuff that it makes you miserable,” he stated.
“That was my first pullback, and I was like, ‘OK, what am I missing?’ That’s when I started reading and studying psychology and the relation to human happiness. I was never unhappy, I loved life — but I was driving the people around me in a way that I was leaving scorched earth.”