Will Smith is opening up about the abuse and trauma he encountered as a child and how he has found healing through being a father. We often think that celebrities live in this perfect world, where everything is sunshine and rainbows, but they live lives just like we do. They also had a life before fame and Hollywood, and their childhoods were not always so perfect. Will Smith is the most recent star to come forward and open up about his childhood.
According to Today, Will Smith said that growing up in an abusive household caused him to develop some pretty unhealthy defense mechanisms. Will was recently on Facebook Watch’s Red Table Talk, and he was sitting down with clinical psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula to speak about it.
Will said that his father was often violent in the home and that was how he created his persona of “Will Smith.” The funny guy who wanted to make people laugh. He said that he wanted to make sure his father was entertained enough that he would leave everyone in the house alone. When this didn’t work, it led him to feel “inadequate.” He said that making people laugh was his defense mechanism.
With all the damage that Will’s childhood caused him, he was able to find healing. He said that he found healing through being a father, and he is especially proud of the relationship he has with his daughter Willow. He said that his relationship with Willow is the only relationship with a woman that he hasn’t messed up.
Willow is now 20 years old, but the world has watched her and Will’s relationship over time, and it is clear the pair have a tight bond. Will and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, have recently been opening up about the struggles they have faced and how they overcame them.
https://fb.watch/1UeFCMe0Vl/
There are some who say that it is not about the struggles you go through but how you rise above them. This is a lesson that a lot of mothers want their children to learn, and Will Smith is a perfect example of rising above your past to change and bring joy to people.
Will also said that he brought a lot of that humor to the set of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which may make watching it now a bit hard knowing what Will was going through. It also makes that heartbreaking episode of Will Smith’s character and his absent father even more harrowing.
Sources: Today, Facebook via Red Table Talk