Will Smith has revealed the hardest he’s ever been hit on a movie set.
The ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ actor’, 55, who is still dogged by the fallout from his infamous on-stage assault on Chris Rock, 59, at the 2022 Oscars, said he was struck with such force while making boxing biopic Ali his neck was “compressed” into his spinal cord.
He told the ‘Hot Ones’ YouTube talk show about getting battered while playing boxing icon Muhammad Ali in director Michael Mann’s 2001 film: “My trainer was trying to get me to get the angle of my spine forward. And in this second I just was like, ‘You know what? Commit.’
“And I committed and leaned forward.”
Referring to actor and ex-professional boxer Michael Bentt, 58, who played boxer Sonny Liston in ‘Ali’, Will went on: “Almost as an instinctual reaction, Michael threw a right hand.
“And I saw it coming at the last second and I put my head down. And he caught me with a right hand right on top of my head.
“(It) didn’t knock my head back – it compressed my neck down onto my spine. “I felt an electrical shock go down the back of both arms to my elbows.”
Will said the blow left him with an “electrical taste” in his mouth.
And he said as his reeled from the strike all he could think was: “Where the f*** are my keys? Where are my car keys?”
Will’s acclaimed performance in Ali earned him his first of three Oscar nominations.
He also hailed Michael Mann as a “one of one” director.
Will added: “When we were shooting Ali, Michael Mann wouldn’t allow music to be played on the set that was made after whatever date we were shooting. “That's how wild he is about capturing the authenticity of a moment.”
