Today (25th of September), Will Smith is turning 58, and the occasion reignites the question of what has kept the star so relevant after more than three decades in the spotlight. After so many projects (and a number of controversies throughout his long career) what has allowed him to weather it all and remain so beloved?
More than 30 years into his career, Will Smith has never really left the spotlight, and it is almost hard to remember a time when he was not everywhere. A rapper, actor and winner of more than 90 awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and four Grammys, he remains one of Hollywood’s most talked-about names.
From The Fresh Prince to Blockbusters
Before becoming an actor, Will Smith was already successful in the music industry as one half of the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. Together, they released hits such as “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and “Summertime” and, in 1989, became the first rap artists to win a Grammy for Best Rap Performance.
In 1990, Smith made the leap to television with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a show based in part on his own life that introduced him to audiences around the world. The sitcom became the springboard he needed to establish himself as an actor. After a few seasons, Smith embarked on a string of big-budget, widely popular films (the quintessential blockbusters) including Independence Day, Men in Black and Bad Boys, firmly establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
Charisma and a Sense of Closeness With His Audience
One of the qualities that has come to define Smith, beyond the humor and charisma that have appealed to generations, is the openness he has shown his audience over the years. In interviews, he tends to steer away from the more polished, carefully crafted answers many celebrities rely on. Instead, he shares personal stories, laughs at himself and genuinely engages with whoever is on the other side of the conversation.
That became even more apparent over the past decade, as he began investing more heavily in social media, particularly Instagram and YouTube. Today, he speaks openly about personal subjects such as insecurities, therapy and his relationship with his children and family, often with the same lightheartedness that has been part of his public persona since the 1990s.
In November 2021, he released his autobiography, Will, written with author Mark Manson. In the book, Smith reflects on success, happiness and human connection while sharing details of his life, from a childhood shaped by a tense family environment to becoming one of the biggest names in music and film worldwide.
Also in 2021, Smith released the YouTube docuseries Will Smith: The Best Shape of My Life. What began as a journey to lose weight ultimately became something far more emotional, with episodes in which he opened up to Jada, his eife, and his children, Trey, Jaden and Willow.
The Versatility That Won Over Critics
After finding enormous success in action films and comedies, Smith refused to limit himself to those genres. In The Pursuit of Happyness, released in 2006, he played a father facing homelessness while trying to raise his son on his own, a performance that earned him his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Before that, in 2001, he had received his first nomination in the same category for Ali, in which he portrayed legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. It was not until March 2022, at the 94th Academy Awards, that Smith finally took home the Oscar, winning for his performance in King Richard as the father and coach of Venus and Serena Williams.
Later that year, Smith played Peter in Emancipation, the story of an enslaved man who escapes from a plantation in Louisiana. At the time, Smith reveled that that was the hardest film he ever shot, talking about both the filming condition and the emotional toll of the project. He explained that he became so immersed in the role that he “lost” part of himself during production.
It was this willingness to step outside his comfort zone, moving from comedies and blockbusters to demanding dramatic roles, that gradually led critics to see Will Smith as more than just a box-office star and take him seriously as an actor.
The Oscars Slap and How He Dealt With the Aftermath
Months before the release of his next film, and after navigating other controversies throughout his career, Smith experienced the most widely discussed and criticized moment of his public life. At the 94th Academy Awards in 2022, just minutes before accepting the Oscar for Best Actor, he walked onstage and slapped Chris Rock live on television in response to a joke about Jada’s shaved head. Jada has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.
The incident resulted in Smith being banned from Academy ceremonies and events for ten years. He also resigned from the Academy and saw several Hollywood projects he had been involved with either canceled or put on hold.
Later that night, while accepting his award, Smith briefly apologized without directly addressing what had happened with Chris Rock. Four months later, in July 2022, he posted a nearly six-minute video on YouTube titled “It’s been a minute…”.
In the video, Smith apologized not only to Rock and his fellow Oscar nominees that year, but also to Rock’s family, including the comedian’s mother and brother. Smith also said that he didn’t realize how many people got hurt at that moment. In addition, he made a point of clarifying that the decision to walk onstage had been his alone and that Jada had played no part in it.
An Icon Who Keeps Reinventing Himself
After the Oscars controversy and the release of Emancipation in December 2022, Smith largely stepped away from the spotlight for almost a year and a half. Then, in April 2024, he made a surprise appearance at Coachella, joining J Balvin onstage to perform “Men in Black” and marking a return to the public eye.
In June 2024, he returned to theaters with Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth installment in the franchise alongside Martin Lawrence. The film received a lukewarm response from critics but a much warmer reception from audiences, suggesting that a significant portion of his fan base was still eager to see him on screen.
Later that year, Smith released five singles and, in March 2025, followed them with the album Based on a True Story and a world tour, marking his return to the music industry after more than two decades away from the studio.
In April 2026, after years of uncertainty surrounding a second film, director Steven Caple Jr. came on board to direct I Am Legend 2, the sequel to the 2007 film I Am Legend, in which Smith played scientist Robert Neville, one of the few survivors of a pandemic that transformed much of humanity into aggressive mutant creatures.
The film will be release in 2027, with no exact date defined, but the project is another sign that, at 58, Will Smith has no intention of stopping reinventing himself.
Through all the changes, successes and controversies, one thing has remained remarkably consistent: Will Smith’s ability to keep audiences interested in what he does next. Whether through film, music or the openness he has built into his public persona, he has continued to find new ways to connect with people without completely leaving behind the qualities that made him famous in the first place. At 58, there is still plenty of his story left to tell
Happy birthday, Will Smith!
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The article above was edited by Isabella Messias.
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