Will Smith’s Unexpected Top Film Choice Revealed

Few careers in entertainment have zigzagged quite like Will Smith’s. From chart-topping rapper to sitcom staple, then on to global box office dominance, and finally, a rather public fall from grace, Smith’s journey has rarely followed a predictable script. The man once known as the ‘Fresh Prince’ found himself clutching a Grammy at just 21, thanks to ‘Parents Just Don’t Understand’, only to nearly lose it all in the same breath. Signing up for the TV show that would make his name was, by his own admission, a financial necessity rather than a grand career move.

Once he’d outgrown the small screen, Smith wasted little time in becoming a fixture at the top of Hollywood’s pecking order. Depending on the day, he might have considered himself the biggest star of his era—or perhaps just a step behind Tom Cruise, with whom he shared a silent, ongoing rivalry. Yet, after a notorious incident at the Oscars, Smith’s reputation has needed a bit of patching up.

From Childhood Inspirations to Silver Screen Icons

What’s perhaps most intriguing about Smith’s rise is that he never set out to be a musician, an actor, or even a performer. He simply wanted to be a superstar, and by the mid-90s, he’d managed it in spades. Eddie Murphy may have blazed the trail as the first Black actor to headline a string of studio blockbusters, but Smith took the baton and sprinted ahead, becoming the only actor to lead eight consecutive films past the $100 million mark in the US. Between 1995 and 2013, 16 of his 18 starring roles crossed the nine-figure threshold worldwide—a run few could match.

Smith’s hunger for mainstream success can be traced back to his first viewing of Star Wars. Like many children in 1977, George Lucas’ space opera left a lasting impression. “Star Wars and Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video were the most influential pieces of entertainment art” for him as a youngster. Yet, despite their impact, neither holds the title of his favourite film.

Admiration for the Golden Age

Smith’s biggest influence on screen, as he once told the Cannes Film Festival, was a classic Hollywood legend.

“In terms of film,” he shared with the Cannes Film Festival. “Probably Humphrey Bogart.”

He went on,

“The amount of movies he made. The film that I’ve studied most is Casablanca. That’s close to being a perfect movie. Even with the quick ending.”

Casablanca, for all its near-perfection in Smith’s eyes, still doesn’t top his personal list.

A Surprising Favourite

That particular honour, as it turns out, belongs to a sweeping wartime epic from the 1950s. Smith named a David Lean classic as his number one, a film that scooped up seven Oscars out of eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

“The Bridge Over the River Kwai is my favourite movie,”

he declared, singling out the 1957 masterpiece as his personal pinnacle of cinematic achievement. It’s a choice that might raise eyebrows, especially from someone whose own career has been built on the spectacle of effects-laden blockbusters.