Will Smith is Happy

Special Hollywood treat this week. My tour boss Philip, a SAG member, gets free tickets to screenings all the time. Thursday night he invited me to a special private screening of The Pursuit of Happyness and the film's star, Will Smith, appeared for a Q&A after the film.

Philip kindly took me to dinner, on the company. We tried the newly reopened Boardner's at Cherokee and Hollywood. The decor was lovely, but the music was heavy industrial rock. It felt like an Art Deco biker bar. The food was decent, though.

The show was at the Egyptian, an old haunt, and we arrived late enough to be left to sit up front in the fourth row, which is not the most comfortable position to watch a movie despite the steeply raked floor toward the screen. However, it was an ideal location to get up close with Will Smith, who looked slightly thinner than he usually does on screen. He wore a sharp black suit and his hair was shorn close to his skull.

Will Smith is a refreshlingly earnest and down-to-earth guy. A handsome man, he charmed the audience with witty anecdotes about his acting career and his experiences making The Pursuit of Happyness and other films from his now lengthy career. He takes acting quite seriously and revealed a lot about his artistic process.
Mr. Smith introduced his lovely wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, sitting in the audience, and recounted several stories about his adorable, scene-stealing young son who also stars in the film as Will's son. When the moderator called for the last question, Will protested that he wasn't ready to stop: "I'm gonna take some more questions. I owe it to y'all for making Wild Wild West."

The Pursuit of Happyness tells the true story of Chris Gardner, a bright and nearly homeless single father who raised his young son while learning to become a stock broker. Chasing the American Dream, Chris Gardner overcame enormous obstacles to earn a successful position with Dean-Witter and he became a millionaire.

It's an emotional and uplifting story, with excellent acting by the whole cast. The San Francisco locations shine on the big screen. See it in theaters starting December 15th. And remember to vote for Will Smith when awards season comes around!