» Will Smith in India (02.27.06)

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MUMBAI, India (AP) - Actor Will Smith said Thursday he envisions closer ties between Hollywood and Bollywood, saying he wants to work with some of the country's leading actors and actresses. Smith, on a five-day trip to meet leading Indian producers and actors, said the strength of Hollywood's technology and the "beauty, colour and depth of Indian cinema" could be a winning combination. "I really feel there is a marriage to be made between Hollywood and Bollywood," Smith told reporters in Mumbai, the home of India's Hindi-language film industry. Bollywood is the world's largest movie industry in terms of viewership and the number of films produced. The song and dance features are hugely popular even among audiences that do not speak Hindi. Smith said he wanted to work with India's most famous actress, Aishwarya Rai. He had wanted her to act with him in his movie Hitch but was told she was filming another movie, Bride & Prejudice. "She has a powerful energy," he said. "I'd love to work with her." Smith said he also was a fan of India's most popular actor, Amitabh Bachchan. The first Indian film he saw was Sarkar or Boss in which Bachchan portrays an underworld kingpin. "I was blown away by the Big B and I want to be known as Big W," he said with a laugh. Smith, whose next film Pursuit of Happiness is due to be released later this year, was also in Mumbai to launch Pix, an English-language movie channel on Sony Television. Will Smith had a ball on Sony's popular music contest "Indian Idol" and good-humouredly sang a Hindi film song along with a contestant. While recording it, one of the contestants Karunya asked Will to sing a Hindi song. "Oh I can't do that!" Will protested. Karunya insisted and asked Will to follow him. "Oh it's very simple. Just repeat after me..." And Will sang "Aati kya Khandala" with Karunya, much to the delight of the audience in the studio. Except that he couldn't get the 'kh' sound and insisted on singing "Kandala". One of the contestants asked Will how one got over one's inhibitions in public. "Just go to a large shopping mall and do this." And Will jumped on to the sofa and screamed like Tarzan in the jungle. Login to gallery to view some pictures from Will's appearances in India. Click Here to view a clip from Indian Idol.

» Gallery Update (02.16.06)

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Will is currently off the radar at the moment, until there's something new to report, check out these recently uploaded galleries: 2005 Performing at the Today Show. Concert Series 2005 TRL UK 2005 Captures Oprah Show

» Wicked Wisdom (02.05.06)

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Jada's band Wicked Wisdom will release their self titled second album on Feb 21. Click Here to purchase the album. "I listened to all kinds of metal as a kid," said Pinkett Smith, who has spent the past few years honing her hard-rock chops as frontwoman of Wicked Wisdom, a band that's put in such serious road time lately that the actress has been all but invisible on the big screen since its formation four years ago. "Metallica, Guns N' Roses. I would always look at Axl Rose and say, 'Why aren't there any chicks out there doing this now?' I always wanted an opportunity to get out there and rock out." Opinion on Wisdom's upcoming self-titled debut album (out February 21) is split in the Smith household. While son Jaden likes mommy's songs, he's more of a hip-hop head and is always asking for Will's music. Five-year-old daughter Willow, however, is a huge metal fan. "She has as better growl than I do," Pinkett Smith said. "I dropped her off at school the other day and she said, 'You know I'll have a better band than you do.' " You've been warned. Look for Bloody Eye on Ozzfest 2018. Except for a pair of projects she's considering for this summer, Pinkett Smith has put her acting on hold to concentrate on Wicked Wisdom. They are currently on the road opening for Sevendust and have more dates planned for late summer and fall. "This is passion," she said, pointing to some of the dark themes she wrote about on such songs as "Bleed All Over Me" (codependency) and "Something Inside of Me" (pedophilia) as examples of the release the band affords her. "I feel really blessed and grateful to have this opportunity." In other news... You need to checkout this amazing fan made 'Tell Me Why' music video, click here. Also, Will Smith has directed an episode of All of Us, in which Bobby says the "N" word at a birthday party, and it forces Robert to examine his own use of the term and whether or not it's appropriate.

» 17th Annual Producers Guild Award (01.26.06)

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With his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, missing in action, Will Smith attended the ceremony with his former Fresh Prince of Bel Air costar Alfonso Ribeiro. "My wife's out of town, so Alfonso's the date," Smith joked on the red carpet. "He wouldn't wear the dress I picked out." Pictures from the event have been uploaded to the gallery. The following story is most likely not true, but it's funny. From allhiphop.com: Bow Wow responds to me and now Will responds to Bow Wow! Now, you know Will Smith is my homey! I don’t care if you love that or hate that. At any rate, Will has taken a moment to “son” Bow Wow. Now, I say “son” respectfully, because the age difference could theoretically be that of a father/son. Anyway, Will reportedly said, “A grown man don't answer to no child. I'm a grown ass man. I cut records before his momma let somebody cut to have him. My worst movie grossed almost twice as your best movie. Check the records and read a book young man." WOW. Now, Bow Wow made a respectable reply, but its just time to let it go!

» Site Updates (01.13.06)

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Added movie info on the following films Ali, Wild Wild West, and Enemy Of The State. Also, uploaded some random galleries: 2006 PGA Tour - Sony Open Hawaii. 2005 Charles Alston's 40th Birthday Party. 2005 War Of The Worlds Premiere. 2002 Golden Globe Awards. 1990 NBC Allstars Party. Bad Boys 2 Stills HQ & MQ.

» News Update (01.08.06)

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A man who stole actor Will Smith's identity to run up credit-card debts is going back to prison for two years for violating probation, a judge ruled Tuesday. Click Here to read more. With 'Lost & Found' Will gained a lot of respect in the so called Hip Hop community, just read this editorial from allhiphop, click here. Allhiphop.com also gave Will Smith the title of the best comeback of 2005 "It might be default that Jigga didn’t “sell more records than Will Smith” in ’05, but Will Smith deserves this slot. Lost & Found buried the 2002 misfire, Born to Reign. The Mary J. Blige collabo, “Tell Me Why” proved Will’s got more than partying on the mind, while the music proved that you can be pushing 40 and still rock well. Hitch wasn’t thaaat bad either." Lost & Found was the 103rd best selling album in America 2005. Click Here to visit the Spanish TV station Telecinco's website to view a clip from the Spanish Hitch conference.

» New Pictures (12.22.05)

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Uploaded some recent pictures: ~~~~~~~~~~~ Merry Xmas and Happy New Year! ~~~~~~~~~~~ Jingle Ball Concert, Dec 17. Katie Holmes Birthday Party, Dec 17. Glide Fundraiser, Dec 14 We All Have Aids Campaign Photo Shoot, for more info visit weallhaveaids.com

» Gallery Update (12.17.05)

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A couple of days ago Will performed at the Frosty The Showman Concert, login to the gallery to view pictures from the show and backstage. I've also updated/uploaded the following galleries: 2005 American Music Awards 2005 KISS-FM's Wango Tango 102.7's 2004 Troy Premiere 2004 Promoting I Robot on Jay Leno 1995 Cannes 1993 Made in America Premiere

» Will Win's American Music Award (11.23.05)

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Congrats to mr Smith! He won an American Music Award last night for best POP/ROCK Favorite Male Artist. The other nominees were 50 Cent and Rob Thomas. Checkout the gallery for some pictures from the award ceremony. I've also uploaded two more galleries: Candid New York and Steve Stoute's Birthday Party. More galleries will be added very soon.

» Site Updates (11.04.05)

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I've updated or uploaded the following pages: Charts Stats (checkout Will's chart positions from all over the world), Articles (French Premier Mag), Men In Black 2 film page, The Legend of Bagger Vance film page, Discography, & Affs. The Live 8 DVD will be released on November 8. Disc two includes Getting' Jiggy Wit It, Switch, and The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Click Here to purchase online.

» Party Starter UK Chart Position (10.30.05)

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The Party Starter single entered the UK singles chart at number 19. Lost & Found has been certified silver (60k+) in the UK.

» Magazine Scans (10.17.05)

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I've added two magazine scans to the gallery ... more site updates are on the way! Also, checkout my amazing new affiliates.

» Smith and Heavy D Put Show Back on for Hurricane Victims (10.08.05)

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Will Smith is re-teaming up with fellow rapper/actor Heavy D to bring back their popular play "Medal of Honor Rag", with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Smith will executive produce the stage production, which will re-open at Hollywood's Egyptian Arena Theater on October 13 and run until November 6. And in an effort to help victims of Hurricane Katrina - which recently left the Gulf Coast devastated - Heavy D, who stars in the play, has vowed to donate all proceeds to victims of the disaster. Heavy D, real name Dwight Myers, is calling on his friends and colleagues, as well as businesses and the general public for support of his efforts. In the summer, the play entertained a packed house every night. Quincy Jones, Jay-Z, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Laurence Fishburne, Mary J. Blige, Scott Caan and Eve were among the numerous celebrities who showed up to support the show's first run

» American Music Awards & Site Updates (10.02.05)

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Will has been nominated for an American Music Award in the POP/ROCK Favorite Male Artist category. He's up against 50 Cent and Rob Thomas. I've updated the discography page with Party Starter single info and the videography page. I've also uploaded/updated two galleries: On the set of In Pursuit of Happiness & Lost & Found Promos

» Will's new look (09.26.05)

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Checkout Will's look for his new movie 'In Pursuit Of Happyness' (relaese date December 15th, 2006). Picture credit: xanga.com/nomomango

» Celebrities encourage River Center residents (09.11.05)

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The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith paid a visit Thursday to evacuees at the Baton Rouge River Center. Sharpton and Jackson arrived with an entourage of cameras and toured the River Center, talking and praying with evacuees and signing the occasional autograph. Conversations sometimes ended with an aide jotting down a name or a phone number. The Smiths, drawing a substantially heavier crowd, had to step into the shelter area through a side door. Ringed by tables to keep the crowd back, Will Smith waved, signed autographs, shook hands and exchanged high-fives with evacuees and their children. Click Here to read the full article.

» Site Updates (09.08.05)

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will is currently busy filming his new film `Pursuit of Happyness,´ so there's not much news at the moment. Don't forget to request Party Starter on TRL & 106 & Park. I've added a french Premier article and two misc galleries: Promoting 'Shark Tale' in Venice & Born to Reign Promos,

» Dot Com! (09.03.05)

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Change your bookmarks! Smith Zone has now its own domain name www.willsmithzone.com. Head over to Aol Music to watch the amazing Party Starter video. It looks like they have spent a lot of money on it. I've uploaded some miscellaneous galleries: Ozzfest backstage Promoting Hitch on Radio 1, Hitch Barcelona Photo Call, Hitch Mexico Photo Call, Hitch Paris Photo Call, I Robot Madrid Photo Call & Lost & Found Promos.

» Party Starter Video Premiere (08.27.05)

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According to the forum admin at the jazzyjefffreshprince forum (the one and only Smith & Jazzy board) The Party Starter video will premiere on Sunday night at the MTV Music Video Awards! The video was sent out yesterday. More site updates are on the way (including gallery), keep checking.

» Newton finds 'Happyness' with Will Smith (08.19.05)

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British actress Thandie Newton has been cast opposite Will Smith in the fact-based drama "The Pursuit of Happyness." Newton co-starred in the summer indie breakout "Crash." Her other credits include "The Chronicles of Riddick," "The Truth About Charlie," and "Mission: Impossible II." Thandie is the daughter of a Zimbabwean mother ('a princess of the Shona tribe) and a British father. She lived in Zambia until political unrest caused her family to move back to the United Kingdom. Smith plays a sporadically employed salesman who wins custody of his young son just as he is about to begin a stock brokerage intern program. The father and son end up in a homeless shelter. Newton will play Smith's estranged wife and the mother of his son. "Pursuit of Happyness" will be directed by Italian filmmaker Gabriele Muccino, with an eye on a 2006 release via Columbia. Will's five year old son Jaden has been cast to play his son in the movie.

» Party Starter Video & Gallery Update (08.15.05)

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While we wait for the Party Starter video to premiere, check out these six recently uploaded galleries. If you have any pics you would like to share send them to thelilkimzone@yahoo.com

» New Gallery (08.12.05)

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The gallery is now up and running, it's looking good if I can say so myself :) At the moment only 4 galleries have been uploaded, but more is on the way. In order to be able to browse the gallery, you will have to sign up for an account first, it's easy and takes less than a minute (make sure you sign up with a valid e-mail account.) Click Here to check out my amazing new affiliates.

» Ozzfest pictures (08.09.05)

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Jada and her band the Wicked Wisdom are currently touring with the Ozzfest festival, They have appearantly received mixed reviews from the crowd. Will has tagged along to support Jada and the band backstage. Thanks to Megan for submitting these pics. If you have anymore, please send them to thelilkimzone@yahoo.com

» New Layout (08.07.05)

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After a long hiatus Smith Zone is back with a new layout & more! It was time to bring the site back since Will's new single 'Party Starter' is about to be released. As you may notice some of the pages are incomplete, I hope to have the full site up as soon as possible. Enjoy your stay & please check back soon for more updates & sections. If you have any suggestions on how the site can be improved feel free to contact me @ thelilkimzone@yahoo.com

» Party Starter Video Info (08.07.05)

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Will Smith has decided to get jiggy with it one more time, bringing fans another dance club anthem with a video concept that screams "Will 2K." The former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air has picked "Party Starter" to be his next single, and he recently shot a video with director Paul Hunter in Manhattan Beach which features Will doing just that — gettin' the party started. "I like the kind of international vibe of it," Smith said. "It's fun, it's interesting, and just the music and the party energy [of the song] seem to be what people most responded to when I've been out around the world performing and stuff." "In the beginning I'm sitting in the house and then the walls start to fall away, the floor flips over and it turns into the first club," Smith said on the set of the video. "So I stand up there and I start performing in the first club. Then I stomp my foot, the floor cracks and crumbles away and it turns into a hardwood floor. Then the whole Cuban vibe builds around me." And the Cuban vibe is only the beginning. The video continues to follow Will as he creates new surroundings, along the way turning the party into a cultural mash-up. "The people are changing and clothes are changing on people and everything," Will said. "So it's like me kickin' the party off everywhere in the world. It turns from a hip-hop club to a punk-rock club and into like a Cuban or Brazilian kind vibe and then it turns into a country bar. But I'm basically in one spot having a party and the effect is everything's changing around me." Now that Will has released two dance songs as singles from Lost and Found, he plans to tone it down with his next offering and take a more serious approach with "Tell Me Why," which features Mary J. Blige. "She came in and recorded in one day," Smith recalled. "She was in town, I let her hear the record, let her hear the idea and she was just so moved by the concept that she went right into the studio that night and recorded the record." Smith said the song — which follows the same model as Jadakiss' "Why," asking questions about the current state of the world — is the second best song (next to "Summertime") that he has ever written. "We actually recorded it three and a half years ago," he said. "But it's just something that is in my heart. I just love that song. I feel really confident about it and I am waiting for me and Mary's schedules to open up to be able to shoot [the video]."