The Gospel of Will Smith

Will Smith has been experimenting with the bittersweet side of life in his last few films. A down-on-his-luck and out-of-work father ("The Pursuit of Happyness"), a man faced with the end of the world ("I Am Legend") and an alcoholic superhero trying to get his life back on track ("Hancock"). Not exactly the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This month Smith takes on another somber role in the film "Seven Pounds,'' where he plays a man desperate for redemption after he makes one tragic mistake that ruins the lives of seven people. The film also stars Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson and Connor Cruise, the son of his good friend Tom Cruise (and Nicole Kidman). Smith talked to NEWSWEEK's Allison Samuels.

SAMUELS: " Seven Pounds " is pretty haunting. Why take on a character like that?
SMITH: Usually with the films that I make there are ideas that I connect to, but lately I've been dealing with the bittersweet in life because it feels more natural. You don't ever get it really the way you want in life. That really fascinates me. As an actor there are certain parts of a character that you create, and you train yourself to have those reactions and then it becomes hard to stop them when the role is over. You have to retrain yourself. My character in this film is like hot grits. You know you can't shake them off and when you do, it hurts.

Is your life bittersweet?
Not really, but I love the origins of a story and have always been intrigued with the idea of trauma—emotional trauma and loss. Life is all about death and rebirth and how do we manage to deal with those things when they happen. And not just death in terms of life. You know when you lose your job or your house—that's a death of something that is a part of your life. How do you manage that? What do you do the next day after it happens? How do you go on? With these characters, they've all experienced traumas that have changed their lives. I like that this film shows you the options in life for redemption and finding yourself again.

But you must draw on something for the turmoil you show in the film.
I guess in some ways I think about my grandmother, who died from a stroke a few years ago. I never cried about it and always adopted the attitude that she was in a better place, that it was for the best because of the stroke and how ill she was. I'm sure I drew on that because it gave me permission to feel things that you don't normally or I don't normally like to show. I guess it's healing in that way.

Are you worried the audience won ' t join you on this kind of bleak journey?
That's why we've been going to different cities around the country to promote the movie. It's given me a chance to talk to the people and see what they want and what they need. I visited hospitals and other places just to reconnect and hope to do it more before the films. That's one way to stay in sync with my fans.

Your love interest in " Seven Pounds " is Rosario Dawson. Why doesn ' t Hollywood make more African-American love stories?
Hollywood sees green as in dollars, and that's just the bottom line. You have to show them you can make money with your story no matter what color the characters are. Martin Scorsese has proven to Hollywood he can make Italian-American stories that bring in the money, and that's what Hollywood wants to hear. Every time an executive greenlights a film, he's putting his job and his future on the line. I don't think Hollywood is racist, but I do think they work with what they know. And since many of the top studios or people who greenlight features are not familiar with our stories, it's just much easier to go with what they know and not delve into what they don't. I think that's where my responsibility comes in as someone who can make a difference, because I can get my films made and choose the people I want in those films and the stories I want to tell. It really comes down to that. We have to tell our own stories, really.

The school that you and your wife, Jada, opened this year in Calabasas, Calif., the New Village Academy, has gotten a lot of attention, particularly rumors that Scientology will be taught there. Did that upset you?
It was just important to me to put something out there to help kids understand that it all starts right there—in that classroom and with those teachers. I want to be a part of kids figuring out that it is a new time in America and they can be a part of it. I take my citizenship very seriously, and one part of that is service. My grandmother taught me that, and I was happy that President-elect Obama talked about it so much on the campaign trail. Part of the reason the country is where we are now is because many of us aren't doing our part. We need to get back to the help-your-neighbor concept that's just disappeared in the last eight years.