Will Smith does not want to enter politics — or not entirely — but he has discussed with President Obama playing Obama in a movie, he told Stephen Colbert on Tuesday's Late Show. "What do you think of race relations now, after eight years of the Obama presidency?" Colbert asked. "I always look at these things in terms of a marriage," Smith said, specifically mentioning his hard work to build a successful relationship with wife Jada Pinkett Smith. "So when I think about race relations in this country now, there's a thing that happens before things are cleaned up. There is a darkness before the dawn that is always difficult."
Racial tension is "clearly not worse than it was in the '60s, you know, and it's certainly not as bad as it was in the 1860s," Smith noted. "We are talking about race in this country more clearly and openly than we have almost ever in the history of this country. It's on the table." When Colbert likened racial relations to a doctor draining an infected wound, Smith agreed. "Racism is not getting worse, it's getting filmed," he said. "I really think this darkness, as bad as it is and as difficult as it is, the problems are on the table. I view that in the same way as Jada and I had to work though things in our marriage: When the truth comes out, when it gets on the table, when you have to confront what's real, it sucks." But now that the problem is "on the table," Smith said, "I think there's an opportunity, more than ever, for a level of understanding that we've never had before." Watch below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Brazil has a scorpion problemUnder The Radar Venomous arachnids are infesting country's fast-growing cities
-
Why Rikers Island will no longer be under New York City's controlThe Explainer A 'remediation manager' has been appointed to run the infamous jail
-
California may pull health care from eligible undocumented migrantsIN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
