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A Streetcar Named Smith
Will and Jada-Pinkett Smith to star in Streetcar revival?
Photo: lamarkco, via Flickr
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According to the New York Post, it’s a distinct possibility.
Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith, one of Hollywood’s biggest power couples and co-producers of Fela!, have “been approached to play Stanley and Stella Kowalski in a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, opening early next year,” says the Post‘s Michael Riedel.
Supposedly this is part of “the Denzel Effect,” of course referring to Denzel Washington. He starred in the recent revival of Fences, which won three Tonys, including Best Actor for its lead, and made nearly $3 million. Other Hollywood stars, many of which are African-American, including Halle Berry and Samuel L. Jackson in The Mountaintop, are hoping to join the Broadway bandwagon.
Look no further than this year’s Tony Awards: Washington, Viola Davis (Fences), Catherine Zeta-Jones (A Little Night Music) and Scarlett Johansson (A View from the Bridge) all walked away with a statute, and all are more well known for their movie roles. Or because they’re married to Michael Douglas.
The Smiths haven’t decided anything yet, but if they do join Streetcar, it’d continue Will’s amazing transformation from Fresh Prince to Respected Actor. Here’s a brief timeline:
As you may have heard, Smith was born and raised in West Philadelphia. In 1985, at the age of 17, he met Jeff Townes, and the two would soon become DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. They made harmless rap music, such as “Summertime” and “Parents Just Don’t Understand” (my favorite song about unintentionally seducing underage girls, by the way). Because of their humorous ways, the duo won the Grammy’s first Rap award.
In 1990, NBC built a sitcom around Smith’s persona, calling it The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show was a major success, lasting 148 episodes over six seasons. And yes, the theme song. While filming Bel-Air in Los Angeles, Smith told himself that he would become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, meaning no more awkward Blossom cameos.
While Smith’s first three movies—Where the Day Takes You, Made in America and Six Degrees of Separation—didn’t do much at the box office, his fourth did. Michael Bay’s Bad Boys, starring Smith and Martin Lawrence, is not a great film in any way (note the “Michael Bay’s” before the title), but it was full of explosions and quips—and made $141 million.
After the success of Bad Boys, Smith could do no wrong. In 1996, he starred in Independence Day, and a year later, Men in Black. Both are blockbuster classics (but only one has the greatest movie speech of all-time), and because they became out in early-July, Smith became the King of the Fourth of July. It was thought he could open anything that weekend.
In 1998, Enemy of the State was released, showing a more dramatic and paranoid side of Smith. He was nominated for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture and the world began to wonder, “Maybe this kid can act?” But all good will (no pun intended) was lost with 1999′s Wild Wild West, an absolutely awful movie and his first July 4th bust. To add insult to injury, Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix to play Jim West, “desperado, rough rider.”
Speaking of his music: In 1997, Big Willie Style introduced the world to the word “jiggy” and sold over 14 million albums in the process. Willenium came next, and although the idea of a “Will 2K” is amusing,” people weren’t nearly as invested, and the album only sold four million copies worldwide.
The Legend of Bagger Vance didn’t do much to help his career, although it did help his wallet: Smith made $10 million for his part as a golf caddy. Was the former-Fresh Prince’s career done? Not even close, thanks to The Greatest, Muhammad Ali. Smith put everything he had into Ali, training for nearly a year to get in top psychical shape to play the boxer. All the hard work paid off, too: Smith received a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars, and while the movie didn’t make back its $110 million budget, it did save Smith’s career.
Since then, Smith has mixed blockbusters (Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, Hancock, I Am Legend) with dramatic roles in smaller films (The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds). He also occasionally shows his comedic chops that made him famous in the first place (Hitch). And beginning with 2004′s I, Robot, he started producing his own films. Plus, his wife is the star of the hit TV show HawthoRNe and their son, Jaden, earned top billing in The Karate Kid, which has grossed $210 million worldwide. Smith will soon begin working on Men in Black III.
Collectively, his films have made nearly $3 billion, and he’s also found success in Broadway with Fela! Will Streetcar be next?