ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120016
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: DOUGLAS J. ROWE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Amid the plaudits and positive press Will Smith is receiving for playing the no-bull, can-do top-gun type in ``Independence Day,'' consider this: Maybe the role's not such a stretch.
Listen to the 27-year-old actor who plays a fighter pilot who can't wait to kick E.T.'s butt in this summer's blockbuster movie, and he sounds like a no-bull, can-do guy who abides no whining and no excuses in real life - especially when it comes to race.
He's well aware that, with the six-year run of his sitcom ``Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' ending in May and LL Cool J's ``In The House'' defecting to UPN, no black-star vehicles have taken their place on NBC. Still, he apparently subscribes to the old-school notion that every time you point a finger, three fingers are pointing back at you.
``I'm not denying that there's any racism in Hollywood or at NBC or any network,'' Smith says. ``But NBC had the `Cosby' show, NBC had `A Different World,' NBC had the `Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.' ''
``My problem is more with black writers and black producers. You make some good shows, then somebody's gonna put 'em on. That's the bottom line. Black people have to stop complaining and make some good shows.''
He further maintains that certain complaints and protests can be wrongheaded and should be put aside - such as the ones about how just one Academy Award nominee this year was black.
``Forget that. Let's concentrate on doing good work,'' he says. ``The establishment has tried to deny us for 400 years. Let's not argue with them about it. Let's be strong.''
``I know if I ran a network and I had the choice of putting on a bad black show or a bad white show, I'm going to put a bad black show on,'' he says, laughing. ``But if I have decision of putting on a good black show and a good white show, then that makes the decision a little different - `Wow, they're both good. Let me find a way to get both of them on the air.'
``I think what the argument is is that a lot of times the networks will have a good black show and an OK white show and choose the white show. That's OK, too, because as far as I'm concerned, good is not good enough. We got to be great anyway,'' he says.
``Black people need to stop looking to white people to validate our existence.''
Dean Devlin, the co-writer and producer of ``Independence Day,'' suggests Smith is practicing what he preaches.
He notes that Smith more than succeeds in his heroic role, which was written not as an African-American part but as an All-American part.
``In real life, he's the American dream,'' Devlin says. ``The guy makes himself famous by becoming a rap artist. And everyone says, `You're a rapper.' And he says, `No, I'm not. I'm a TV star.' Everyone laughs and says, `Yeah, right.' Bang! He's a TV star. Then they say, `OK, you're a TV star.' He says, `No, no, no ... I'm a movie star.' And they say, `No, you are a sitcom star.' Bang! He becomes a movie star. And in a very real sense, that is the American dream - not to allow anyone else to define who you are as a person.''
``He has that same thing that Tom Hanks has - that even if you've never met him, you just get the feeling that is probably a very good person. And somehow it comes across in his work.''
Roland Emmerich, the director and co-writer of ``Independence Day,'' says he wanted to cast the Fresh Prince as a fighter pilot after seeing him display impressive range in the movie ``Six Degrees of Separation.''
The German-accented filmmaker has a one-word explanation for the upward arc of Smith's career: ``Talent.''
Smith himself chalks it up to hard work and a willingness to learn everything about every aspect of the business.
``The television show really helped me a lot,'' the 6-foot-2 actor says. ``TV is like the gym. TV is a really, really intense workout facility. You work on your timing, you learn about the cameras, just everything about performing. You can get in really good shape.''
Growing up in west Philadelphia with two sisters and a brother, a refrigeration engineer for a dad and a mom who worked for the school board, Smith says he always felt he could achieve his goals - movie stardom, or whatever.
``I think what I've always known is that if you do one thing well, other things will come from it,'' he says. ``That's what I learned from the music. One hit record from Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, `Parents Just Don't Understand,' got us a phone line. And then we were successful with the phone line. And then Quincy Jones called me to talk about a TV show.''
Recalling that his success all stemmed from a hit record, the two-time Grammy winner is thinking about a return to rap.
But there's a problem: Since he's been living on the West Coast, the rap music there has ``destroyed my creativity.''
And what is about West Coast rap that he dislikes?
``It's just depressing. West Coast rap really has a sense of hopelessness. Socially degenerate, misogynistic, emotionally destructive concepts that I can't relate to.''
Urban sociology aside, Smith says he's a humongous science fiction fan, which is one of two big reasons he's currently making another sci-fi film, ``Men in Black.''
The other reason? ``Steven Spielberg (the movie's executive producer) calls your house personally, you kinda can't so no.'
`No, Steve. I'm not really in the mood. I know you did `Jurassic Park' ... I know you were part of the biggest movies in history. But, you know, I'm just not feeling it.'''
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Will Smith, who starred for six years in TV's "Freshby CNBPrince of Bel-Air' (above), 2. has moved on to more serious work in
the movie, "Independence Day." color.