Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. He has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards. As of 2025, his films have grossed over $9.5 billion globally, making him one of Hollywood's most bankable stars. Smith first gained recognition as part of a hip hop duo with DJ Jazzy Jeff, with whom he released five studio albums which contained five Billboard Hot 100-top 20 singles—"Parents Just Don't Understand", "A Nightmare on My Street", "Summertime", "Ring My Bell", and "Boom! Shake the Room"—from 1985 to 1994. He released the solo albums Big Willie Style (1997), Willennium (1999), Born to Reign (2002), and Lost and Found (2005), which spawned the U.S. number-one singles "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" and "Wild Wild West" (featuring Dru Hill and Kool Moe Dee). He has won four Grammy Awards for his recording career. Smith began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996), for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1993 and 1994. He achieved wider fame as a leading man with the film franchises Bad Boys (1995–2024) Men in Black (1997–2012). After starring in the thrillers Independence Day (1996) and Enemy of the State (1998), he received Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his portrayals of Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001) and Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). He also starred in commercially successful films such as I, Robot (2004), Shark Tale (2004), Hitch (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Hancock (2008), Seven Pounds (2008), Suicide Squad (2016), Aladdin (2019), and Spies in Disguise (2019). For his portrayal of Richard Williams in the biographical sports drama King Richard (2021), Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actor. At the 2022 ceremony, shortly before winning, Smith slapped and shouted at presenter Chris Rock after Rock made an unscripted derogatory joke referencing Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The controversial event earned substantial media coverage and criticism, with Smith ultimately resigning from the Academy along with being banned from attending all their events for ten years. Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Smith Studio albums Big Willie Style (1997) Willennium (1999) Born to Reign (2002) Lost and Found (2005) Based on a True Story (2025)