Although Will Smith has been previously nominated for an Oscar, King Richard could be his best chance at winning the prestigious award. With one of the previous nominations coming from a biopic about a historical figure related to sports, the Fresh Prince does have an aura about him that makes him perfect for sports movies.
The most important character he has played to date has been the legendary Muhammad Ali- where he truly embodied the character but lost out to Denzel Washington in Training Day. In 2016, he was nominated once again, but he lost it out to Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant.
Is Will Smith finally winning an Oscar for ‘King Richard’?
After spending five years without any sniff at the awards circuit, and a string of flops, Will Smith finally decided to showcase his acting chops in King Richard- for which the Williams sisters approached him. The role was based on their father, and Will Smith was pretty sold on the task where he had to convince the entire family that he was the perfect actor for the role.
In fact, the Williams sisters had also decided to not attach their name to the movie until they had a chance to see the movie. All this provided the actor with even more incentive to put out his best-ever performance.
While Concussion and Ali couldn’t bring him to the top, King Richard mesmerizes not just through the performance of Will Smith, but also through the impressive direction, and a masterclass supporting role of John Bernthal. Now, this could be Smith’s Oscar to lose, if other great actors like Denzel Washington, Andrew Garfield, Leo DiCaprio, or Benedict Cumberbatch didn’t explode into the scene.
What could probably serve as jury enough was the Williams sisters freaking out when they saw the movie- simply because of the authenticity of the performance which the actors put in.
King Richard is currently streaming on HBO Max.
