The actor attended the African American Film Critics Association Awards to accept the Beacon Award alongside his 'Emancipation' director Antoine Fuqua.
was the most individual difficult film of my entire career,” the actor began his part of the speech. “It’s really difficult to transport a modern mind to that time period. It’s difficult to imagine that, that level of inhumanity.”
He went on to recount his experience filming the AppleTV+ movie, in which he plays Peter, an enslaved man who manifests his own freedom, entirely outdoors. Smith then recalled being spontaneously spat on by a white co-star while filming a tense scene, and how that impacted his understanding of the injustice of the slavery era.
“It was the second day of shooting and 110 degrees,” Smith said. “I was in a scene with one of the white actors, and we had our lines, and the actor decided to ad-lib. So, we’re doing the scene. I did my line. He did his line. And then he ad-libbed and spit in the middle of my chest. If I had pearls on, I definitely would’ve clutched them. I wanted to say, ‘Antoineeeeee,’ but I stopped, and I realized that Peter couldn’t have called the director.
He continued, “I sat there, and I took a deep breath, and we did take two, and the actor felt that the ad-lib had gone well. So, we do take two. I do my line. He does his line and spits in the middle of my chest again. I just held in that moment, and there was a part — it makes me teary right now — there was a part of me that was grateful that I got tounderstand. And then, in the distance, I hear a voice, and Antoine says, ‘Hey, let’s do a take without the spit.
Prior to taking the stage, Smith was flocked by cameras marking his first public appearance this awards season. He was noticeably absent at the
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