Will Smith Says ‘Collateral Beauty’ Helped Him Cope With Father’s Death

Will Smith participated in a Q&A at Facebook HQ to promote his new film Collateral Beauty. During the session, the rapper/actor said that filming the movie helped him cope with his father’s death. He also expressed his hope that the film will help others going through a similar situation.

“It was so powerful to be cleansed of the box office,” Smith said. “Like I don’t need the box office to be huge on this film. I don’t need to win any awards. I don’t care. It was the film that I actually worked on that I was actually able to comfortably and beautifully say goodbye to my father. And I hope that this film embodies a bit of that so other people who are experiencing things like that will be able to use it in that way, and it can potentially be helped and help someone else. It was powerful to be cleansed of the foolishness of the game of the numbers and awards and all that type of stuff; to actually be able to create a piece of art that legitimately I just want people to see and people helpful and transformative in their lives.

Collateral Beauty hits theaters on Dec. 16. Smith stars as Howard Inlet, a successful New York advertising executive who retreats from life after suffering a great tragedy. Edward Norton, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren Naomie Harris and Michael Pena round out the cast.

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