Film Debut
Willow wasn’t the only child in the Smith family that found themselves being pushed towards the spotlight at a very young age. Jaden, Willow’s older brother, first became widely known after he was cast in the role of Chris Gardner’s son, Christopher in Will Smith’s highly successful nonfiction drama film, The Pursuit of Happiness.
The movie was enormously successful and garnered widespread acclaim. This caused Jaden to instantly became a child celebrity, and he also felt that being pushed so early into fame caused various problems throughout his life. There was one film in particular though that Jaden felt really damaged him as a child.
Reaching for the Stars
While every parent wants to support their child’s dreams, sometimes when you’re as famous and successful as Will and Jada, it’s best to hold off on pushing your kids to “be all that they can be.”
With the Smith family's incredible fame and wealth, it was clear that Willow wouldn’t have had a problem achieving anything she ever wanted.
Getting Emotional
The teary-eyed mother looked sadly at her daughter and realized just how much Will and her actions had ended up hurting Willow. Jada tried explaining the motivation behind these actions, “Your dad and I, we were like, ‘Oh man, she’ll be set up for life. This is her start.’”
But Willow said that shaving her hair was a direct consequence of the “upset” that she suffered from her pop career. She adds, “There’s a Nirvana lyric that says, ‘I shave my head, and then I’m not sad.’”
First Lead Role
Jaden opened up about his traumatic experiences after appearing in the 2010’s martial arts film The Karate Kid. The young actor explained, “I went through the same thing that Willow went through with “Whip My Hair” with The Karate Kid. It was happening at the same time.” The film starred Jackie Chan and was effectively Jaden’s first lead role in a film.
While he had a key role in The Pursuit of Happiness back in 2006, it was a heartfelt film and his contribution was more of a supporting role. Now that he was the star of a popular film, this opened him up to all sorts of criticism and judgment that often come with so much attention.
Emotional Trials
Jada was aware of the incredibly negative effects that early fame had had on Jaden. She recalled just how emotionally distraught he was after The Karate Kid was released, and said, “I remember the moment because I asked [Jaden], [and he] went into that full split... He was in tears, and I was like, ‘I’m done.’” Luckily for Jada, her son was a true fighter, and eventually managed to deal with all the pressure and the hardships.
Jada revealed her son’s incredibly brave reaction when she was ready to throw in the towel, “He looked at me like, ‘Mom, I’m good', got up, and said, ‘Let’s do it again.’”