Will (2020)
Will is a 2020 african american actors book written by Will Smith and Mark Manson.
Will Smith tells his own story, from the West Philadelphia bedroom where a scared, funny kid learned to perform his way past fear, to the top of music, television, and movies. Written with Mark Manson, the memoir traces the rapper who became the Fresh Prince and then one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, and it is candid about the cost: a father whose approval he chased, a first marriage that broke, and the relentless drive that built the fame and nearly hollowed it out. The voice is warm, self-aware, and often very funny, less a victory lap than an honest reckoning with the machinery of ambition.
Quick answers
What is Will about?
Will Smith tells his own story, from the West Philadelphia bedroom where a scared, funny kid learned to perform his way past fear, to the top of music, television, and movies. Written with Mark Manson, the memoir traces the rapper who became the Fresh Prince and then one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, and it is candid about the cost: a father whose approval he chased, a first marriage that broke, and the relentless drive that built the fame and nearly hollowed it out. The voice is warm, self-aware, and often very funny, less a victory lap than an honest reckoning with the machinery of ambition.
When was Will published?
Will was published in 2020.
Who made Will?
Will was written by Will Smith and Mark Manson.
A few thoughts on Will
Read alongside Matthew McConaughey's Greenlights, another actor's memoir that turns a life into hard-won lessons rather than a highlight reel. Fans of the origin story should revisit The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, where much of this drive first went public, and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's early records, which carry the same eager, crowd-pleasing energy the book describes.
Memoirs that face a difficult father honestly
Will Smith's memoir keeps circling back to a father whose approval he never stopped chasing, even after he had conquered music, television, and film. Finding Me and Never Finished share that same unflinching turn inward, performers using extreme discipline to outrun old wounds, while Notes of a Native Son and We Real Cool trace how Black manhood gets shaped by exactly this kind of inherited pain.
Comedy and charm used as armor against fear
Long before Will Smith was untouchable at the box office, he was a scared kid in West Philadelphia learning to charm his way past danger. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air turned that exact survival skill into a hit sitcom, while Good Will Hunting, The Hottest State, and True Identity follow other men who use humor, talent, or disguise to keep old fear at bay.