In July of 2018, Will Smith told us he was going to write a book. He said he was doing it for us because he has “years and years of stuff I want to say.” On Saturday, Will not only announced the release date, but he also showed a copy of the cover (above) as well. According to the press release, the book is equal parts self-help and memoir. It will arrive November 9th of this year but is available for pre-order now. People gives us a little more insight as to what to expect.
Will Smith is sharing his story on his own terms.
On Saturday, the award-winning actor revealed the title and cover of his upcoming autobiography, WILL, on Instagram and his website. The inspirational memoir will be published by Penguin Press on Nov. 9.
“It’s been a labor of love,” Smith said in a video posted on social media about the exciting news. “I’ve been working on it for the past two years and it is finally ready.”
In WILL, Smith will explore his personal trajectory, from his childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to his iconic roles in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and an array of hit films like Ali (2001) and Hitch (2005).
The book is an “inspirational tale of how [Will Smith’s] true self-knowledge helped to propel him to extraordinary success, and then evolve further to a place of deeper peace – with himself, his loved ones, and the world,” according to the press release announcing the book deal in October 2018.
Smith also revealed the cover for the forthcoming release, which was created by New Orleans-based visual artist Brandan “BMike” Odums. The cover features a series of portraits of the actor painted on top of each other.
“The idea is to communicate visually the evolution of a person, from childhood through adulthood, and at major stages of their life in between,” according to a press release.
The book was co-written by Mark Manson, something Will told us was going to happen at the beginning. Mark has written a couple best sellers, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Everything is F*cked, Love is Not Enough and (and I am not making this up) Models: Attract Women Through Honesty. I admit I haven’t read Mark’s stuff, but the description of his books sounds a lot like how the Smiths try to sell their Red Table Talks, “real talk” and facing the truth kind of thing. I’m impressed the book took two years, that says at least Will thought about it and didn’t just push it through to get his $$$.
Will has led a fascinating life, I’d like to know about it. But it sounds like he’s going to turn his experiences into teachable moments. I feel like the Smith family tends to exclude important details in their teachable moments, especially the ones that end up making them look bad. Still, if this is the book Will wanted to write, then good for him. It’s always an accomplishment to finish a project like this. Kudos.
What I really want to talk about is the cover of this book. It’s an amazing piece of art. Will posted this time lapse video below of the artist creating it. The image is five layers, each representing a different stage of Will’s life. I’ve watched him create the canvas about a dozen times and I swear, the finished product gets more beautiful each time I watch. The artist is Brandon Bmike Odums frm New Orleans and his work is amazing.
Photo credit: Instagram
