Will Smith Faces Criticism After 'Unrecognizable' Appearance

By Allison Schonter

Will Smith has sparked plenty of chatter online after he looked almost unrecognizable during his latest TV interview. The 53-year-old actor, who rose to fame on the TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air back in '90s, appeared on BBC's The One Show on Wednesdays, but it wasn't his discussion about his new film King Richard that captured fan attention. Rather, social media was abuzz with chatter over Smith's "unrecognizable" appearance.

Appearing on the program to promote the upcoming Reinaldo Marcus Green-directed biographical drama, Smith donned a purple shirt and patterned tie. He maintained his usual facial hair. While there were no outwardly noticeable changes, many viewers felt something looked off about Smith's appearance, sparking a frenzy of remarks on social media, with one person even stating that the man on the screen "looks like a Will Smith impersonator." Others said they could barely recognize Smith.

"Will Smith on BBC1 now... doesn't look like Will Smith. It's definitely him, like. But isn't. Maybe it's the goatee?" one person wrote online, with another person tweeting that Smith "looks like a Pixar version of himself. Wtf. Had to get the program info up on the one show to make sure it was actually him." While several people threw out suggestions on what was different, many seemed unable to put their finger on it, including one viewer who shared, "you know when a person doesn't look like themselves when they don't have their glasses on? Will Smith on The One Show looks a little odd. Not sure why." A fourth person asked, "how does Will Smith look the same now as he did in the fresh prince days?"

While Smith hasn't addressed the internet chatter, and fans still seem unable to find the source of his "unrecognizable" appearance, the buzz was sparked not long after the actor revealed he lost some weight. In May, Smith candidly shared with his followers that he was "in the worst shape of my life," and in the months that followed, he has worked to shed the weight he gained throughout the coronavirus pandemic, in October sharing that he was in the "best shape of [his] life."

Smith documented his 20-pound weight loss goal on YouTube, the actor having partnered with the video platform for a six-part unscripted fitness docuseries titled Best Shape of My Life. The series followed Smith "challenging himself to improve every aspect of his fitness, from agility to power to recovery and more, teaming up with guests including pro athletes, scientists and experts, and top YouTube creators."

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