Will Smith and his film King Richard continue to earn multiple honors. The nominees for the 53rd annual NAACP Image Awards were recently announced, and King Richard is up for five awards, including Outstanding Motion Picture. Smith is nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, Aunjaune Ellis is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, Reinaldo Marcus Green is up for Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture and the ensemble is up for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture.
Smith plays Richard Williams in the film which is about him coaching his daughters, future tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. Ellis plays Richard’s wife, Oracene. “I think the thing that was most surprising for me—before I decided that I absolutely had to tell this story—was that Richard had prophesized everything; that he had been watching a tennis match and Virginia Ruzici won $40,000 and two years before the girls were born, Richard wrote out plans for their entire careers,” Smith said.
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“He actually went to Oracene with this dream, this prophecy, that they had to have these two kids who were going to be the number one and number two tennis players of all time. And, I was like, ‘Wait, that can’t be true.’ When I went back and did the research, I just found it to be such a powerful story of belief, love, family and God.”
Green enjoyed telling this story as it’s all about family. “It is very clear that this story is really a full family affair. In speaking with the members of the Williams family, they talked about their mom, Oracene, working double shifts to put food on the table,” he said. “Richard had many jobs. But all of the sisters, Isha, Lyndrea, Tunde, were all on the courts with Venus and Serena. They would pick up balls, hang signs and were out on the court after school until the lights shut off. These older sisters were helping to take care of the younger ones, which I just thought was incredible when I heard that story—all of this needed to make its way into the script and onto the screen.”
King Richard has already won its share of awards. Earlier this month, Smith won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture -Drama. He also won the African-American Flim Critics Association Award for Best Actor, and King Richard was named one of the Top Tens Films of the Year by the American Film Institute.
