Will Smith returned to awards season on Wednesday to accept the Beacon Award at the African American Film Critics Association Awards. The speech marked the Oscar winner’s first in-person acceptance at an awards show since beating Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Academy Awards.
He accepted the award alongside his emancipation director, Antoine Fuqua, who began the acceptance speech by explaining the award’s significance. “The Beacon Award is designed to recognize films that approach challenging issues with insight, enlighten and engage audiences,” he said. “We hoped that Emancipation would bring to life Peter’s triumphant story, his unwavering faith, and his deep love for his family.” The director thanked Apple, AAFCA and the film’s cast and crew before handing the microphone to Smith.
“Emancipation was the individually most difficult film of my entire career,” the actor began his part of the speech. “It’s really difficult to transport a modern spirit to this era. It’s hard to imagine, that level of inhumanity.”
He went on to share his experiences filming the AppleTV+ movie, in which he plays Peter, an enslaved man who manifests his own freedom. Smith then recalled being spontaneously spat on by a white co-star while filming a tense scene and how it had affected his understanding of the injustice of slavery.
“It was the second day of shooting and 110 degrees,” he said. “I was in a scene with one of the white actors, and we had our lines, and the actor decided to go ad lib. So let’s do the scene. I made my line. He made his line. And then he spat at will and spat right in the middle of my chest. If I had pearls on I would definitely have clutched them. I was going to say ‘Antoineeeeee’ but I stopped and realized Peter couldn’t have called the principal.”
He continued, “I sat there and took a deep breath and we took two and the actor felt the ad lib had gone well. So let’s take two. i make my line He makes his line and spits in the middle of my chest again. I just held onto that moment, and there was a part — it’s making me cry right now — there was a part of me that was grateful that I got to really understand it. And then I hear a voice in the distance and Antoine says, ‘Hey, let’s take a no-spit shot.’ And in that moment I knew that God is real.”
Smith also thanked the AAFCA and everyone in the room for all they are doing. He then took a moment to express his appreciation to Apple.
“I want to thank Apple because budget was one thing,” he said. “And then the budget was a different matter. And then the budget was another matter. And Apple never flinched. It was the first time I’d heard from a studio that the story was more important than the cost of making it, so we added a few things that we wanted. They make iPhones. You can do it.”
Before he took the stage, Smith was besieged by cameras at his first public appearance of this awards season. He was notably absent from the NAACP Image Awards, where he won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Peter. He later posted a thank you on his Instagram, calling out the organization for “the work you do throughout the year” and sharing how much it meant to him to be recognized by them in this way.
The film premiered in Westwood in November and was briefly caught in the crossfire of controversy when a producer posed with the original photograph of Scourged Back that inspired the screenplay.
Christy Piña contributed to this story.