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Home · Love & Sex

Will Smith Gets Emotional As He Remembers Becoming A Dad At 24

The actor sat down for his first one-on-one conversation with Jada Pinkett Smith on 'Red Table Talk,' confessing how afraid he was as a first-time dad.
Will Smith Gets Emotional About Becoming A Dad At 24
By Jasmine Grant · Updated November 4, 2020

Will Smith is known as the lively, fun-loving, and talented actor/artist we’ve seen on our TV and movie screens since the ’80s. He’s also known for being a devoted family man who gives his children the freedom to express themselves creatively. But there was a time when he wasn’t quite so confident in his parenting abilities. He recently opened up about that time during a Father’s Day episode of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk.

In his first one-on-one RTT interview, Smith shed a few tears as he tells the story of bringing his first son, Trey, home from the hospital. As his then-wife Sheree Zampino slept, Smith nervously checked on baby Trey to make sure he was still breathing. The actor says he remembers feeling overcome with fear as a 24-year-old first-time dad.

“I think that was my first moment of the real weight of parenting,” Smith said. “I brought him home, and I remember we put him in the bassinet… and it was like stark terror. I’m totally responsible for this life. I just cried so hard. It makes me teary right now.”

As tears well up in his eyes, Smith admitted, “[I felt like,] I can’t do it,” he says. “I’m not the guy. I just knew I didn’t know anything. In that moment, [I was thinking] how much better than me my father was. It was on me now.”

Grab a tissue and watch the clip below.

Will also opened up about divorcing Trey’s mom and the difficulty they had co-parenting in the beginning. Though they have a friendly relationship now (Zampino has even appeared on an episode of RTT for a discussion with Jada), Smith was honest that his issues with Zampino caused him to be a distant father at one point. “Divorce was the ultimate failure for me,” he said. “I’ve been hurt a lot in my adult life, but I don’t think anything touches the failure of getting divorced from my two-year-old son’s mother. If a man’s not a great husband, then he loses his parental rights. And I’m a way better father than I am a husband.” 

Towards the end of the episode, Jada also teared up while thanking Will for being such a committed dad.

View this post on Instagram

On today’s special Father’s Day episode, Jada and Will have an emotional and vulnerable conversation about fatherhood as they look back on their marriage and reflect on how parenting has strengthened their partnership. Watch the full #RedTableTalk episode here on Facebook Watch: https://fb.me/RTTFathersDay

A post shared by Red Table Talk (@redtabletalk) on Jun 21, 2020 at 3:48pm PDT

Vulnerability – we love to see it! Watch Will and Jada’s full Red Table Talk conversation here.

TOPICS:  Jada Pinkett Smith Red Table Talk Will Smith
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