The best Will Smith movies that should have won him Oscars

Three Best Actor Oscar nominations have been made to Will Smith during his long career. One of the most notable was for Richard Williams, ultimate tennis father. King Richard He also received his first Best Picture nomination in the role of producer. Smith is an uncommon movie star who can be trusted, and has been a popular performer in many roles over the years. It is frankly bizarre that he has never won an Oscar — King Richard These are the next Ali And Happiness is the pursuit of happiness as his acting nominations, and we’ll see Sunday night if that translates to his first win.

There is no better way to highlight his most memorable performances than by traveling through the entirety of his long and illustrious career. From his early roles to latest triumphs, here’s our rundown of some of his best work.

Paul, Six Degrees of Separation

Image by M Home Entertainment

Here is one of his earliest glimpses at Smith’s incredible charisma. A charming, young conman plays the role of a manipulative, con artist who tricked a wealthy Manhattan couple, Stockard Channing, and Donald Sutherland, by pretending to be their friend and, even more daringly, the child of Sidney Poitier. Channing received an Academy Award nomination for the adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize nominated play, which was inspired by a real-life story. Smith brought the film to life with every scene, which I think is a great honor. —Pete Volk

Six Degrees Of Separation You can watch it online HBO Max.

Will, Papa’s Got A Brand New Excuse

Warner Home Video

Although this movie isn’t a film, some performances transcend genres (and Smith could easily have won an Emmy). Smith’s entire run on Bel-Air’s Fresh Prince deserves mention — his natural charm does a lot to keep that show as fun as it is — but this episode is one of the most highly regarded in the series, for good reason. A reunion appears possible when Will meets his father, who he has been living with since the past. Will becomes more optimistic about having his father back, but his aunt and uncle start to be wary. This episode is a classic sitcom, regardless of the era. It features touching performances by Smith and James Avery. —PV

Bel Air: The New Prince You can watch it online HBO Max.

Mike Lowrey of the Bad Boys Franchise

Columbia Pictures

Smith first launched onto the action star stage with Michael Bay’s 1995 classic Bad Boys, playing the super cool Miami detective Mike Lowrey in the buddy cop franchise, delivering just the perfect amount of swagger and confidence to play as the comedy straight man against Martin Lawrence’s more animated Marcus Burnett. The pair’s chemistry and Bay’s explosive direction helped propel Smith’s career forward. Bay posted a humorous story on Instagram about it in January. Smith also sent Bay a signed copy his memoir. Bay asked Smith to be shirtless for a scene. Bad BoysBay assured Smith that it would make him a star. Smith wasn’t sure, Bay ended up convincing him, and as Smith’s career and his signed message to Bay in the memoir reveal: The director was right.

The original has some of the best comedy Bad Boys hasn’t aged so well, but Smith’s performance is excellent, and it’s a good opportunity to shout out the latest installment in the franchise, Bad Boys Are Not for Life. Smith and Lawrence deliver outstanding performances in an older version of the franchise, where both stars are literally too old. —PV

Bad Boys And Bad Boys 2 Are available for you to look on Peacock. Bad Boys Are Not for Life You can purchase it digitally starting at $12.99 Google PlayAnd Vudu.

Capt. Steven Hiller, Independence Day

It’s not all that often you can pin down the birth of a massive movie star to a single minute of footage, but you can with Will Smith. It happens everywhere. Independence Day, Roland Emmerich’s 1996 alien invasion spectacular. Smith had been a well-known actor and was known for his big roles in movies. He was a weak action hero in this ensemble disaster film, which is self-consciously silly. But, it was there that Smith showed his talent to ignite the screen and drive people wild with his personality.

Smith is a skilled fighter pilot that first takes down an alien spaceship. Landing next to it by parachute, he screams “That’s right! Who’s the man!” straining against his harness. Then he marches up to the wreck, opens its hatch, and makes humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrial life. He hits it on the face. “Welcome to Earth.” Audiences in theaters lost it at the line, cheering wildly. (I was there.

It’s a classic action one-liner in the Bond or Arnie mold, and Smith nails the timing. However, the real reason this works is the wind up: Smith’s uncontrolled rage and jubilation in the initial outburst. His cocksure bravado as he approaches the alien. And his cool and collected beat when the alien clocks him. Smith first displays the emotion he feels and then shows the steel spine of self-worth that holds him up. “You are not as charming as you think you are, sir,” Will Smith’s girlfriend says to him earlier in the film. “Yes I am,” he replies, with his trademark confidence. Yes, he does. —Oli Welsh

Independence Day You can watch it for free, with no ads Tubi.

Jay, Men in Black

Image: Sony Pictures

“I make this look Good,” Jay proclaims after donning his black MiB threads for the first time. Smith, who teamed with Barry Sonnenfeld to create this absurd sci-fi thriller out of Malibu Comics, is truly entitled to that same brag. After his wisecracking, cigar-munching turn in Smith could easily have gone Bruce Willis. Independence DayBut Black for Men is a left turn into a genre hybrid that’s still entirely minted with his star power. Smith is a top-ranking cop, but finds himself being a low-status goober in Men in Black. Smith then gets the role of a rookie alongside Tommy Lee Jones.

Jay requires Jay to perform all the parts, starting with the initial foot chase which is exhausting but also the strange routine of interrogating alien-dog-disguised dogs. The role’s best moments blend the physical and comedic, and Smith is very much up for the task. A buddy cop film like this would have been easy for Smith to handle. Lethal Weapon, but only in Sonnenfeld’s weird world could you have a grown man having a complete meltdown over a standardized test before gunning down a little girl in a shooting range and it just absolutely, 100% works. It’s the squeaky chair The bent pencil The delivery of “she’s an 8-year-old white girl, middle of the ghetto, bunch of monsters, this time of night with quantum physics books — she’s about to start some shit, Zed.” If the Academy could nominate Johnny Depp for his wacky Jack Sparrow performance, there should have been room for Smith at his most comically transcendent. —Matt Patches

Black for Men This apartment is for rent starting at $2.99 VuduAnd Amazon.

Robert Clayton Dean: Enemy to the State

Image from 20th Century Studios

Smith used his summer action films to make him a star in TV comedy and a lead in prestige dramas. Smith kept pushing the envelope with blockbuster after blockbuster. The In Independence Day, he’s a pure campy action star. Next comes Agent Jay. Black for MenThe film’s star is Jeremy, who has enough humor to make you buy a bagel of everything toasty from your local bodega. But it’s The enemy of the stateSmith continues to be plotted at the drama side of the action movie spectrum.

Tony Scott, the director, takes Smith very seriously. We get a performance where Smith is both magnetic enough to keep our attention but also fresh enough that we feel in danger of him being hunted down by the NSA. Smith’s pitch is a notch higher than in later roles and his lines are more chaotic and unpredictable. Tony Scott was a master at spotting talent and cast Tom Cruise into his role. Top Gun, directing Tarantino’s script for True RomanceGene Hackman was a frequent collaborator throughout his career. His endorsement of Smith, in hindsight, may have well been the most obvious vote of confidence that the charming and occasional awkward Will Smith of the ’90s would become the ultra famous, unflappable Will Smith we know today. —Chris Plante

Enemy of StateIt is free to view with advertisements Tubi.

Muhammad Ali, Ali

Columbia Pictures

After Enemy of StateSmith was the star of two films that are not worthy of mention, before he scored big in Michael Mann’s biopic. AliSmith was nominated for his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor. Smith, who played the role of Muhammad Ali, an activist and legendary athlete, stepped out of the comedy and action films that he was well-known for, and established his reputation as a serious dramatic actor. Particularly for people who think comedic acting is less difficult. While the movie wasn’t a big hit at the box office, few could deny the power of Smith’s performance, bringing one of the most influential figures of the 20th century to movie screens with style and grace befitting The Greatest. —PV

Ali You can watch it online NetflixAnd Hulu.

Hitch!

Columbia Pictures

Let’s be clear here — we aren’t retroactively nominating HitchNominations for best picture or best rom-com that feels rooted to a specific time and place. It’s a flawed film, programmatic and a bit smug, and full of the kinds of highly artificial rom-com misunderstandings and shenanigans that put non-fans of the genre’s cheesier aspects on edge. But Will Smith’s performance in the film as the title character, a romance coach who’s avoided romance himself, is startlingly warm and convincing. Director Andy Tennant unquestionably weaponizes Smith’s charm to make the story’s ridiculous contrivances more plausible and more emotionally resonant. As Hitch falls for a gossip columnist (Eva Mendes), gets in big trouble over someone else’s lies about his profession, and reconsiders his life, Smith channels the kind of abashed humility that turned Hugh Grant into a rom-com superstar, and laces it with his own charismatic swagger. He’s exactly what this kind of film needs — a hero who has it all, is still ready to learn something about himself, and can pull off humor and romantic appeal at the same time. —Tasha Robinson

Hitch You can watch it online Hulu And Peacock.

Dr. Robert Neville, I Am Legend

Warner Home Video

Coming off the momentum of his Oscar-nominated performance in 2006’s Happiness is the pursuit of happiness, Smith’s turn in the post-apocalyptic action thriller I Am LegendHe is undoubtedly his greatest in sci-fi. This is a bold statement considering the iconic roles he played in these films. Independence DayAnd Black for MenBut it is one that I am confidently standing by. We see Smith’s most contemplative, melancholic performance as Robert Neville. Neville is a brilliant virus researcher who searches for the cure.

There are no quippy one-liners to be found here, no action-hero catchphrases to soften the blow of his character’s personal journey of loss, thwarted hope, and subsequent self-sacrifice. Smith portrays the complex and sympathetic sides of a man trying to preserve his humanity in an era where all humanity is almost gone. —Toussaint Egan

I Am Legend You can watch it for free, with no ads Tubi.

John Hancock. Hancock

Sony Pictures Releasing

Will Smith has leaned so heavily on cocky roles, charming roles, and incredibly-cocky-yet-somehow-still-charming roles that his initially sullen, belligerent performance in the oddball superhero movie Hancock felt like a real revelation. What starts out feeling like an anomaly in Smith’s resume — a genuinely dull and graceless thug who just happens to have incredible super powers — gradually reveals itself as a portrait of trauma, confusion, and shame.

Hancock, a superhero well known for his failures and nonstop accidental property destruction, gets a chance at image rehabilitation via Jason Bateman, still Hollywood’s leading contender for “irrepressibly perky yet visibly strained guy stuck dealing with troublemaking yahoos” roles. The two men end up in a comic/dramatic relationship that equals Smith’s chemistry with Tommy Lee Jones in the MiB movies, and Smith gets to run through a complex dynamic as a rapidly changing character — and then the film shifts and becomes something else entirely. Almost certainly no one else could have made this role work, but Smith’s blend of pained pathos, earnestness, and subdued anger absolutely anchor an incredibly weird and enjoyably unpredictable story. —TR

Hancock You can watch it online PeacockYou can also get it for nothing with the ads Tubi.

Henry Brogan/Junior, Gemini Man

Image by Paramount Pictures

Ang Lee’s 2019 thriller may primarily be a technical experiment, pushing high frame rate digital imagery and de-aging tech to its current limit, but it’s also a fantastic dual-role display for Smith’s on-screen talents. This is In Gemini ManSmith portrays Henry Brogan (an assassin who is in his 50s and is clearly too old for this show) and Junior (a younger copy of himself who’s very much). Not Too old to be this badass. Smith’s two roles let him show his charm and confidence as well as the maturity and emotional gravity that he has gained over the years. —PV

Gemini ManIt is available for rent at $2.99 Vudu, Google PlayOther VOD platforms.

Richard Williams, King Richard

Warner Bros. Pictures

This biographical sports drama sees Smith as Richard Williams, coach and father to tennis superstars Venus and Serena, as he steers the young girls toward their professional debuts in the early ’90s. Richard is a singularly-minded eccentric who struggles to overcome all obstacles: the inability of their resources, the racism and snobbery that plagues a closed tennis academy, the risks of Compton, their home, their fears and domineering tendencies. They become the most successful tennis players ever.

King RichardSmith is a classic star vehicle. Smith is the only one who can eclipse him. Neither the young director nor the cast members are able to challenge Smith’s clout. The studio worked hard to provide support for Smith with unshowy, classic craftsmanship. The true-life story is inspirational, and the role depends on Smith’s enormous personal charisma while also requiring him to transform his speech and bearing into those of another famous figure. In his latest Oscar-nominated performance, Smith’s immense movie-star presence can’t be ignored. —OW

King RichardIt is possible to view it HBO Max.