They can see right through me and all of the 'Will-isms' that I know how to do to make the audience laugh or smile or cry. ' He and Michael Mann are the two directors that I've worked with who know all of my tricks. You go away and come back when you hurt for real,'' recalls Smith. 'don't pose for my camera.' I said 'what do you mean?' He said 'you are posing for my camera. The popular actor who has starred in some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters found himself re-learning the craft under the guidance of Italian-born director Gabriele Muccino. That simple instruction ' just tell the truth ' proved to be more of a challenge than Smith expected. 'We looked in one another's eyes and I said 'I'm going to learn your story and tell it.' He said 'just tell the truth.' ' 'I connected with Chris Gardner,' says Smith. Will Smith says he was drawn to the story, but also apprehensive about portraying the often-heartbreaking events in a real person's life. Today he is a multi-millionaire and a highly regarded motivational speaker. The internship leads to a job and later to start up his own brokerage company with offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Through it all, Chris is determined to give his son something he himself never had as a child: a father's love.Įventually Chris does make his dream come true. Evicted from their motel room home, father and son wind up on the street, sleeping in public restrooms at subway train stations when they cannot find a bed at homeless shelters. When she reaches her limit and tells Chris she is leaving, he insists their young son, Chris Jr., must stay with him.Ĭhris is convinced an unpaid internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm will lead to a career but, now as a single father, he finds it harder and harder to stay afloat.

None of his moneymaking schemes work out and their only steady income is from his wife working double-shifts as a hotel maid. In the early 1980s in San Francisco, Chris Gardner had big dreams, but could barely earn enough to keep a roof over his young family. Alan Silverman spoke with Will for this look at The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith stars in an uplifting drama based on the true story of a single father who went from homeless to successful businessman.

Chris gardner the pursuit of happyness