It's Will Smith's birthday people, and I was wondering what we could celebrate most about him.
Yeah, you know what, let's all rejoice at just how filthy rich he is. Woohoo.
He's given us some awesome movie and musical performances over the years, and although his efforts as Deadshot may have just been a 6/10, he's still a bloody legend. He even made a film about how much of a legend he is.
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Let's not bother recounting the fact that he's so under the thumb that he didn't turn up to the Oscars, or that he was supposed to play Neo in the Matrix - yeah, seriously, he was offered the role - let's just dissect every dime the Fresh Prince has.
This is the face and hand rub Will Smith does every morning. Credit: PA
I'm 28, got about seven pounds in my bank account (SEVEN POUNDS)... you know... might go to Germany at Christmas on Ryanair as a treat, and have a car that's just failed its MOT and will cost more than the car's worth to fix it. But hey, I want to say how happy I am for Will lad.
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To get to the current, you must first look to the past. My history teacher taught me that. So let's go back to where it all started.
SMITH HAS HAD MONEY FOR BARE TIME
Well, would you Adam and Eve it? Born in 1968, Will Smith was genuinely born and raised in West Philadelphia and a millionaire before the age of 20, though he actually lost it as his lavish spending caught up with him. He was smashing it before I was even born. At 19 I was hanging around nightclubs in Sheffield at 4am to chat up girls (drunk, too, may I add), before people get all CJ De Mooi on me, whereas Will lad was living the life.
Of course, Smith initially achieved fame in the late 1980s under the name The Fresh Prince, performing rap hits with DJ Jazzy Jeff. He released his first single 'Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble' in 1986.
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Worth a watch...
Credit: Vevo
In 1988 he released his second album with Jeff and it won a Grammy for rap.
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Wanna see a really odd video with him and DJ Jazzy Jeff before they were truly tearing up tarmac? Here you go...
In a bit of a tax faux pas, Smith owed $2.8 million in 1989, and many of his belongings were repossessed. Wounder.
But then his fame and fortune was cemented when he starred in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, first airing in 1990. A lucrative package was thrown in front of him, which he took. The show ran for six series, up to 1996. It actually took Smith three seasons to pay back all his taxes but the show had made a brand for himself that would ensure his future success, even to this day.
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Credit: Warner Bros.
He made a couple of additional movies in between filming The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and, by 1995, he was offered $2 million to star with Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys. Ker. Ching.
Credit: Colombia Pictures.
After The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, his movie career went from strength to strength, but his music was also creating waves (bad pun intended). He went on to release smash hits in 1997 including Miami and Gettin' Jiggy Wit It. Then followed the Willennium, including Will 2K and Wild Wild West.
As well as making a shit ton of money in record deals, his movie roles were impressively lucrative.
He was given $14 million dollars to star with Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State. 14. Million. Dollars.
Credit: Walt Disney
Money continued to flow. By the turn of the millennium he was reportedly earning in excess of $10 million dollars per movie. He was reportedly paid $21 million dollars to play Muhammad Ali (surely you'd do that for minimum wage, just for the honour), and he was also earning gross fees on Men in Black II and Bad Boys II, on top of hefty fees for acting in the movie franchises.
The most he's ever earned for a movie? Reportedly $28 million for I, Robot. FML. Though he is also set to rake in a similar amount for Suicide Squad.
GET TO THE POINT... WHAT'S HE WORTH NOW?
He's currently worth around $250 million. That's just over £185,000,000. Just under a fifth of a billion pounds. Not bad going at all.
Credit: AMC
What would I do if I had £185 million and not a shit 12-year-old Alfa Romeo 156? Actually not sure - it's pretty incomprehensible. I'd probably go down the Branjelina route and adopt a village, occasionally donate money to charities and make sure my PR team lets as many people know as possible, and definitely sit on a beach supping piña coladas while listening to Barry Manilow because who the fuck can stop me living the dream? In fact, I'd hire Barry Manilow to sing to me while I'm supping. MAGIC!
IS HE EVEN WORTH IT THOUGH?
Of course, over the years he's been in some great movies, and some horrific ones. He regrets being in Wild Wild West the most, which I find odd because a) granted, it's not the best, but the film is actually a lot of fun and b) he got to work with producer, director, actor and incredibly talented man Kenneth Branagh which, to us mere mortals, and personally as someone who takes a keen interest in theatre (yeah, I'm a culture vulture, what the fuck are you gonna do about it?), should be an absolute honour.
Independence Day, the Bad Boys movies and Seven Pounds are just a snippet of the successful movies he has starred in, both commercially, critically, and with the public.
Most noticeably shit movies: After Earth WTF!, I, Robot and any Men In Black follow ups.
He was also nominated for two best actor Oscars in Ali (won by Denzel Washington in Training Day - not seen it), and The Pursuit of Happyness (won by Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland - fair call).
And when he's in a movie, it makes money. As of 2014, 17 of Smith's previous 21 movies had made over $100 million across the globe. Speculate to accumulate, and all that.
He's also been nominated for five golden globes and two Black Movie Awards, the latter I mention because I find such an awards ceremony, despite past and current race relation problems in the USA, counter-productive and highlighting the divisiveness even more.
He makes money, the movie makes money, everyone makes money. MONEY MONEY MONEY. Yes, he may not have the Shakespearean twangs of Mark Rylance, the husky tones of Jeremy Irons, the utter brilliance of Sir. Anthony Hopkins or the captivating genius of Jack Nicholson, but he knows how to entertain and enthral.
Happy birthday you sexy 48-year-old bastard. Meanwhile, Jazzy Jeff has reportedly got a net worth around $8.5 million. 'Boom! Shake the Room'!
Main image credit: PA
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Rich, Will Smith