Will Smith Reveals Emancipation Costar Spit on Him

Image source: Everett Collection

Will Smithpaper in your new drama period“Emancipation” has already generated awards season buzz for the 54-year-old actor (despite his Oscars controversy), but apparently he is not the only one who delivered a passionate performance in the film. During the latest episode of “Red Table Talk,” which premiered on December 14, Smith shared that his co-star Steven Ogg once “ad-libbed” in one of their scenes together and spit on him during filming.

“One of the first days on set, there’s a scene with one of the actors and he leans into my face and says, ‘You’re cold, aren’t you?’ and then improvised,” Smith recalled to his three children — Trey, 30, Jaden, 24, and Willow, 22 — simulating a spitting motion and showing their surprised reaction. “Ahhhhhh, I was like, ‘Makeup!’ she teased. “No, but. . . I was like, wow, all the actors on this set were taking it very, very seriously.”

“Emancipation” is a historical film inspired by the true story of an enslaved man named Peter (Smith) who escaped from a plantation during the Civil War and later became a living rallying point for the abolitionist cause. On starring in the powerful film, Smith explained on “Red Table Talk”: “I’ve gotten more and more locked into these characters for longer periods of time. And it’s just the weight of this story, the weight of these experiences: the quality of these actors. It was emotionally, it was physically, it was spiritually draining.”

Throughout the rest of the…