In an interview with Vulture pegged to their postapocalyptic drama After Earth, Will and Jaden Smith touch on everything from seeing patterns in life (Will says he's a student of them, and Jayden seems to be, too) to who's the biggest star in the family (Willow) to lessons learned about "the intricacies of global finance." Father and son also open up about their relationship, their priorities and the inner workings of their Hollywood household.
A few excerpts:
Will, on whether he thinks he's boring:
I think that if you were to come to the house, people would really be surprised at how simple and basic it is. Our whole dream for our home was for it to be an artist's haven. So there are paint supplies; there's a piano with a microphone and a recorder right there to capture things right in the second. There's editing equipment. There are cameras. I think the only thing in our house that people would be surprised by is the efficiency.
Jaden, on whether Will has "a lot to say":
If I'm with my friends, and they'll be like, "Oh, hey, where's your dad? Let's go say hi." And I'll be like, "Oh, no. He's watching hours and hours of TED Talks just … Dude, don't go in there." Last time I went in there, he said, "Jaden, so the art of telling stories is an art that you really have to learn. I want you to read Aesop's Fables." "Dad, I've read Aesop's Fables three times." "Honestly, you can't read it enough." But when you're on your way to see a 9:15 movie and it's nine o'clock, he's like, "Wait, wait, Jaden, I need to tell you something about life, man."
Jaden, on how it feels to be famous:
I think it's fun, except when people make up stuff about you. Then it's not so much fun. But besides that, I enjoy it.
Will, on whether you can understand life through patterns:
I'm a student of patterns. At heart, I'm a physicist. I look at everything in my life as trying to find the single equation, the theory of everything.
Read more at Vulture.