[5][6] Smith first gained recognition as part of a hip hop duo with DJ Jazzy Jeff, with whom he released five studio albums which contained five Billboard Hot 100-top 20 singles—"Parents Just Don't Understand", "A Nightmare on My Street", "Summertime", "Ring My Bell", and "Boom!

[7] Smith began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996), for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1993 and 1994.

He then achieved wider fame as a leading man for the action film Bad Boys (1995) and the science fiction comedy Men in Black (1997), later reprising both roles in several sequels.

He also starred in commercially successful films such as I, Robot (2004), Shark Tale (2004), Hitch (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Hancock (2008), Seven Pounds (2008), Suicide Squad (2016), Aladdin (2019), and Spies in Disguise (2019).

Smith enlisted a friend to join as the beatboxer of the group, Clarence Holmes aka Ready Rock C, making them a trio.

[29] Smith was struggling financially in 1990 when the NBC television network signed him to a contract and built a sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, around him.

[30] Smith's first major roles were in the drama Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and the action film Bad Boys (1995) in which he starred opposite Martin Lawrence.

During the summer of 1997, Smith also began his solo music career with the release of "Men in Black", the theme song for the film, which topped singles charts in several regions across the world, including the UK.

[35] "Men in Black" (and second single "Just Cruisin' ") was later included on Smith's debut solo album Big Willie Style, which reached the top ten of the U.S.

[44][45] In 2002, following a four-year musical hiatus, Smith returned with his third album Born to Reign, which reached number 13 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA.

Smith was set to star in the sci-fi thriller Brilliance, an adaptation of Marcus Sakey's novel of the same name scripted by Jurassic Park writer David Koepp, but he left the project to work on the Ridley Scott-produced sports drama Concussion.

Smith reported he had doubts about the film early in the production, saying, "some of my happiest memories are of watching my son catch and throw a football.

[73] While Suicide Squad was a massive financial success, earning over $700 million at the box office, the film received negative reviews from critics.

Christopher Orr, film critic from The Atlantic wrote that "the latest offering from the DC Comics superhero universe may be the most disastrous yet".

[74] Later that year, Smith starred in director David Frankel's drama Collateral Beauty, playing a New York advertising executive who succumbs to a deep depression after a personal tragedy.

[76] As part of his role required him to read about religion and the afterlife, he was brought closer to the elder Smith, calling the experience "a beautiful way to prepare for a movie and an even more majestic way to say goodbye to my father".

with 100 percent urgency and sincerity in the mindboggling mess that is "Bright," it's clear we are watching a truly terrible, mountainous pile of genre-blending garbage".

[87] Smith portrayed The Genie (originally voiced by Robin Williams) in the live-action adaptation of Disney's Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Variety's Peter DeBruge called the film "a high-concept misfire" and wrote: "In practice, it's been a nearly impossible project to get made, passing through the hands of countless actors and falling through multiple times because the technology wasn't there yet.

[95] In June 2020, it was announced that Smith would star in Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua, in which he portrays Peter, a runaway slave, who outsmarts hunters and the Louisiana swamp on a journey to the Union Army.

[96] Smith's memoir Will, which was written with Mark Manson, the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, was published on November 9, 2021, and promoted with a tour.

[116][117] ABC, AMPAS, and the Screen Actors Guild condemned Smith following the incident, prompting an investigation by the Academy's Board of Governors.

[127] As a result of the incident, Netflix cancelled production on an action film that was set to star Smith titled Fast and Loose.

[142] On June 27, 2024, Smith announced on his Instagram that his first solo single in nearly 20 years was coming out the following day, "You Can Make It", saying "Through some of my darkest moments, music has always been there for me - to lift me and help me grow.

He also acted in two episodes of the sitcom All of Us, and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the David Blaine: Real or Magic TV special.

Smith has said he wanted a polyamorous relationship with actress Halle Berry and ballerina Misty Copeland but ultimately abandoned the idea after therapy.

[166] In 2021, Smith announced that production of his upcoming film, Emancipation, was being pulled from the U.S. state of Georgia because of the recent passage of the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which critics viewed as a restrictive voting law, negatively impacting non-white voters.

Smith and director Antoine Fuqua released a joint statement: "We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access".

[182][183] Professor Andrew Horton said, "Smith's genre of comedy, popularized on the sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air translated well into commercial box-office appeal.

[184] Moreover, author Willie Tolliver noted, "What The Fresh Prince did accomplish was to put Smith and his character Will into an environment of affluence and possibility, thus changing the terms of his own Black identity.