USA: Will Smith and the family steal the show at the "I Am Legend" Premiere in New York City

Record ID: 220410

  • Title: USA: Will Smith and the family steal the show at the "I Am Legend" Premiere in New York City
  • Date: 13th December 2007
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, USA (DECEMBER 11, 2007) (REUTERS) WILL SMITH AND DIRECTOR, FRANCIS LAWRENCE ON THE RED CARPET PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANCIS LAWRENCE, DIRECTOR, SAYING: "Emptying New York was the challenge, shooting in New York. New York is such a busy place, and we had to empty it out, and that's part of what makes it work so well because it's never empty, but that was also the trick, there's so many people all the time."
  • Embargoed: 28th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAAFFQW5JEFKSR72V3RW2S9FQNP
  • Story Text: Will and Jade Pinkett-Smith took their children to the red carpet premiere of his film "I Am Legend" at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday (December 11) night.
    Smith, the most powerful actor in Hollywood, according to Newsweek magazine, commanded the spotlight. Smith said at the premiere he felt like a rock star.
    "You know I've made a lot of films, but it has feeling that "Independence Day" had. It's like a rock concert, ya know.
    "Pursuit of Happyness" was really subdued, people were into it, but it was really subdued. This is like kabow! It's a good feeling, a little scary, but a good feeling."

    "I Am Legend" is about a brilliant scientist named Robert Neville (Will Smith) who could be the last human survivor in what is left of New York City. Neville is somehow immune to the deadly virus that has turned humans into mutants who can only lurk in the shadows. Neville could be the only person on the planet who can find a way to reverse the deadly effects of the virus and save mankind from extinction.
    Also staring in "I Am Legend" is Will Smith's daughter, Willow, who was 6 years old during the filming. Smith said working with his daughter was an amazing experience.
    "I love her energy. It was negative two degrees out there, and we are shooting this scene, and she said 'Daddy', you know on the building across the street there was a temperature had been dropping all night, and she 'Daddy, I don't care how low that thing goes, I made a commitment and I'm going to do it.' and I loved that attitude. That is a winner's attitude."
    Willow Smith also said she had a good time working with her dad.
    "It's fun. It's really, really, really fun. (REPORTER - "What makes it so fun?") It's fun because you get to act different ways."
    Willow's mother, actress Jada Pinkett Smith says acting is in both her son's and daughter's genes. "It's in their blood. It's a natural thing.
    It's just crazy to see how DNA works."
    Shooting films in New York City is never easy. In a city of eight million people, it can be difficult to make a film about a man who appears to be the only man left in what was once a busting city. But the film's director, Francis Lawrence says, that is what makes the film special. He says,
    "Emptying New York was the challenge, shooting in New York. New York is such a busy place, and we had to empty it out, and that's part of what makes it work so well because it's never empty, but that was also the trick, there's so many people all the time."

    "I Am Legend" opens in the United States on Friday, December
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