In 2013, after settling into life living in London, I very quickly became used to the busy lifestyle and had many chances to meet many different profiled people. One person I really wanted to meet and had the opportunity to meet (after waiting 12 hours outside the hotel) was Will Smith.
In-case, for any reason I am unsure of, you do not know who Will Smith is, he is a very well known American actor, producer and rapper, well known for his role in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and within the popular film, Men In Black and many more blockbuster movies, including I Am Legend, Wild Wild West and more recently in Aladdin.
I grew up watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when it was being shown on a channel on Sky TV called “Trouble” where it was similar to Comedy Central in today’s viewing. When I lived in London for University, I took the opportunity to meet as many people as possible whilst there. I ended up making friends with people I met, both fans and some celebrity figures – who I have gained great relationships with.
Will Smith was one who I really wanted to meet, especially as I had a very high chance of being able to. After finding out where he was staying in London, I spent 12 hours outside to meet him, I was so scared to not be able to meet him, and as he was with Jaden at the time, there was the risk he may not stop at all. After waiting for such a long period of time, and after word spread that Jaden was around, the area where we were waiting soon became busy with teenage girls waiting for Jaden, where I seemed to be the only one waiting for Will.
The hotel staff placed a barrier and stood by the barrier to prevent us from running towards them, for security reasons, and for the safety of other guests to the hotel too, as there were a lot of screaming teenage girls about by this point, on both sides of the road where the hotel was.
However, I was not prepared to be standing there, after twelve hours, to watch Will Smith drive past me in his car and only getting a wave, so I found a way around this, to meet him, which I managed to succeed in, the hotel didn’t seem to be bothered much once they saw I was harmless, and Will’s security guy allowed it after Will gave the nod to allow it, I finally got my chance to meet him; however, emotions were running high with me, 12 hours is a long time for anyone, and the stress of it became apparent, so I started crying, more for emotions not for anything else, and Will Smith, despite being told to get in the car “we are going to be late” ignored this and wiped my tears from my face, before having a few photos with me and signed my autograph book in the process. This was a great day! I met the guy I grew up watching, he ignored people around him to ensure I was OK before heading off, wiped a few tears from my face, and gave me such a loving autograph too.
After this moment, I felt I had achieved one of the goals I have had for wanting to meet one of my childhood heroes, and he was so lovely too!
After this, me and my friends (at the time) went back to the place a few days later, as she wanted to meet Jaden, and she managed to. I had a few photos with him too, and with Moises Arias too (he played Rico in Hannah Montana), and was great friends with Jaden Smith by the looks of things, I also managed to grab another photo with the man himself, Will Smith, and I gained a much more flattering photo too!.
A few months later, I think it was about two months later, we found out that the Smiths were back in London for promo for Will Smith’s new film After Earth which had Jaden Smith starring to, so they were back for promo for that film. During this meet, a lot more people were around the area where they were staying, so was difficult to meet Will again, but he recognised me from the crowd and kissed my hand, which I never expected. During the time of waiting, I also caught a glimpse of Alfonso Ribeiro (he played Carlton Banks in Fresh Prince), and he was in London with his wife. I also saw Will’s eldest son; Trey, during this attempt to meet Will Smith again.
After waiting around for a short while, as many of the people waiting were there for Jaden, we were about to leave. A car pulled up outside the hotel entrance, and Jaden came out, he pulled up near where me and my friends, at the time, were. He got out of the car, walked towards the crowd of girls who were in front of us, they were all screaming, Jaden saw us on the side of the barrier, and walked right past the girls who were there for him, and came to speak to us.
I could not believe this, he even asked me if I had seen/spoken to his dad yet, and when I said no, he said to me “I will go and see if he can come out, I can’t promise anything though”.
We waited around a little longer but walked around the area, in-case I was attacked by an angry mob of Jaden fans, after what had just happened, to see if Will would be coming back out but he never did. And this is my story about how I met Will and Jaden Smith and how I am, luckily, still alive to tell this story!.
I am still waiting for my next opportunity to potentially meet Will Smith, I am just waiting for my next opportunity, especially now I have much more experience in meeting people, so hopefully in 2021 eh? He has a film due for 2021 release named “King Richard” so who knows what 2021 brings me…
Room For A Review 