Will Smith Feels Personally Responsible for Coronavirus Confusion

politivcal aspirations
Warner Bros.

How many conversations during the coronavirus pandemic have begun with “Well, I watched I Am Legend 13 years ago so I’m having trouble figuring out what to do now?” Despite the answer, Will Smith is coming forward, apparently out of guilt, as the virus has all but shut down the U.S. economy, sparked international travel bans, and gripped the globe.

Will Smith appeared on a recent episode of his family’s Facebook chat show Red Table Talk to discuss social distancing and other measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The conversation took a bizarre turn early on when Smith brought up  I Am Legend, in which he played a virologist who survives a catastrophic plague that wipes out most of civilization.

Smith said that because of the movie, he feels “responsible for a lot of the misinformation” out there about viruses.

“When I was preparing for I Am Legend, my character was a virologist so I had an opportunity in my preparation for the role to go to the CDC and there was a basic foundational comprehension of viruses and viral pathogens that I developed,” he said. “It really changed my life and how I looked at the world, and there’s basic concepts that people do not understand.”

He added: “So I wanted us to have the opportunity to go through the basics and bring in the experts.”

Will Smith and Kona in I Am Legend (Warner Bros. 2007)

Jada Pinkett-Smith noted at the top of the show that their son, Jaden, wasn’t physically present for the episode because he was following government guidelines about the coronavirus.

“He is practicing social distancing. He has been doing a lot of traveling and his main concern has been about Gammy. So he has decided to stay indoors and he’s actually following orders. He didn’t care about us, he cared about Gammy,” she said.

With most Hollywood productions shutting down, it would appear that celebrities are doing whatever they can to be relevant and stay in front of the camera — any camera. The recent all-star celebrity singalong of Imagine is no exception.

Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com

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