He's known for box office hits including I Am Legend, Independence Day, The Pursuit Of Happyness and Men In Black.
And Will Smith revealed on his book tour in London on Thursday that his first acting gig in The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air 'saved his life' after he was left penniless from a huge tax evasion bill and forced to borrow money from a drug dealer.
The legendary actor, 53, told Idris Elba at the Savoy Theatre: 'I had to sell everything: my beautiful house, my four cars, two motorcycles. I was all the way back to broke. So, I borrowed £10,000 dollars from a friend of mine who was a purveyor of neighbourhood pharmaceuticals and I moved to Los Angeles.'
'I was all the way back to broke': Will Smith revealed on his book tour in London on Thursday that The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air 'saved his life' after he was left penniless from a tax evasion bill
Will was handed the whopping tax bill after he neglected to make payments on his earnings from his first hit record with DJ Jazzy Jeff - Girls Aint Nothing But Trouble.
He admitted to Idris: 'I didn’t forget. I just didn’t pay my taxes for about two and a half years. And we'd sold 3 million records...
'America is a big country – I thought they don’t need everybody’s money... But Uncle Sam [the tax man] wanted his money and I didn't have it.'
'We rushed to make another album and the album flopped. It was sad. So, I sold everything and I knew whatever my new life would be I could feel was in Los Angeles.'
'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air saved my life': Will landed the role after he borrowed $10,000 from a drug dealer, moved to Los Angeles and kickstarted his on-screen career
Will then told of how he met the television producer and 'real Fresh Prince of Bel Air' Bennie Medina in Los Angeles, who invited him to work on the sit-com with him.
But the star didn't take the offer seriously and continued with his rap shows to 'drum up some cash' until the Grammy award-winning mogul Quincy Jones invited him to his mansion on his birthday to discuss the idea.
The star explained: 'My head is spinning. I just got broke. I just had to borrow money. I’ve got nothing. And Quincy Jones invites me to his house...
'There’s like 20 valet parkers in front of his house... It was the who’s who of Hollywood. Steven Spielberg was just leaving, Stevie Wonder was there, and I had no idea what was going on.'
Journey: The legendary actor told Idris Elba at the Savoy Theatre: 'I had to sell everything: my beautiful house, my four cars, two motorcycles. I was all the way back to broke.'
Bennie then demanded that Will auditioned for the show in front of the star-studded attendees and industry figures with just ten minutes to prepare after initially refusing and requesting a week to read the script.
Will recalled: 'Bennie told me: "Right now, everybody that needs to say yes to this show is sitting out in that living room waiting for you and you’re about to make a decision that’s going to effect the rest of your life."
'So, I said: "F*ck it, give me ten minutes". I got out there and it was all a blur but I did the audition to a standing ovation in the room. I was ad-libbing.'
Shooting his shot: Will explained how he auditioned for the role of the Fresh Prince at a party hosted by industry mogul Quincy Jones and attended by Steven Spielberg and Stevie Wonder with just ten minutes to prepare (pictured in character in 1990)
Of the show, Will gushed: 'It was one of the most spectacular times in my life to be in a sitcom on television.
'You’re paid to come up with the silliest thing you can and put it on television and that’s your job. It was such a beautiful time.'
