Remember when Will Smith wasn’t the one of the most bankable movie stars ever (bigger than, say…

After Scott and I were watching the takes and had realized how impressive Will had become on film, I called two people the next day. The first was Clive Calder, and I told him, “The Fresh Prince is going to be a big movie star and I think we should make a movie with him right away. He’s going to be bigger than Eddie Murphy.” Clive, who I love to death, laughed and said, “Ann, do you know how to make a movie?” And I said, “No, but two years ago I didn’t know how to make music videos either!” Clive thought it was a good idea but he said Jive was still building the record company, so he couldn’t get into movies at that time. Then I called Russell Simmons and told him the same thing. Russell laughed at me, and said, “Well, he may be Malcolm Jamal-Warner but he ain’t no Eddie Murphy.”

Remember when Will Smith wasn’t the one of the most bankable movie stars ever (bigger than, say, Eddie Murphy) and was just a silly rapper from Philly who found himself in some financial trouble so he decided to star in his own show on NBC? Esquire does, in this an excerpt from a forthcoming book, and I’m sure Russell Simmons does too. Every day. Kicking himself. Rewatch the Parents Just Don’t Understand video: don’t you see it, too?