Will Smith Plays Serena And Venus Williams’ Father In New Film
In the new Warner Bros. film King Richard, Will Smith will be playing the role of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams’ father, Richard Williams.
According to the studio, per ESPN, “The film will focus on the upbringing of the two transcendent athletes (played by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton) through the lens of ‘an undeterred father’ with a ‘relentless drive and unapologetic vision to change the game.'”
The film also stars HBO’s Lovecraft Country star Aunjanue Ellis, as Oracene “Brandi” Williams, Richard’s wife and mother to Serena and Venus, ABC’s Scandal actor Tony Goldwyn, as coach Paul Cohen and AMC’s The Walking Dead star Jon Bernthal as coach Rick Macci.
Venus and Serena — along with their sister, Isha Price — are executive producers on the film about their upbringing in Compton, California per ESPN.
“All my life I’ve been waiting for this…a Williams is going to win.” Will Smith is #KingRichard in the inspiring true story of the coach/mentor/father that brought us Venus & Serena Williams. In Theaters and streaming exclusively on @hbomax November 19. pic.twitter.com/2qfRu3e21q
— Warner Bros. Pictures (@wbpictures) July 28, 2021
“I wrote a 78-page plan for their whole career before they were even born,” Richard says in the trailer to the actresses playing a younger Venus and Serena, “You’re going to be representing every little Black girl on Earth.”
Smith shared to Instagram the trailer of the video, “One of the greatest honors as an actor is to be able to celebrate someone’s legacy while they’re still here creating it,” and noted his previous roles as Chris Gardner and Muhammad Ali.
Serena shared the trailer as well captioning it, “This should be good 🍿”
The film is set to be in theaters and available to stream on HBO Max Nov. 19.
