Will Smith’s new YouTube series ‘Best Shape of My Life’ follows his recent journey to lose 20lbs in 20 weeks.
In the 20-minute episode, Smith shares his creative process of writing his memoir while he attempts to shed the weight that he gained during pandemic when he was preparing to play Richard Williams, father to tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, in the movie King Richard.
“The character required that I put weight on, so I put on weight, you know, the thicky-woo-woo,” says Smith. “And then Covid-19 hit. Covid made the weight more than the role called for.”
“I’m not feeling great, mentally or physically, so this is a clean slate,” Smith says. “I embrace adversity as opportunity, and I know it’s within my power to take anything and make it be the best thing that ever happened.”
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Weighing in at 221 pounds at the beginning of his journey, Smith sets the goal of losing 20 pounds in 20 weeks. His decision to film the entire duration of this process, he explains, is in order to keep the pressure on him. “For me, I’m a performer, so the cameras act like my sponsor,” he says. “They keep me accountable, when I know the world is going to see it, it’s like the greatest peer pressure there is. I’m not going to fail if it’s on camera.”
“There’s nothing I’ve ever experienced like changing your body that teaches the rules of the universe,” he says. “Transforming and cultivating a healthy body and healthy mind is really similar to the macro process of cultivating a better world.”
Watch episodes 1 & 2 below.