Rapper and actor, Jaden Smith has been featured in quite a few films so far. Best known across the world as The Karate Kid, he has successfully established his name in the entertainment industry. Of course, it did help that his parents are none other than Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.
In 2020, Jaden Smith was seen in Life in a Year directed by Mitja Okorn. A story about growing up and facing the world as it hits you with love, loss, and desires, Life in a Year might not have been everyone’s cup of tea but you cannot deny that the film made you feel things. As Jaden Smith’s character faced a rough patch with his parents, the actor, too, couldn’t get through a scene because of his real-life parents and their parenting.
Jaden Smith Faced a Strange Obstacle While Filming
Life in a Year follows the story of Daryn (Jaden Smith) whose parents have high expectations of him. His father wants him to enroll in Harvard and set his future straight but when he meets Isabelle (Cara Delevingne), everything he knows comes crashing down.
The two fall in love and she helps him recognize his worth as a rapper. But when Isabelle reveals that she has cancer, Daryn vows to live his life to the fullest with her for as long as he can.
Isabelle’s free spirit doesn’t sit right with Daryn’s parents which causes a rift between the two. However, he rebels against his parents and goes after the girl of his dreams.
Rebelling against his on-screen mother (Nia Long) didn’t come easy to Smith. Why? Simply because his upbringing couldn’t allow him to be disrespectful to his elders, even if it’s all fiction.
Director Mitja Okorn opened up to Showbiz Cheatsheet about Smith’s respectful behavior on set stating,
He’s so well brought up that when we had a scene when his movie mother is screaming at him, like, ‘Stop,’ Jaden stopped. Even though in the scene he was supposed to rebel against that and say, ‘No, I’m not stopping.’ This is a huge fight against the mother. Every time she said stop, it’s like he was programmed. He was like, ‘An older person than me which I have to respect is saying to stop so I’ll stop.’
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith would be present on set during filming since their production company ‘Overbrook Entertainment, Inc.’ was the one producing the film along with Columbia Pictures.
Mitja Okorn Believes Jaden Smith’s Parents Did a Good Job Raising Their Son
Since Smith couldn’t get himself to stand up to Long in their scenes, Okorn helped him navigate through it all with his helpful direction. Eventually, the young actor was able to finish his scenes with Okorn’s help.
In the interview, Okorn gives a nod to Smith’s parents for doing a “pretty good job” raising him.
He stated,
So it was really funny when I said, ‘Okay, Jaden, listen. I know in real life [you respect your mother], but in this movie you have to fight against that person. I know it’s your movie mother but you have to fight against that person. So Will and Jada did a pretty good job, and not just like that. You could see every day.
Okorn also revealed that Smith was not only respectful to the elders involved in the film but to his young co-star, Delevingne as well. He would always put her needs above his and make sure she was okay with everything.
It was never about what he wants. It was always about what Cara wants. If Cara had a feeling something’s off, he was like, ‘Let’s figure out so that Cara likes this, so that Cara feels good in here.’ So, great guy.
His parents sure must be proud of him for sticking to his values even in an environment where he was supposed to play a rebellious young kid.
Life in a Year is available to rent/buy on Prime Video.
