“I was on a little bit of a run,” he deadpanned.
Initially a rapper (he was the first to win a Grammy for Best Rap Performance), Smith said he was singularly determined to be a movie star. There was no work-life balance early in his career, he admitted. “Like an athlete in prime condition, I stayed ready so I didn’t have to get ready. I wanted to play with the best, so there were no drugs, no drink, no partying.”
Smith and his creative partner rented the top 10 movies of all time to determine if there was a pattern to them. All were special effects movies with monsters and a love story. Basically, Smith told the rapturous crowd, “I wanted to be Eddie Murphy in ‘Star Wars.’”
For Ellis, stardom was less meteoric and more a train that in the last five years has been picking up steam, she said, with such critically-acclaimed performances as the supremely unlikeable character Mrs. Hunt in “If Beale Street Could Talk.” “Leaning into that and not caring what anyone thought of me was so liberating,” she said. “It was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had. I love creating characters; the goal is not to be me.”
Her interest in acting was kindled in her church. “If you were raised in the church in the South,” she explained, “you are a thespian. You have to be in the Easter play, the Valentine’s Day play …”
On a field trip from Mississippi to New York, she saw her first professional play: Fences starring Courtney B. Vance. “He was the first person I saw on stage,” she said. “I later played his wife (on ‘Lovecraft Country’).”
One of the more touching experiences of the tribute came with the showing of a clip from the emotional kitchen scene in “King Richard,” after which Smith shared with the audience that Ellis whispered in his ear that that was the first time she had seen it. Smith joked, “You should see some of your movies, they’re fantastic.”