Will Smith Admits He Feels Responsible for Coronavirus Misinformation Because of I Am Legend

Will Smith is admitting that he feels responsible for coronavirus misinformation because of I Am Legend. The beloved actor appeared on his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Red Table Talk, to discuss a bunch of his thoughts on the virus. Pinkett-Smith called the emergency episode together because of the general feeling of many people in the United States who are scared or anxious. The Smith family is pretty well-beloved, and they probably think the episode will help put people at ease.

The I Am Legend star wasted no time in trying to debunk some of the things that are floating around about the virus right now. The night that Tom Hanks announced that he had tested positive for coronavirus, the Smith film trended on Twitter as people joked about the possibility of the next few weeks. Well, the Bad Boys for Life star is anything but amused right now. He believes that his role played a direct part in many people getting false information at a very scary time in the country. He’s hoping his words can reach everyone to set the record straight.

“I wanted to do this because, in 2008, I made I Am Legend,” Smith joked. “So I feel responsible for a lot of the misinformation.” People still really love that film, but there are some inconsistencies present in I Am Legend. The pandemic in that film is way different than COVID-19 is, and the star is not actually a virologist, even though he played one in the film. So, he was eager to let that be known before getting too far into the episode.

“While I was preparing for I Am Legend, my character was a virologist,” he continued. “So, I had an opportunity in preparation for the role to go to the CDC. There was a basic foundational comprehension of viruses and viral pathogens that I developed and it really changed my life and how I looked at the world. There’s basic concepts that people do not understand… So what I wanted was for us to have now is the opportunity to just go through the basics, and then bring in the experts.”

For now, the pertinent information in that Red Table Talk can be found on Facebook. The entire hour features an interview with an epidemiologist, a talk with a coronavirus patient, some discussion of social distancing, and shutting down some of the commonly held misconceptions surrounding coronavirus. If you’ve got a second, it’s probably worth a look.

When was the last time you watched I Am Legend? Let us know in the comments!