Will Smith Convinced Wife Jada to Go Skydiving with Him for His 50th Birthday
People will do all sorts of crazy things for the ones they love.
Despite her intense fear of heights and airplanes, Will Smith successfully convinced his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, to go skydiving for his 50th birthday, the Aladdin star revealed to Ellen DeGeneres while appearing on her show Tuesday.
“So it was my 50th birthday and [Jada] was in this like, you know, real fit of just emotions,” the actor told DeGeneres. “She realized, ‘Oh we’ve been together for half our lives and I love you so much,’ and … she was like ‘I’ll do anything you want for your 50th birthday.'”
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But the Independence Day star gave his wife a chance to back out before telling her his birthday wish.
“I was like ‘Babe, for real? Because you don’t have to do that,’ and she was like, ‘Anything you want,'” he said. “And I was like, ‘I want you to go skydiving with me,’ and she was like, ‘How is that what you want for your birthday?'”
And so, the Smith family — minus Willow, who told her dad “Happy Birthday” but would not jump out of a plane for him— faced their fear of extreme heights and went skydiving together. Although Jada didn’t quite enjoy the jump, Will told DeGeneres that he experienced “pure bliss” during his fall.
“When I jumped I had like a spiritual experience. It’s like when I walked up to the edge of that plane and you get attacked by your mind, your mind is like ‘you’re stupid, you’re stupid,'” he recalled. “When I walked up to the edge … I had the experience of pure bliss. It’s not falling, it’s flying.”
The actor also told DeGeneres about the time he went bungee-jumping from a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, explaining that he’s come to a point in his life where he wants to face his fears.
“Part of what I’ve been doing in my 50th year is trying to experience all of the things I’ve never let myself experience before, and I’m doing my bucket list experience,” Smith explained. “What I’ve discovered is how cancerous fear can be in experiences in our life. You can’t be happy if you’re scared so I’m really confronting all of the things I’m scared of and I’m really finding this exuberant freedom.”
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The star, who will recreate Robin Williams’ iconic role of the Genie in the live action version of Aladdin, was later joined by his fellow cast mates, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott, who play the characters of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine in the film. Smith also revealed that he drew upon his The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air hip-hop days to create a unique persona for the genie.
Disney’s Aladdin flies into theaters May 24.
