You would’ve thought that Mena Massoud would be the next big thing following his well-received turn in Aladdin. But as it turns out, things weren’t all sunshine and rainbows as he admits that he struggled to get auditions, never mind roles, after playing the street rat.
After hearing about his Aladdin co-star’s work struggles, Will Smith has chimed in with some words of wisdom that completely misses the point of what Mena Massoud is going through.
When Variety told him about Mena’s struggles, Smith says he had not heard about his Aladdin co-star’s audition struggle but says “he is a spectacular actor, and he has nothing to worry about,” which isn’t quite the answer a struggling actor wants to hear, let alone from someone who is far more successful (and a mate whom you’ve worked with no less).
Okay, slightly poor example as it was a quickie 30-second grab on the red carpet and there’s little chance he could’ve given a proper answer given the situation.
But when he spoke to PEOPLE about Mena, here’s what Will Smith had to say:
“The thing about this business, that is not unlike life, it’s hard by design. It’s like the universe, God, whatever you believe, designed it to be hard. So, if you’re having a hard time it’s because you’re supposed to.
“That difficulty is overcome by patience, commitment, dedication, endurance — so if you have a dream, you desperately have to be willing to work on it every single hour of the day with your deepest love and focus. You can not get around having a hard time.”
Uh huh, right. Well there’s only one reaction to that:
Will Smith probably means well here, but he completely missed the point of Mena Massoud’s audition comments and instead comes off as a privileged Hollywood star who is sprouting a rehearsed speech he’s used on struggling actors for years.
When you take into account that Mena is a young man with a Middle Eastern background trying to make it in Hollywood, Smith’s comments comes off even worse as he sort of makes it sound like his Aladdin co-star didn’t already know things will be this hard, which obviously isn’t the case.
Hell, even a simple “I only just found out now about Mena’s struggles and I’m going to talk to him in private ASAP” or something would’ve went down far smoother than whatever misguided nonsense Will Smith spewed out.
Not everyone can make, lose and then regain a fortune like Will Smith and it’s just disappointing that he couldn’t do or say something that didn’t make him sound like a privileged Hollywood star who has lost touch with how difficult it is to make it in the industry.
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