Willow and Jaden Smith Reveal Their Famous Parents' Lifelong Impact: What They Gave Us Has Nothing to Do With Money

The former child stars are the son and daughter of two of Hollywood's biggest movie stars

By Samantha Schnurr Aug 30, 2016 1:00 PMTags

At just 15 and 18 years old respectively, Willow Smith and Jaden Smith speak as if they've already lived 100 years. While they still have many decades to explore, their famous parents have instilled some hearty lessons to guide them through a lifetime in the limelight. 

"Growing up, all I saw was my parents trying to be the best people they could be, and people coming to them for wisdom, coming to them for guidance, and them not putting themselves on a pedestal, but literally being face-to-face with these people and saying, 'I'm no better than you, but the fact that you're coming to me to reach some sort of enlightenment or to shine a light on some-thing, that makes me feel love and gratitude for you,'" Willow explained to Pharrell Williams for the September issue of Interview. 

"They always give back what people give to them. And sometimes they keep giving and giving and giving. And some people don't feel like they need to give anything back because it's like, 'Oh, if you're famous, you can just keep giving, and it doesn't matter.'" 

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As one of the most famous and longest blockbuster couples in the industry, it seems Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith managed to raise grounded and inspired teenagers in as superficial and daunting a world as Hollywood. Instead, their focus lies on empowering their generation amid new social challenges. 

"It's not just about money. It's not just about giving people gifts or whatever. What my parents have given to me is not anything that has to do with money or success or anything that society says people should be focusing on—it's something spiritual that only certain people can grasp and accept. And that's how I act and move in the world today," Willow continued.   

"I 100 percent agree," Jaden echoed. "My parents are definitely my biggest role models. And that's where me and Willow both pull all of our inspiration from to change the world. It all comes from a concept of affecting the world in a positive way and leaving it better than it was than when we came."             

And they're doing it together. Often spotted walking red carpets side by side, these siblings fostered a bond on their own accord. 

"Our parents were never like, 'You have to love them.' It was more like, 'You have your life. He has his life. And when you guys want to come together, when you guys want to commune, that's up to you,'" Willow told Pharrell.

"Throughout us realizing ourselves and realizing each other, we just opened our eyes and were like, 'Damn, you are the yin to my yang.' Not a lot of siblings have that opportunity, because they're always being pushed together so much. They need their time apart in order to realize themselves and realize who they are."

Willow and Jaden are no exception to their own advice. While they've inspired headlines and sparked trends with their standout threads, Willow and Jaden's fashion sense took years of trial and error to come to fruition—with the full encouragement of their mom and dad. 

"We would wear the craziest things. Jaden would only wear his Spider-Man costume. I would freaking mismatch every single shirt and pants in my closet," Willow said. "We would just be so rambunctious with our clothing choices. And when we were old enough to start dressing ourselves, my mom was like, 'Are you sure you want to go out like that?' And me and Jaden would be like, 'You know what? Yes.' And she'd totally accept it. I feel like that's where most of our confidence comes from."

Family dynamics and fashion are not the only subjects Willow and Jaden can teach classes on. They also raise a few crucial questions about young people's intentions behind social media. 

 

"You find yourself randomly going on your phone for no reason, randomly doing things. It becomes compulsive, and you have to start asking yourself, 'Whoa, what is the real reason for me checking my Instagram every five minutes? What is the real reason for me posting this photo right now?'" Willow pointed out. "I never want to do things impulsively that have no meaning or intent, especially on social media."       

Enjoy their selective social media musings while they last because, right now, the brother and sister ultimately plan on retiring in nature.                   

"I see myself in the mountains somewhere in a tent cooking a squirrel," Willow said with a laugh. "I want to retreat back to living off the land and just being in nature, experiencing life in the most pure, natural way possible." As for Jaden? "Agreed."

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