Will Smith and Ben Foster had a rather unexpected relationship while filming Emancipation together.
The King Richard actor looked back on the experience while hosting Red Table Talk for the first time in the Dec. 14 episode. Will revealed that he and Ben—who played slave hunter Jim Fassel alongside Will's enslaved character Peter in the Apple TV+ project—avoided each other the whole time, starting the first day on set when Will was thanking the background actors.
"I was giving my best Will Smith and Ben just walked past me, and didn't say nothing," Will said. "I was like, ‘Oh, he must not have seen me.' And then for six months, he didn't speak to me."
As Will explained, Ben didn't just refrain from speaking to him, but also from making eye contact and acknowledging him altogether. While some would find this rude, Will and Ben seemed to have a literal unspoken understanding of how this kept them in character.
"When he did that first day, I was like, ‘Yep, got it. We're not playin','" Will continued. "This is real. This is serious. We're not fooling around with these ideas. And I really credit Ben for clicking me into the next gear of depth and focus."
Eventually, the pair did speak, but it wouldn't be until the project was wrapping up.
"So, the final day, me and [director] Antoine [Fuqua] are at the monitor looking at the shot, and Ben comes over," Will recalled. "He comes to the monitor and he watches the shot, and Antoine said, ‘I'm happy. We got it.' And then I look over at Ben. He says, ‘Nice to meet you. Ben.'"
As for why Ben decided to keep distance from his co-star until the last minute, the Hell or High Water actor recalled a certain energy from Will that led to that decision.
"The first day of set was staggering," Ben shared during the Red Table Talk episode. "I was walking past men in chains, and in situations of such tremendous violence. And then I felt him. I didn't see him, I felt him. It was Will on set. But it wasn't Will Smith as we know him. It was a man, and that man was vibrating. It's animal stuff. It's hard to explain."
Ben continued, "But I could feel the presence of this man who was digging deep. And I passed him, and I felt, well, I'm gonna give him his space."
And although he didn't speak with the 54-year-old much behind-the-scenes, Ben noted he has a great respect for Will and the way his talent delivered.
"This is a performance that speaks to the human spirit against all odds," Ben said. "To fight for love. The fight of faith, the fight to endure and endure for love. I'm blown away by what Will Smith did in this film."