At age 12, he began performing rap music at parties in his hometown of Philadelphia. By the time he was 20, his upbeat lyrics had translated into seven Billboard hits and won him a Grammy. At 21, Smith moved to Hollywood and landed a starring role on the hit TV sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, then went on to pursue his dream of becoming a movie star. Films like Independence Day, Enemy of the State and Ali, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, proved that, yes, Will Smith can do it.  He is married to actress and musician Jada Pinkett Smith and the father of three children — Willard III, 13 (from his first marriage); Jaden, 8; and Willow, 6.

Question: You grew up in the ’70s in Philadelphia. What was your neighborhood like?

Smith: It was probably 50 percent Orthodox Jewish. One neighborhood over were all the pretty little Muslim girls. Mine was a Baptist household, and I went to a Catholic school. I was surrounded by different religions.

Question: What was your experience growing up black in this neighborhood?

Smith: My school was 90 percent white, but 90 percent of the kids I played with were black. So I got the best of both worlds. I think that is where my comedy developed. In black neighborhoods, everybody appreciated comedy about real life. In the white community, fantasy was funnier. I started looking for the jokes that were equally hilarious across the board, for totally different reasons.

Question: Is it true that at one point you were planning to go to MIT?

Smith: My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college.

Question: Because you got a record deal?

Smith: My first record came out while I was a senior in high school, which is dangerous. Life is too good.