Will Smith’s New Role: The Most Powerful Actor On The Planet

NEWSWEEK has declared that there?s a new sheriff in town. When it comes to Hollywood?s most powerful actors, the recent past has been kind to men named ?Tom.? But with Cruise?s popularity in question over his behavior and public image, and Hanks reaching that over-50 age range, the field has suddenly opened to a new MVP. The new most powerful actor in Hollywood?

Will Smith.

When it comes to actors, Newsweek?s definition of ?real power? requires an understanding of the global market, and a talent for finding scripts that suit your persona and directors who can deliver the goods. Once isn’t enough. You have to do it every time.

Will Smith fits that description. When studio heads, agents and producers were interviewed for the piece, Smith was the unanimous choice. With a worldwide box office take of $4.4 billion, he leaves all others in the dust. As an anonymous industry insider puts it, “Will Smith is the only thing in this business?the only thing?that represents a guaranteed opening weekend.” To punctuate that point, a studio head adds, “Let’s put it this way — there’s Will Smith, and then there are the mortals.”

No matter the genre, Will Smith never fails to deliver the goods. Be it sci-fi (“I, Robot”), action-comedy (“Men in Black”), romantic comedy (“Hitch”) or drama (“The Pursuit of Happyness”), Smith guarantees a sure-fire hit.

“He can do anything,” a top studio exec tells Newsweek. “The audience has enormous affection for him?we’re talking a ?Tom Hanksian? level of likeability.” His appeal is so universal that it transcends race. “He’s the black Jimmy Stewart,” says an industry insider. “He invites the white community in, yet he’s credible with the black community. That’s a pretty hard trick.”

But the road to ?most powerful? hasn?t always been an easy one for Will. “People don’t understand what a struggle it was,” says his business partner, James Lassiter. “There has always been an obstacle. It’s either ‘African-Americans don’t sell around the world’ or ‘African-Americans can’t have successful romantic comedies’ or ‘Will is not strong in drama.’ It wasn’t until recently that people finally looked at his numbers and went, ‘Wow’.”

Newsweek points out that the roles Smith chooses are rarely race-specific. He plays men faced with obstacles, and moral choices. “Will doesn’t do movies because he ‘should,’ but because they speak to him,” says Amy Pascal, chairman of Columbia Pictures, which has released most of Smith’s films. “He understands that these stories are global. He caught on to that before a lot of other people did.” As for the crucial foreign box office, Smith?s take is now more than double Denzel Washington’s.

Likeability, smart choices, good looks, charm, charisma, and undeniable talent: Will Smith has them in spades, and the entire world has taken notice.