Will Smith Talks Playing Anti-Superhero ‘Hancock’

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Will Smith as “Hancock”
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Will Smith, Trey Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Jaden Smith, and Willow Smith at ‘Hancock’ premiere
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Will Smith and Charlize Theron in Moscow before the premiere of ‘Hancock’
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Will Smith gives fans the peace sign as ‘Hancock’ premieres in London

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FIRST PUBLISHED: July 3, 2008 4:47 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: July 3, 2008 5:07 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Will Smith usually plays the hero in his summer blockbusters. But in “Hancock,” he drinks, swears, mouths off — and goes to prison.

Smith’s role as a superhero-gone-bad could be jarring to some moviegoers — but not his children and wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Fortunately, our kids are in the business so they kind of understand,” the 39-year-old actor told Associated Press Television News at the red-carpet premiere of the film. “But it is such a bizarre shock for them to see daddy being mean. It was fantastic in our house.”

The Hollywood couple’s son, Jaden, co-starred with Smith in 2006’s “The Pursuit of Happyness”; daughter Willow can now be seen in the family flick “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl.”

Smith’s 15-year-old son, Trey, is from his previous marriage.

Pinkett Smith, 36, said the children were unfazed by Hancock’s in-prison therapy sessions.

“The unfortunate part is that they know all about rehab because of (our) family members, so it wasn’t a foreign concept to them,” she said. “They totally understand and got it.”