The 'I Am Legend' actor says he 'feels responsible' for misinformation surrounding the pandemic.
The Smith family is taking the coronavirus outbreak very seriously. Will Smith called an emergency Red Table Talk meeting on Wednesday to discuss coronavirus concerns, social distancing, and ongoing fears within the family and around the world.
Will explained why he was so interested in calling the emergency meeting, noting that he feels "responsible" in some ways for the people who aren't informed at this time.
"I wanted to do this because in 2008 I made I Am Legend so I feel responsible for a lot of the misinformation and just as a family we've been sitting down and we've been talking," Will explained. "When I was preparing for I Am Legend, my character was a virologist so I had an opportunity in my preparation for the role to go to the CDC and there was a basic foundational comprehension of viruses and viral pathogens that I developed and it really changed my life and how I looked at the world. There's basic concepts that people do not understand."
The family then video called Dr. Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist, to discuss myths, reality, and questions surrounding coronavirus. They asked the doctor several questions, with 19-year-old Willow expressing her fears about the outbreak.
"I think the first issue was when she hears terms like global pandemic, so the term global pandemic to Willow means Contagion, the movie Contagion or I Am Legend or The Walking Dead," Will explained of his daughter.
The family also video chatted with a 25-year-old girl in Los Angeles who had contracted the coronavirus and several other viewers who had questions.
Jada Pinkett Smith began the almost one-hour episode by explaining that the couple's 21-year-old son, Jaden Smith, was not present because he was purposefully social distancing from his family.
"Speaking of families, you will see that Jaden is not here with us today because he is actually being a responsible young person," the proud mom said, laughing. "He is practicing social distancing. He has been doing a lot of traveling and his main concern has been about Gammy. So he has decided to stay indoors and he's actually following orders. He didn't care about us, he cared about Gammy."
Gammy is Jada's mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris, who joined the family for the Red Table Talk.
For more on how celebrities are handling the coronavirus quarantine, watch the clip below:
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