Willow Smith Reveals Why She Passed On 'Annie' Remake
Willow Smith, 13-year-old singer, actress and daughter of entertainers Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, will not star in the remake of Annie as reported three years ago, and now she is revealing why.
"I just wanted to chill, and be at home, and decompress, and just find out what I wanna do and where I stand on this planet, with the little tiny place we have," Smith told V magazine. "I'm enjoying just being independent and doing my own thing,"
Last year, Will Smith opened up about his daughter wanting to back away from entertainment while speaking at Temple University with author Sister Souljah for "Real Talk with Sister Souljah and Will Smith."
"Willow was supposed to be doing 'Annie,' we got Jay-Z to do the movie, got the studio to come in and Willow had such a difficult time on tour with 'Whip my Hair' and she said, 'You know Daddy, I don't think so,'" Smith revealed to the Temple University crowd. "And I said, 'Baby, hold up! I said no,no,no, listen, you'll be in New York with all of your friends and Beyoncé will be there. You will be singing and dancing,' and she looked at me and said, 'Daddy, I have a better idea, how about I just be 12.'"
Will Smith, the 45-year-old actor and father to budding thespians and musicians Willow and Jaden Smith, insists that he has not pushed his offspring into show business. Smith previously spoke to New York magazine about the perception that some people may have about he and actress wife Jada Pinkett Smith forcing their children to follow in their parents' footsteps.
"It may seem like we have pushed our kids into the business, but that is absolutely insane," Will told New York magazine in the past. "I would never, ever, push somebody to have their face on a poster that's going to be everywhere in the world."