Will Smith Explains His Younger Version in ‘Gemini Man’ is Not ‘De-Aging’

It was a big night for Will Smith as he premiered his newest film, “Gemini Man.” Will, who was joined by his wife Jada, their children, and a ton of fans in Hollywood, spoke to “Extra's” Jenn Lahmers about the age-defying role.

Will plays a man who discovers the person who is out to kill him is a younger, faster, cloned version of himself. Jenn asked, “Am I talking to the 23-year-old Will Smith or the 51-year-old Will Smith? I can't tell the difference.”

Smith answered, “This is the 51-year-old Will Smith that still in the back of his mind still thinks he's 23.”

Jenn asked, “Who's having more fun right now? The 51-year-old or the 23-year-old?"

Will smiled, saying, “Jada and I were just talking about that last night. My 50th year — from the moment I jumped out of that helicopter over the Grand Canyon — this has probably been at least top three best years of my adult life. I had more fun this year than I've had, definitely, in any year of my professional career.”

Talking about first seeing his transformation into a younger version of himself, Will said, “The first time I saw it, it was shocking. The technology, it looks so good that people don't really realize the depth of what it is — it's not de-aging, it's not me. It is a 100% digital character created in the computer. It's the first-ever digital human.”

He added, “You really want to see it in 3-D in a real movie theater because it's a spectacle to behold.”

Since the 23-year old Will in the movie resembles his “Fresh Prince” character, and Will is introducing his own clothing line soon, Jenn asked if fans will see the infamous Coogi sweaters.

Will said, “Yeah, we're going to go back and get all of that stuff because I never did any merch and things like that when I was younger as I was becoming a movie star back then. The idea was as little contact with people as possible so you had mystery, and when your movie comes out, it makes them want to go see it. But now, in this new digital era, it's completely opposite. Nobody wants to go to your movie if they don't feel like they know you, so I feel like I can do a lot more of those things.”