Emancipation director Antoine Fuqua on his slavery drama and the Oscars fallout: ‘I’ve never met anyone like Will Smith’

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It’s nice to joke about each other but sometimes we, all of us, have to be a little more sensitive.” open image in gallery Will Smith disappears into the role of Peter in ‘Emancipation’ Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, and Fuqua says he can relate to the strong emotions around hair loss. Later, speaking through tears as he received his Best Actor Oscar for King Richard, Smith revealed what Washington had told him: “At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.” “It was perfect that Denzel would go and try to wrap his arms around Will and give him some words of wisdom,” says Fuqua, making a hugging gesture with his broad hands. “It was really tough.” I’m only scratching the surface of the ugliness of slavery The film’s subject matter took its toll on Fuqua and the cast; he says he was close to tears much of the time and had to take a shower immediately after shooting every day. Fuqua has been following the rapper’s latest comments about Hitler, and remembers when he said, in 2018, that slavery sounded like it was “a choice”.