Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis on their ‘Ali-Frazier’ moment in ‘King Richard’

“The amount of people — family, friends, foes, celebrities, politicians, athletes — who have been inspired to make it a point to get in touch with me to tell me that they enjoyed it has been overwhelming,” Will Smith says of “King Richard,” co-starring Aunjanue Ellis. The scene was shot after production had been halted in March 2020 by a pandemic lockdown, a break that offered Smith and Ellis time to, as Smith puts it, “marinate in their characters.” Aunjanue Ellis and Will Smith lead the cast of “King Richard.” For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly gave Joe Frazier’s first name as George. Among its many notable accomplishments, “King Richard” makes a convincing case for Price’s crucial role in the development of the Williams sisters’ careers, both as a parent and as a coach. So when she speaks, it’s a powerful thing.” “The thing I thought about that day,” Ellis says of the kitchen scene, “was what would Miss Oracene Price want the world to know about her experience? Demi Singleton as Serena Williams, Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams and Will Smith as Richard Williams in “King Richard.” “I had resigned myself in my life that, as an artist, I would never make a film better than ‘The Pursuit of Happyness,’” Smith says, referring to the 2006 drama that co-starred his son Jaden and earned him an Oscar nomination.