Will Smith’s stratospheric stature in showbiz has only been further enhanced by I Am Legend’s record-setting $76.5 million weekend debut for a December
release. The sci-fi adventure marked his seventh straight flick that has
opened in the #1 slot at the box office, a run which started with
Ali and has also included
The Pursuit
of Happyness, Hitch,
Bad Boys II, Men in Black II and I, Robot.
is the third big-screen adaptation (one, starring Vincent Price, the other,
Charlton Heston) of Richard Matheson’s
post-apocalyptic best seller from 1954 about the desperate struggle of
the last man on Earth to survive a scourge that has turned the rest of
humanity in a cannibalistic race of zombies. Here, Will shares
his thoughts about the demands of playing virologist Robert Neville, a
challenging role which placed him alone on screen for very long
stretches at a time.