Will Smith Gets Emotional Discussing 'Terrifying' Birth of First Son Trey: 'I Just Fell Down on My Knees'

Mar. 15, 2025

Will Smith poses during a photoshoot for the movie ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’.Photo:Hector Vivas/Getty

Hector Vivas/Getty

Will Smithis getting emotional as he reflects on the “terrifying” moment he became a parent for the first time.

During a wide-ranging conversation as part of An Evening with Will Smith at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 3, the Oscar-winning actor and rapper, 56, became tearful as he shared the story of his sonWillard Carroll “Trey” Smith III’sbirth in November 1992.

Ahead of performing his 1997 track “Just the Two of Us,” Smith told the audience that he had written the song during “probably one of the most terrifying times of my life.”

“It’s when my son… Trey was born," he explained, adding that his eldest child, 31, — whom he shares with his first wifeSheree Zampino—  was actually in the audience at the event.

“It’s crazy, but you’re like, I cannot tell you what it was like bringing that child home on that first night and realizing that he was my responsibility,” he said, becoming tearful.

“He’s cool now, thank God – he’s going to be 32 this year,” Smith — who also shares sonJaden, 26, and daughterWillow, 23, with wifeJada Pinkett Smith, 53, — added.

Trey Smith and his dad Will Smith.Lester Cohen/Getty

Lester Cohen/Getty

He went on to tell the audience that “parenting was one of the first things, the first real things in my life that really shook me to my core,”

“I remember that first night,” Smith said, becoming tearful. “I can’t even talk about it. Because I had talked so crazy about my father and all the stuff my father didn’t do. And then I was like, ‘Oh no, it is my turn now.’ And I just fell down on my knees and I made one of the most hardcore promises ever made to a human being. That I was going to do everything I could do to be a good daddy to you.”

Will wiped away his tears with a towel before sharing that he wrote “Just the Two of Us” that night and performing the track for the guests at the Grammy Museum.

Will Smith and his son Trey on the set of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’.Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank

Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank

Will Smith and son Trey Smith attend the 1997 “Men in Black” Hollywood premiere.Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

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Smith haspreviously discussed the connection between the song and Trey, including in his 31st birthday tribute to his sonon Instagramin November 2023.

In the clip he posted, which seemed to be video footage filmed of himself creating his audiobook for his 2021 memoir,Will, the actor discussed the day Trey was born ahead of reciting lyrics from “Just the Two of Us.”

After sharing some of the lyrics, which he said described the “public depiction of Trey’s birth and my introduction to fatherhood,” in a voiceover, Smith explained that he had been “overwhelmed with the immensity” of the responsibility ahead that came with being a parent, and revealed that he prayed to God on his knees to him be “a good daddy.”

Meanwhile, the Oct. 3 event also saw the Oscar-winning actor and rapper perform new songs, as well as hits from “Summertime” to “Getting Jiggy Wit It,” “Miami,” and the lyrics to the theme song fromThe Fresh Prince of Bel Air, while his momCaroline Bright, 87, was also in attendance.

source: people.com