I once considered suicide – Will Smith opens up on mental health struggle

American actor, Will Smith, has touched on a moment he once considered suicide, as he opens up about his mental health struggles.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor, 53, spoke about ‘discovering a whole lot of hidden things about himself in the trailer for his upcoming YouTube series, Will Smith: The Best Shape of My Life.

In one emotional scene, he could be seen speaking to family members including wife Jada Pinkett Smith and children Willow, Jaden, and Trey about his past.

“That was the only time in my life that I ever considered suicide,” he said, though it is unclear exactly what he is talking about.

“When I started this show, I thought I was getting into the best shape of my life physically. But mentally I was somewhere else,” he told the camera.

“I ended up discovering a whole lot of hidden things about myself,” he said.

The brief clip ended with the star reading an excerpt of his upcoming memoir to his family, before tearing up.

“What you’ve come to understand as Will Smith, the alien-annihilating MC, bigger-than-life movie star, is largely a construction, a carefully crafted and honed character designed to protect me, to hide from the world,” he read.

To hide the coward.

The series, which is launching on YouTube next month, will follow Will’s health and fitness journey, as he attempts to lose 20lbs in 20 weeks.

The Men In Black star lifted the lid on his weight loss plans on Instagram recently, posting a snap of himself simply in a pair of boxers.

He insisted that he ‘loves his body but just wants to ‘feel better’ within himself.

“This is the body that carried me through an entire pandemic and countless days grazing thru the pantry,” he wrote at the time.