Will Smith is back on set to film movie King Richard, a biopic about the life of Serena and Venus Williams’s father. The actor, 52, and two-time Oscar nominee, was seen wearing a white tennis outfit in Los Angeles, California.
The star appeared to be making his way to an outdoor tennis court for filming yesterday.
Smith, the star of Aladdin and Bad Boys, sported a fuller beard than normal in order to portray the now 78-year-old sporting legend.
Filming for the movie was halted back in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is due for release in November next year.
One of five children, Richard Williams was born in Louisiana. In 1979, he met Oracene “Brandy” Price and the couple had two biological daughters – Venus, born in 1980, and Serena in 1981. The family lived in Compton, California, until the couple divorced in 2002.
Williams decided he wanted his daughters to be tennis stars after watching Romanian French open champion Virginia Ruzici playing on television.
He started giving Venus and Serena tennis lessons when they were just four and a half – teaching them the sport on public tennis courts.
Williams pulled both of his daughters out of a tennis academy in 1995 – coaching them himself from then on.
Success came when Serena won the US Open in 1999 and Venus beat Lindsay Davenport to win the 2000 Wimbledon title.
Serena now has 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time behind Margaret Court who holds 24.
Venus holds seven Grand Slam singles titles.
Together, they hold 14 doubles Grand Slam titles and three Olympic gold medals.
Written by Zach Baylin, the King Richard project was announced in March 2019. Smith was confirmed as playing the tennis coach shortly after.
In January, Demi Singleton and Saniyya Sidney were cast to play Serena and Venus respectively.
