Will Smith in Pursuit of Excellence

Okay, so he didn't win the Oscar -- this time. (But even for his fans, it's bittersweet consolation that the award went to Forest Whittaker for his amazing turn as Uganda's Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.) But in an interview with THE BLACK COLLEGIAN, the thespian formerly known as the Fresh Prince reveals why his name name has become synonymous with box office clout.

In the new edition of TBC now available on college campuses, Smith discusses his career path over the past two decades, leading to pass up admission to MIT (!) for a music career, then on to a hit TV show, to silver screen superstardom, and now into the business of show business as well.

Mostly, it's drive and a belief in one's own abilities. Smith says he was attracted to the rags-to-riches story of Chris gardner in the The Pursuit of Happyness because of how the millionaire stockbroker's life reflects the American Dream.

"To me, The Pursuit of Happyness is so connected to the idea of why America works," Smith told THE BLACK COLLEGIAN. "This is the only country on the face of the earth that Chris Gardner can exist. … The hope for that doesn't even exist anywhere else on Earth. That you're homeless, you have $21, and without killing anybody, without oil, without an army, [but] strictly based on an idea that you have in your mind … you create a multimillion dollar empire."

Check out the full intervew, "Will Smith in Pursuit of Excellence".