When Will Smith Was Ghosted By Ben Foster For Six Months While Filming Emancipation—Here’s Why!
Discover why Ben Foster refused to speak to Will Smith for six months during the intense filming of Emancipation, revealing the depths of his method-acting commitment.
Will Smith and Ben Foster (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Will Smith found himself ghosted—for six straight months—by his Emancipation co-star Ben Foster. The reason? Foster’s intense commitment to method acting while portraying the ruthless slave catcher Jim Fassel in Antoine Fuqua’s historical drama.
Smith spilled the beans during a takeover of wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk, revealing how Foster stayed completely in character during the entire shoot. “He didn’t acknowledge me—no eye contact. No words. Nothing,” Smith shared. “I thought, ‘Oh, he must not have seen me.’ But six months later, I realized he saw me just fine.”
The film, centered on Smith’s character Peter, an enslaved man fleeing a Louisiana plantation to reunite with his family, demanded raw emotion from its leads. And Foster? He wasn’t messing around. Smith recalled how, on the very first day of filming, Foster’s silent treatment clicked him into “a whole new gear of depth and focus.”
The dedication didn’t stop there. Despite delays, lightning storms, and oppressive heat disrupting the production, Foster stuck to his guns—or, in this case, his silence. Smith admitted that Foster’s intense approach elevated his performance, pushing him to dig deeper into the role.
Smith recounted a pivotal moment on the final day of filming. While reviewing a shot with Fuqua, Foster casually approached the monitor—a first for the entire shoot. “He never came to the monitor,” Smith recalled. “But there he was, watching the shot. Then he said, ‘Nice to meet you. Ben.’ And walked away.” The anecdote left Smith and his children laughing at the absurd yet profound moment.
Reflecting on the experience, Smith credited Foster for snapping him into focus. “We weren’t playing. This was real,” Smith said. Foster, for his part, appreciated Smith’s intensity as well, saying, “I didn’t see Will Smith doing Will Smith. I saw a man going deep in. We didn’t need to speak.”
Emancipation, with its harrowing tale of survival and resilience, clearly required nothing less than total immersion from its cast. Foster’s silent method may have seemed extreme, but it undeniably helped create a raw, authentic performance that left a lasting impact on Smith—and the film itself.
