Will Smith has taken on many roles throughout the course of his acting career, but in a forthcoming HBO Max film, he is set to portray Richard Williams, the father of tennis-playing sisters Serena and Venus Williams. On Wednesday (July 28), the official trailer for King Richard dropped, and according to the two minute and 35 second clip, it’s likely to be an inspirational tear jerker about family, overcoming obstacles and achieving the impossible.
According to Warner Bros., King Richard follows Williams, an “undeterred father” who was “instrumental in raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time.”
“I wrote a 78-page plan for their whole career before they were even born,” he says in the trailer, which highlights his efforts to mold his daughters into tennis champs who would later overcome adversity and break barriers.
Despite the initial reluctance from instructors and coaches who couldn’t see past their skin color and hometown of Compton, the clip sees Williams as he pushes his girls to practice in the rain and instills affirmations as they worked toward their desired careers. Eventually, the sisters impressed and garnered praise from the same people who once rejected them.
“This next step you about to take, you not’ gon just be representing you,” Williams told his daughters as they slowly made their way out of Compton and into the tennis world. “You’re going to be representing every little Black girl on earth.”
King Richard is slated to release in theaters on Nov. 19 and on HBO Max for 31 days. Alongside Smith, the Reinaldo Marcus Green-directed film also stars Aunjanue Ellis as Oracene “Brandi” Williams, Tony Goldwyn as coach Paul Cohen and Jon Bernthal as coach Rick Macci. Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton play the Williams sisters.
Look below to see Will Smith in the trailer for the Williams-inspired film King Richard.