Willow Smith Confesses: ‘My Life Is Absolutely Terrible’

I always admired Willow Smith.

At such a young age I saw such a confidence in her. She proudly ‘whipped her hair’ back and forth and seemed to be handling her fame like a boss.

But then she disappeared.

She reportedly turned down the lead role in Annie – a role that eventually went to Quvenzhané Wallis.

Now, the daughter of Hollywood power couple Will and Jada Smith, has revealed that she found the experience of growing up in the spotlight ‘absolutely, excruciatingly terrible.’ 

The now 17-year-old has warned she may ‘suddenly disappear’ again as a result.

The ‘I Am Me’ singer told Girlgaze magazine: ‘Growing up and trying to figure out your life while people feel like they have some sort of entitlement to know what’s going on is absolutely, excruciatingly terrible and the only way to get over it is to go into it.’

‘You can’t change your face. You can’t change your parents. You can’t change any of those things.’

‘So I feel like most kids like me end up going down a spiral of depression and the world is sitting looking at them through their phones; laughing and making jokes and making memes at the crippling effect that this lifestyle has on the psyche.’

The actress starred in I Am Legend  in 2007 at the tender age of seven alongside her father.

She received a Young Artist Award for her performance in the film.

Then in 2010, Willow had global smash hits with ‘Whip My Hair’ and ’21st Century Girl.’ 

She was just ten years old.

Willow explained with her parentage she only had two choices — to carve a career entertainment industry or completely disappear. 

She added: ‘I’m either going to try to go into it completely and help from inside or no one is going to know where I am and I’m really going to take myself completely out of the eye of society.’

‘There’s really no in-between.’ 

Jada and Will have been married since 1997 and have two children together: Willow and her older brother Jaden, 19. Will has a son Trey, 25, from his first marriage. 

Jaden has also had a successful acting career. He starred alongside his dad in the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness.

Jaden went on to star in Karate Kid and The Day The Earth Stood Still.

He went onto reunite with his father in the 2013 movie After Earth. He is now carving out a rap career.