Will Smith plays Rey Williams in a biographical drama that portrays the life of the father and coach of talented tennis players Venus and Serena Williams

Don’t think of King Richard as royalty or some rapper, no. It is the English title of King Richard: A Winning Family, a biographical drama directed by filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green (Joe Bell, Monsters and Men), who debuts with this great studio production and stars Will Smith as the father and coach of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams.

The film follows Richard Williams’ journey as a determined father and a fundamental piece in the professional training of two of the most extraordinary and talented athletes. of all time, leading them into a sport that had traditionally been dominated by wealthy white athletes.

He’s the two-time Oscar nominee Will Smith (Ali, The Pursuit of Happiness, Bad Boys Forever) who puts himself in the shoes of Richard, who was driven by a clear vision of the future using unconventional methods to show the world that two African-American women were capable of occupying the first places of the world tennis elite.

It was Richard who devised a plan to take Venus and Serena Williams off the streets of Compton, California, onto a global stage and turn them into sports legends. The film shows the power of family, perseverance and conviction to impact the world and achieve what was impossible.

Richard, like many other parents of famous athletes, dedicated much of his life to training his daughters, taking it upon himself to bring them to the right people to be discovered so they could become the next Michael Jordan in the tennis world.

Much has been said about Serena and Venus, who have broken many stereotypes in sport, but this film allows us to know the story of the man who saw the potential in them and She decided that she would do whatever she could to help her daughters succeed, even though it meant making sacrifices. and make them train until they couldn’t take it anymore.

Some close to the Williams family have commented that Richard Williams was a strict man who put too much pressure on his daughtersBut the film changes the perspective and shows him as a committed father who knew that if they wanted to have a better life, they had to work hard and give it their all on the court, ignoring prejudice and discrimination to get to the top.

When Richard, now 79, learned that his profile was going to be the subject of a film, he rejected the idea. “He would say, ‘I don’t know if I want the movie made. I don’t want people to hate me, ‘”recalls Isha Price, Venus and Serena’s older half-sister, a lawyer who, along with Venus and Serena, is the executive producer of the film.

“I told him: Dad, first of all, we would never be part of anything where people vilify you just because they didn’t understand you. But we have to tell the truth. He answered: ‘Oh, I always want people to be honest.’

Trevor White, producer of King Richard, admits in an interview: “I think there is a sensitivity to the way Richard used to be portrayed in the media., and the family wanted to make sure we didn’t look for that kind of misrepresentation. “

Script manager Zach Baylin said the tennis players’ father was controversial. “In the 90s and early 2000s, when he was much more progressive, Richard was a very controversial and controversial figure in the world of tennis. He really saw that his coaching job wasn’t just about what was happening on the court, but about being his fan. At the time, I think people viewed it with some controversy. But the brilliant thing was that he knew that without the resources (to fund Venus and Serena’s tennis training) he was going to have to build this aura and this myth around him for people to invest in them … I think the external impression it was that this bombast and that controversy would also have been in the family. But in reality it was the opposite. He was an extremely soft and motivating father and coach. “

Controversy of another half-sister of Williams tennis players

Sabrina Williams, 57, criticized King Richard, the biopic about her estranged father and accused director Marcus Green of leaving out Richard’s first family, whom she says abandoned her.

“I think the title is completely over the top,” Sabrina said. “He thinks he is the king of the world, but no one who has been around him thinks he is a king. It is a scandalous title, but to tell the truth, it suits him well ”.

In the early 1960s, Richard and Sabrina’s late mother, Betty Johnson, married in Los Angeles and had five children: Sabrina, Richard III, Ronner, Reluss and Reneeka. The Sun.

Sabrina told that outlet that she was 8 years old and that her younger sister was 8 weeks old when Williams said she was leaving the house to buy her a bicycle. She said that he never returned and began making a new life with his second wife, Oracene, Venus, and Serena. Sabrina said that she has seen her father only a few times since then. “In fact, Those girls rose to the top while their other children had to suffer from the decisions my dad made. We grew up in poverty after he left, ”he told the outlet.

“He’s not the king of the world,” Sabrina continued. “If you look at it psychologically, it is something that he has never managed to get out of his head, he has only lived through two of his daughters, abandoning all his other children.”

In addition to Will Smith, the film will feature performances by Aunjanue Ellis (Lovecraft Country) as the Williams’ mother, Oracene ‘Brandy’ Price. Saniyya Sidney (Hidden talents) will play Venus and Demi Singleton (The godfather of harlem) Serena Serena. Jon Bernthal (Against the impossible) will be the tennis player and coach Rick Macci. (I)