Will Smith Reveals He Once Contemplated Killing His Own Father

Will Smith‘s new YouTube reality series Best Shape of My Life and his upcoming autobiography are going to paint the Hollywood megastar in an entirely new light, but not necessarily a flattering one.

While it’s admirable for the multi-millionaire to reveal to the world that his public persona is a carefully-constructed facade that he’s curated for over 30 years to shield his insecurities, sometimes there is such a thing as giving away too much information.

People has released a new excerpt from his memoirs, and it’s incredibly dark stuff. As you can read below, the young Smith was so traumatized by his home life that he even contemplated murdering his own father, and went so far as to imagine his acting skills keeping him out of trouble.

“One night, as I delicately wheeled him from his bedroom toward the bathroom, a darkness arose within me. The path between the two rooms goes past the top of the stairs. As a child I’d always told myself that I would one day avenge my mother. That when I was big enough, when I was strong enough, when I was no longer a coward, I would slay him. I paused at the top of the stairs. I could shove him down, and easily get away with it. I’m Will Smith. No one would ever believe I killed my father on purpose. I’m one of the best actors in the world. My 911 call would be Academy Award level.”

Nobody would ever expect the life story of the endlessly charismatic and always energetic Will Smith to go to such shocking places, but it sounds as though the book is going to be a fascinating read. Despite having been in the harsh glare of the celebrity spotlight since the late 1980s, it turns out that the world doesn’t really know all that much about on of its most popular, celebrated and enduringly successful stars.