I've been trying to make audiences feel how Star Wars made me feel my entire career 
From The Fresh Prince to Hollywood's king of the summer blockbusters, Will Smith is one of the most successful and charming stars of his generation. He jokes with press and public like they're old pals. I, Robot - directed by Alex Proyas - is his biggest summer opening yet, a futuristic mystery thriller inspired by Isaac Asimov's short stories. Next Smith voices the hero role in Shark Tale, and stars in the romantic comedy The Last First Kiss opposite Eva Mendes.
For all your female, and some of your male, fans there's a nude shower scene in I, Robot to look forward to...
It was really important for the character, not gratuitous Hollywood 'nakedness'. The character suffered from a psychological condition called survivors' guilt - when you have an accident and everybody dies but you feel guilty about it. It's a psychological condition, one of the symptoms of which is paranoia - which is why he has the bathroom door open and no shower curtain. He doesn't wash his hair, because he needs his eyes to be open. So it was deep nakedness!
Is it true that, as a kid, you turned down a scholarship to MIT?
So the legend has it. Maths and science have always been huge in my life. From the time I was five-years-old I wanted to be a scientist, and that was really the road my parents were leading me down. I was probably 11 or 12 when I first got interested in entertainment. I guess Star Wars - when I was eight- or nine-years-old - really put me into a space where the science fiction element was almost a spiritual connection between the two things. That someone could imagine that and put it on the screen and make me feel like that, was incredible. I've been trying to make audiences feel how Star Wars made me feel my entire career.
Does this love of science mean you are more comfortable with modern technology than your technophobe character, Del Spooner?
Absolutely. I love technology. Whatever the latest in-thing is, I've got to have it. I'm a serious techno-geek. I think the i-Pod is the greatest gadget of the millennium. And I'm completely into my computer, new music programmes, touch screen remotes, all that type of stuff.
But does technology mean that special effects might one day make actors redundant? After all, some of your most dramatic scenes are performed opposite a CGI 'robot' named Sonny...
Actually the opposite is true. The performance of Sonny in this film is Alan Tudyk's performance - it's all of the body language, the eyes, the facial motions, the voice, everything is Alan's. You're watching the choices of an actor that were adapted by the special-effects people, and that cannot be generated. People go to the movies to see and feel humanity, and at this point you cannot computer-generate humanity.
That confrontation between you and Sonny in the interrogation really indicates that this film is a little different from the norm, doesn't it?
It's my favourite scene, and the brilliant thing about it was Alex's direction to me. He said I was a racist sheriff who'd just captured the person I am most racist against. That was like, "Wow! I'm not used to getting that kind of direction in a big summer blockbuster." I was like, "No, I'm fine Alex, just let me do me!" But his approach was much more artistic than you'd usually find in a special-effects blockbuster movie like this.
