Willow Smith

Willow Smith’s talent for acting and music isn’t the only thing that she has inherited from her parents; she is an active philanthropist as well. Along with her brother Jaden, she serves as Youth Ambassador of Hasbro's Project Zambi. In their role as ambassadors for the project, the brother-sister duo help raise awareness for children orphaned by the global AIDS epidemic by participating in fundraising and outreach campaigns.

Willow Smith was born on October 31, 2000 in Los Angeles, to Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. She has two elder brothers, Trey Smith and Jaden Smith. Despite being the much-talked about family, Smiths’ were close knit and committed.

Belonging to Hollywood blockbuster family, it was only natural for Willow Smith to be a born entertainer. Much like her elder brothers who followed their super successful actor parents, she too followed the league. She often accompanied her parents on shoots and thus from a young age got a firsthand experience of filmmaking and acting.

Willow Smith was only seven when she made her acting debut in the blockbuster film ‘I Am Legend’ (2007), starring her superstar daddy Will Smith. Despite being daughter of legendary actor, Smith auditioned like anyone else and won the role on her own merit. She portrayed the role with utmost conviction and confidence.

After the flourishing debut, she bagged her next role for the 2008 film, ‘Kit Kittredge: An American Girl’. The film opened to positive reviews from both the critics and audience and helped Willow Smith bag her first award Young Artist Award for Best Performance in Feature Film. Same year, she voiced the character of young Gloria in ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’.

Having tried her hand at the big screen, Smith moved to television for a guest role in the Nickelodeon series ‘True Jackson, VP’. Thought it was a one-time guest role, she loved the nature of television. It was quick and it was fun. She found it easy as television made it possible to do work and have fun both at the same time.

While her acting career had been established, in 2010, she made her foray into the music scene, much of the surprise of her parents and viewers. She released her first R&B single ‘Whip My Hair’, which went platinum in the US and peaked at number 11 in the US charts. In UK, the single peaked at number 2. Despite being only nine, her voice had a sense of maturity in it, which was quite unbelievable.

In September 2010, Willow Smith officially joined the Roc Nation family, signing to hip-hop legend Jay-Z. Interestingly, when Jay Z heard her voice, little did he know of her age or her parentage!

Willow Smith’s entry to the world of entertainment was en-route acting. However, fame and recognition came her way when she tried her hand at singing. Her career catapulted to great heights when she made her foray into music industry. Smith’s debut single ‘Whip My Hair’ went platinum in the US charts, peaking at number 11. In UK, the single peaked at number 2. Such was the fan following of her R&B number that critics and audience soon dubbed her as young Rihanna in the making. They were moved by the sense of maturity that Smith’s voice has.