They ran into each other a few times during filming and Ellis described Smith as “very humble and very appreciative” of the work he was doing.
They ran into each other a few times during filming and Ellis described Smith as “very humble and very appreciative” of the work he was doing.
The star would often offer a “good job” or an “I appreciate you man”, at one point he took the time to wish Ellis a happy birthday on set.
After befriending one of Smith’s managers Ellis made a request: “Can you get me five minutes with Will, but just me and him? I don’t want the cameras.”
Then on the last day of shooting in Papua New Guinea the tube driver and the movie star took a walk along a remote beach.
He was not trying to become “best friends” with the actor, he just wanted to use that time to express a gratitude decades in the making.
He told Smith: “I just want to say how thankful I am and how grateful I am to you just for being you, because you’ve enabled me — a person that you had no idea probably exists — to do some amazing things.”
The Bad Boys actor responded with joy, describing the lookalike’s work as “genius” and embracing him in a hug.
When Ellis mentioned he performs as a tribute artist the star joked: “Shad, imagine you were doing a show and I came out! We would shut down the internet.”