Will and Willow Smith in I Am Legend Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Is he alive because he is a scientist?
Well, he's immune. He has a natural immunity. His assumption is there were 6 billion people on earth. The KV virus had a 90 percent kill rate. So that's 5.4 billion people dead immediately, which left 600 million people with a 2 percent immunity. And that 2 percent immunity was before the dark seekers started getting hungry. So he feels like the chances are really slim for there being other people.

Your daughter Willow is in I Am Legend and your son was in The Pursuit of Happyness. So is this the beginning of the Will Smith dynasty?
Well, you know, it's like it's the family business. And we shoot shorts around the house all the time. It's just what our family does. And it's what our kids know. And, you know, it's something that they love doing. So we're not asking them to do it or forcing them to do it. It's just a part of our life.

Is it your intention to delve into more character roles, ones that don't rely so much on the "Will Smith" character?
What I learned working with Michael Mann [on Ali] and what I learned also with The Pursuit of Happyness — people seem to appreciate when I turn the Will Smith off, you know? Flip that switch the other direction. People, whether they like it or not, there seems to be some admiration for the attempt. It's like being in a fight, and you know you have a punch that'll knock the guy out and when the fight starts to get hard, it's difficult not to throw that punch. But to know that you are training another punch, and you'll be a better fighter if you allow yourself to train your left hand instead of just knocking everybody out with your right hand — because eventually one day everybody's gonna learn that punch, and it's not gonna be effective anymore. So I wouldn't say it's fun, but I would say it's exciting.

Do you think that after Pursuit of Happyness and now this character drama, you'll do more character roles?
I'm insane right now about diving into the mind of a character. I've always loved story. I'm attracted to great stories. And the roles that I've chosen in the past have always been story-driven. And if I love the story, I'll figure out the character. And now working with Michael Mann, now Gabriele Muccino on Pursuit of Happyness, there are no frills, no thrills — they want none of that. It's all about the character. And I'm starting to enjoy creating from that standpoint. No matter how cool it is, if it's not real for the character, we're not doing it. And that's not like me.

Right after finishing The Pursuit of Happyness you jetted off to Rome to attend Tom Cruise's wedding and then you immediately jumped into I Am Legend — do you ever take any time off?
You know, I feed my family with this, but it's actually my hobby also. So it's not something that I need a break from. It's what my life is and what my life has been for 20 years. I pretty much work seven-day weeks, you know. But it's not work in my mind.