Jaden Smith has shared insights into his struggle with ‘trying to fit in’ while coming across as ‘weird,’ and what he has learned from the experience.
Being the son of well-known figures, actor Will Smith and Red Table Talk host Jada Pinkett Smith, Jaden, now 26, has had to grow up under the public eye, making the concept of normality quite different for him.
In a recent discussion with Complex, Smith’s interaction was described as ‘even weirder than expected’ by the interviewer.
The article portrayed Smith as being in a ‘daze,’ giving ‘unrelated answers’ and frequently quoting from the Twilight series, particularly the Jacob, Bella, and Edward love triangle. He was even noted to have some quotes written down and kept in his pocket. The interviewer concluded, “I’m happy to report that he’s weirder than ever.”
When questioned about the significance of being ‘weird,’ Smith explained that he has often aspired to be seen as ‘normal,’ but this has not gone as planned, leading him to embrace his oddness and find joy in it.
Recently, Smith has elaborated further on embracing his uniqueness.
In a Twitter post on Saturday (October 19), Smith remarked, “All The Weird S**t You’ve Ever Seen Me Do Was Me Thinking I Was Totally Normal, So Now Sometimes I Try To Act Weird On Purpose So Yall Think It’s On Purpose,
“But At The End Of The Day I’ve Been Trying To Fit In This Whole Time And I Guess It’s Not Exactly Going To Plan.”
Further explaining to Complex, he revealed that he spent much of his life attempting to be normal, emphasizing that it was ‘a really big deal’ for him to be perceived as ‘normal.’
However, as time went on, he found it ‘bothering’ that people didn’t truly ‘understand’ or ‘see’ him, leading him to accept his authentic self.
“Sometimes it’s so frustrating to watch people try to follow the ‘normal’ thing to do when that’s not what they really want to do in their art and everything. It’s very frustrating. And then you see people fall into it and generations of people fall into it. So I actively try to be myself,” he explained.
His social media post quickly garnered supportive responses from fans.
One Twitter user commented, “Just do you Jaden fr ,, MISFITS.”
Another added, “be yourself and the world will love and accept you for who you are, it is okay not to fit in or be loved by all, the few who appreciate you will love and accept you. At the long run it’s all about you and doing things that will make you happy.”