Amid all of the controversy that the football drama “Concussion” is stirring up, Will Smith says he was conflicted over playing the role of Bennet Omalu in the film.
“As an actor, you live for that type of delicious peculiarity,” Smith told GQ. “He is such a unique being. As an actor, I was excited. But as a lover of football, I was conflicted. I was almost called to be an activist against myself.”
In “Concussion,” Smith plays Omalu, a young forensic neuropathologist form Nigeria who made the first discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a football-related brain trauma, in a pro football player.