Meeting 6 ft. 2-in. actor Will Smith, the biggest movie star in the world in person, is just as one expects him to be i. e. every bit as gregarious and self-effacing as expected, despite two Oscar nominations and eight consecutive films cracking the $100-million mark at the box office, in the domestic market.

As Ben Thomas in his new film 'Seven Pounds', Smith's character is on a quest involving seven strangers and an inevitable doom. But, the actor, who is enthusiastic and open, even when talking about uncomfortable things, is very different from Ben Thomas, the character he plays in his new film. According to director Gabriele Muccino, a dour Ben Thomas is very different from Smith, using warmth and charm as mere tools to attract people, get them to trust him, so he puts on a mask, impersonating a likable, gentle, generous, trustable some one.

A little weird, rather disconcerting, the patented nice-guy grin is hollow, a device, a disguise Ben Thomas uses, but what Smith audiences have seen and expect to see of Will Smith.

The 40-year old actor says of his role in 'Seven Pounds' '. it also revealed for me a difficulty that I have, an almost dangerous necessity for people to feel comfortable around me. To play a character who doesn't give a s*$, he actually prefers if you're uncomfortable; . I started to study: 'Why do I have a necessity for people to feel comfortable?'"

Active in Nelson Mandela's HIV/AIDS issues campaign, Will Simth talking about his most sensual scenes ever, with Rosario Dawson in 'Seven Pounds', reveals Jada told him he had better not embarrass her, and should get the scene right, make it look for real, as watching it, everyone would know what she worked with at home.

A story based on a actual character screenwriter Grant Nieporte met at a country club cocktail party, his casual conversation with a stranger, the most compelling personality in the room, saw him sensing that behind the wit and intelligence, there was something else. Nieporte reveals, the more they talked, the more he felt guilt and remorse profoundly weighed down the stranger's past, whom he felt to be the saddest person, he ever met in his life. And, out of a chance interaction came the screenplay for 'Seven Pounds'.

Opening 19th December, the story of Ben Thomas (Smith), an engineer posing as an IRS agent to right past wrongs by helping seven strangers in need, he unexpectedly falls in love with one of them played by Rosario Dawson. A film of many levels, it is not only a love story, but also a philosophical exploration of what makes life meaningful, and the consequences of selfishness versus selflessness.

A real three-hankie weeper, according to Dawson's mother, Kleenex might want to sponsor the film. So, get yourself a pack of tissues, the same time you pick up your ticket!