Speaker 1: Hey, fam I'm Jada Pinkett Smith and this is the
Speaker 1: Red Table Talk podcast all your favorite episodes from the
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Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts. Yeah, all right, see this this is
Speaker 1: skills now watched. Why I try boom? Huh all right,
Speaker 1: I'm warming up for my Red Table takeover. I've invited
Speaker 1: five extraordinary women from one of the most famous families
Speaker 1: in the world that have invaluable life lessons, very special guests.
Speaker 1: You are not gonna want to miss this one. Stay
Speaker 1: right there. Boom. This is exciting, lit, very exciting. This
Speaker 1: is a very special Red Table is for a very
Speaker 1: special movie that you were starting in. We have Venus
Speaker 1: and Serena and they're they're around here somewhere. I always
Speaker 1: wonder why you come like to the Red Table before
Speaker 1: I do my takeovers. Are you concerned? I am always concerned.
Speaker 1: It's just that last minute of grounding. Yes, so I
Speaker 1: don't break the Red Table. That's right, Okay, you do
Speaker 1: great Red Table takeover. Yes, it's Will Smith's Red Table over,
Speaker 1: so technically you're trespassing. I'm trying to get on technically. Technically,
Speaker 1: the sign it says Will Smith's Red Table takeover right,
Speaker 1: sounds like a no trustpassing sign that you walked past
Speaker 1: this guy. Do I look good? How to look? This's
Speaker 1: this's the right? No right? That would be weird when
Speaker 1: somebody played your father. Can you imagine how weird that
Speaker 1: we and you did such a great job. Kudos, kudos?
Speaker 1: You know you don't use that word a lot. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't use kudos. Kudos is not really a negronic word.
Speaker 1: We don't say that. Our people don't say kudos. That's true.
Speaker 1: Kudos is up there with to shade. You want to
Speaker 1: bring them out. They're here, Venus and Serena. We're gonna,
Speaker 1: we're gonna start. They're ready to everybody's ready. I'm ready,
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen, Venus and Serena. Where colors look at
Speaker 1: the table, have a seat. I just came in here,
Speaker 1: right right here, making sure everything goes right. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: just want to I love you. Have a good one,
Speaker 1: all right. Let us begin with what brings us to
Speaker 1: the table. So I have a new movie coming out
Speaker 1: November nineteen in theaters and on HBO, Max called King
Speaker 1: Richard and you know, I play your dad, and uh,
Speaker 1: you too are executive producers of the film along with
Speaker 1: your sister Isha. And let's roll the trailer. Let's check
Speaker 1: the trailer out first so people know what we're talking about. Now.
Speaker 1: I mean, mind you saying we're hold on these kids.
Speaker 1: You know who I because we are. That's our job
Speaker 1: to keep mark these streets. You want to check on
Speaker 1: the kids. Let's check on the kids. We got future doctors, lawyers,
Speaker 1: plus a couple of tennis stars in this house. The
Speaker 1: chances of achieving the kind of success that you're talking about,
Speaker 1: it's just very, very unlikely. Okay, you make a mistink,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna let you make it. Watch a few balls,
Speaker 1: all right, So tell me your names and again I'm Venus.
Speaker 1: So what do you think? I wrote me a seventy
Speaker 1: eight page plan for their whole career before they was
Speaker 1: even born. These girls so great? How come I've never
Speaker 1: heard them there from camp? It's okay, they're just not
Speaker 1: used to seeing good looking people's like, uh, I think
Speaker 1: you might just having next Michael Jordan's or no, brother, man,
Speaker 1: I got meet the next two. This next step you're
Speaker 1: about to take, you're not gonna just be representing you.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be representing every little black girl on earth.
Speaker 1: They're not gonna lets you doubt how could you this world?
Speaker 1: They never had no respect for Richie Williams, but they're
Speaker 1: gonna respect y'all. You don't walk out there with your
Speaker 1: head up. You are champion and the whole world knowing
Speaker 1: the most dangerous creature on this whole earth. It's a
Speaker 1: woman who know how to think. Yes, Daddy, ain't nothing.
Speaker 1: She can't do it. You're want showing my dangerous you are. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Venus and Sabrina, I'm gonna shake up this world. Wow,
Speaker 1: what does that feel like? It's really overwhelming, you know,
Speaker 1: it never gets old. It's definitely surreal and uh, it's
Speaker 1: definitely super super emotional. What was interesting for me that
Speaker 1: was the most terrifying part. So you both are executive
Speaker 1: producers of the film, but you withheld whether or not
Speaker 1: you were going to be executive producers until you saw
Speaker 1: the film. It's a it's a it's a complicated story
Speaker 1: to tell. And as you know, my dad is such
Speaker 1: a I always say he's before his time. Down to
Speaker 1: just marketing and even just to put us in a
Speaker 1: sport that was completely a white sport, and then to
Speaker 1: say that we were going to be the best at
Speaker 1: it. It It was something that knowing had ever done before.
Speaker 1: So um, and you know, Hollywood can be you know,
Speaker 1: they could get it right or they can get it
Speaker 1: wrong sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we wanted our story to
Speaker 1: make sure that it would be something that was really
Speaker 1: we're proud of and you did, like, how do you
Speaker 1: feel when you see it? For me? Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I wanted to honor the two of you and to
Speaker 1: honor your family in a way that would resonate with
Speaker 1: your heart forever. I did it with Muhammed Ali, and
Speaker 1: I didn't want to do it, and Muhammed Ali asked
Speaker 1: me personally, you know, it is such a daunting task
Speaker 1: what you guys represent in the world and what you've created.
Speaker 1: Your story is one of the most inspirational stories in
Speaker 1: American history. And when you make a movie, it's it's
Speaker 1: an opportunity to It's like you take a snapshot that
Speaker 1: lasts forever, you know, so, and you just don't want
Speaker 1: to take a terrible picture of such beautiful subjects. Yes,
Speaker 1: your dad is a lot like my dad, where like
Speaker 1: everything lessons, Yeah, and it's crazy because I've kind of
Speaker 1: become like that with with my kids. Also, what were
Speaker 1: some of the foundational lessons that you felt like we're
Speaker 1: being instilled my mom and dad, they wanted us to
Speaker 1: be able to handle whatever life came at us. So
Speaker 1: the way we approached tennis was also how you approach life.
Speaker 1: Like when you get on the court, you never accept defeat,
Speaker 1: you give it, you're all, you find a way, and
Speaker 1: that translated to life as well. They wanted us to
Speaker 1: be champions in life and it turned out pretty good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's beautiful. The first lesson for us with spirituality but
Speaker 1: God first, and that gave us an opportunity to actually
Speaker 1: be better at what we do because we were able
Speaker 1: to realize, as much as you wanted, this is just
Speaker 1: working a job, There's so much more and bigger things
Speaker 1: in life. That's the foundational lesson that has literally helped
Speaker 1: us to maintain our mental health. So what does that
Speaker 1: mean for you? Putting God first? How does the thought
Speaker 1: of God affect training and being on the court and
Speaker 1: interacting with people that's a difficult. It really affects in
Speaker 1: every single decision you make. How do you treat this
Speaker 1: person or how do you even approach a match and
Speaker 1: almost takes a little pressure off of you because you know, like, okay,
Speaker 1: nobody wants to win this match more than me. But
Speaker 1: for us, there's something much bigger that we believe in
Speaker 1: and that we know is true. So at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, as much as that moment means to us,
Speaker 1: we always have the giant, most biggest pillow to fall
Speaker 1: back on. Yeah, I remember I was planning this match
Speaker 1: is infamous match in Indian Wells. In the final, A
Speaker 1: twenty year old Venus in a nineteen year old Serena
Speaker 1: were set to face off in the semifinal of the
Speaker 1: Indian Wales Master's Tournament. Just four minutes before this highly
Speaker 1: anticipated match, Venus shocked tennis fans when she suddenly withdrew
Speaker 1: from the tournament, citing tendonitis in her knee. Rumor spread
Speaker 1: that Venus's last minute cancelation was pre planned by their father,
Speaker 1: Richard and intended to give Serena a lega. Two days later,
Speaker 1: events took an ugly turn when Richard, Venus, and Serena
Speaker 1: were met with angry fans and relentless booze. Wow. I
Speaker 1: mean it was hard and I just remember I was
Speaker 1: losing and I didn't even care. I was like, I
Speaker 1: don't want to win. I just want to get out
Speaker 1: of this with dignity and not just walk off the
Speaker 1: court and not just start bawling. Right there at that moment,
Speaker 1: and literally every change over, I sat down and I prayed.
Speaker 1: I was like, just help me get through this. Just
Speaker 1: just help me step on that court and just help me.
Speaker 1: I'm not even trying to win. I just want to
Speaker 1: go on that court and I just want to just
Speaker 1: finish the match. I know that I got strength, and
Speaker 1: not only did I, I somehow came back and won
Speaker 1: that match and I was able to just to get
Speaker 1: through that moment and it really has helped us in
Speaker 1: so many different ways in our career. Indian Wells, that
Speaker 1: was that was a rough That was a rough one
Speaker 1: for me, and it was it was so hard because
Speaker 1: I'll never forget driving back and Tundy was there and
Speaker 1: I just remember getting in the car and I was
Speaker 1: just bawling and was at the gas station. There was
Speaker 1: no celebration and I was just like crying and crying
Speaker 1: and crying. And even when I went back fourteen years later,
Speaker 1: it was very traumatized. It was like really post talk
Speaker 1: about post traumatic stress and mental anxiety. I remember sitting
Speaker 1: in the bathroom thinking, okay, wait, I'm not gonna go back.
Speaker 1: I I just don't think I should do this, Like
Speaker 1: what if they started booing me again? Because it was
Speaker 1: it was really hard for me. We've had to face
Speaker 1: different things that quite frankly, no one has been able
Speaker 1: to face in tennis, you know, and it's been very,
Speaker 1: very difficult. That's why we relate so much to each other.
Speaker 1: Actually was more upset that they were booing my sister
Speaker 1: when she came down the wall, like why are you
Speaker 1: blowing her? Like that makes no sense? You know? And
Speaker 1: my dad too as well. I got like one thing
Speaker 1: about me, I'm fiercely like, I'm the kind of person
Speaker 1: that I'm with you make a mistake, I'm with you,
Speaker 1: I'm with you. But then when I'm done, I'm done.
Speaker 1: Ye know. How do you handle losses? Like whether do
Speaker 1: you not? Well? Really, you're so good at it, and
Speaker 1: you're like, oh my god, worse worst, I'm already planning,
Speaker 1: like that moment, what I'm gonna do. I dream about
Speaker 1: it that night, and no one likes to lose. But
Speaker 1: I can't stand it. Especially in tennis, it's just you. You
Speaker 1: You feel like, gosh, I have to look at even
Speaker 1: deeper inside. I thought I had it right. I thought
Speaker 1: I was doing the right thing. But I gotta go
Speaker 1: even deeper, work even harder to figure out how to
Speaker 1: win this match. So not well, of course, it's as
Speaker 1: always you give your best, and I think that's what
Speaker 1: three and I can always, and probably most players not all,
Speaker 1: but can feel like, even though I lost, I did
Speaker 1: give my best. I prepared the best that I could.
Speaker 1: Maybe I didn't do it right, but you can sleep
Speaker 1: at night with that thought. Of course you would want
Speaker 1: to be better, but you can sleep at night. What
Speaker 1: was the one that hurt the most all of them? Yeah,
Speaker 1: we always have amazing moments in the locker room after
Speaker 1: where it's mostly especially after losses, because it's like you
Speaker 1: just really are angry, and then the only person that
Speaker 1: can understand is minus What are the lessons that you've
Speaker 1: gotten from each other everything. I think my most powerful
Speaker 1: lesson from Serena was I was like this person with
Speaker 1: a lot of talent, but I didn't have like an
Speaker 1: extra heart to kind of go past the line. I
Speaker 1: recognize that in myself and by watching Serena was able
Speaker 1: to learn how to get that because she just was fearless,
Speaker 1: and so I watched and I said, okay, I need
Speaker 1: that part and I learned it. But it's so cool
Speaker 1: that you recognize that in yourself. Yeah, I recognize that,
Speaker 1: and I learned it quickly, and I was just watching
Speaker 1: her do it because I saw, Wow, she's got it.
Speaker 1: That's what I want. I always liked it to the
Speaker 1: grine member at the in you got this little heart
Speaker 1: like a blo gross. I swear that was me. So
Speaker 1: I don't like Christmas My go where do you feel?
Speaker 1: Is one of the lessons you got from Venus? Um, well,
Speaker 1: I don't. Usually I don't apply the lessons that a
Speaker 1: lesson if you don't learn her. She's so classy and
Speaker 1: I'm so like crazy, you know. Laying her is so
Speaker 1: annoying because it's like here, I am like screaming my
Speaker 1: eyes out, and she's like, you hit a shot, and
Speaker 1: you know, even if it's a winner, she'll just like
Speaker 1: go to the next shot, and I'm just like, aren't
Speaker 1: you that And it's just the most frustrating thing in
Speaker 1: the world because she just keeps his face. And I
Speaker 1: didn't apply any of those. None of those lessons applied,
Speaker 1: so I'm still learning. For me the experience as an actor.
Speaker 1: You it's almost like you put on a person, so like,
Speaker 1: what is that for you? Because you really enveloped and
Speaker 1: became Richard Williams. It was that is such a compliment
Speaker 1: from your brother way than I like for for the
Speaker 1: daughter of the person you're playing. That is the ultimate
Speaker 1: compliment as an actor, So thank you. Um, I understand him.
Speaker 1: My father was from that same generation. Your father was
Speaker 1: a hustler the way that my father was, and always
Speaker 1: a new business and always a new idea and slamming
Speaker 1: into wall after wall. Reading your father's book and looking
Speaker 1: at all of the tape and really diving into his mind.
Speaker 1: One of the lines was this world and never had
Speaker 1: no respect for Richard Williams. But they're gonna respect all. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, as you're you know, growing, and the years
Speaker 1: move on in this business and you see more and
Speaker 1: more and you learn more and more. What are the
Speaker 1: things that you will not tolerate? Zero? Literally nothing come
Speaker 1: for me if you want to. I always say, I
Speaker 1: don't start anything, but please don't start anything with me,
Speaker 1: And I won't yell and scream, but it'll end. Yeah. No,
Speaker 1: I'm the nicest person in the world, but I just
Speaker 1: don't like to be disrespected. So and I think when
Speaker 1: you're younger you don't realize that you have those options
Speaker 1: to say no, and as you grow up and understand why,
Speaker 1: you're like, I can't say no. I actually don't have
Speaker 1: to take this. It's a wonderful feeling, you know, that
Speaker 1: concept of of mental health and what actually is the
Speaker 1: responsibility of athletes in terms of the press. Your father
Speaker 1: was really ahead of his time. He was. There was
Speaker 1: a video that even before I was going to do
Speaker 1: the movie, the one not the famous one with the
Speaker 1: the uh no, I'm not gonna spring that on you.
Speaker 1: He's like, oh, don't you red table me with no,
Speaker 1: the one with your father and the reporter when yeah,
Speaker 1: we have that video. I actually have never watched it.
Speaker 1: I know I compete here. You know, you can very confident.
Speaker 1: I'm very count You see it so easily? Why because
Speaker 1: I believe? Yeah, I'm looking tell you why. But she
Speaker 1: has said she said it was so much confidence the
Speaker 1: first half. But people want but we can't keep it
Speaker 1: interrupting me. If you want, you got to understand, do
Speaker 1: you dealing with the amateur in your child and this
Speaker 1: child gonna be out the black when your old ass
Speaker 1: and ego being the brand. But she said something, we
Speaker 1: don't told you what's happening. You don't with a little
Speaker 1: black head, and let help being kid, you're answered with
Speaker 1: a lot of propert and live that alone. So I've
Speaker 1: actually never watched that since that day. Really, yeah, it
Speaker 1: was intense, but I'm thinking you feel like thinking, well,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna just sit here. Really yeah, And he was
Speaker 1: badgering me, and he looked like maybe it was enjoying it,
Speaker 1: but he's like, what are you confident? What's going on? Dude?
Speaker 1: Now at this age, I would understand like I don't
Speaker 1: have to ask some like dude, move on or not
Speaker 1: or I will. Yeah, that's what I would say. Now
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking, yeah, they don't know my dad. That video.
Speaker 1: I saw that at a critical parenting point in my life. Really,
Speaker 1: if you notice your face, you out a little bit
Speaker 1: of a smirk, right, but you have no fear. But
Speaker 1: that showed me it was like you were a little
Speaker 1: girl who had a lion, and you don't want to
Speaker 1: sick your lion on nobody. You know, you want to.
Speaker 1: I wish we could talk, but if you go too far,
Speaker 1: my lion will destroy you. Well, I knew what was
Speaker 1: going to happen, like I knew what was coming, like
Speaker 1: they didn't know. They found out. But the best part,
Speaker 1: I think, you know I kept answering the question is
Speaker 1: because we had been under pressure before. We had been
Speaker 1: under pressure in the court, We have been under pressure.
Speaker 1: My dad made us answer questions like why does the
Speaker 1: rich man get richer and the poor man gets poor? Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: you're like five years old and you have to answer.
Speaker 1: You can't say I don't know. So we were long
Speaker 1: prepared for the pressures that we would deal with in
Speaker 1: life before we like stepped into these interviews or stepped
Speaker 1: into a classroom or wherever you find sure everywhere in life.
Speaker 1: That was kind of a good example not only of
Speaker 1: having the protection but also being ready for the world.
Speaker 1: It was such a beautiful thing, and it changed how
Speaker 1: I related with my children. My father was a lion also, right,
Speaker 1: but he would bite me every once in a while.
Speaker 1: And what I saw in your eyes was that you
Speaker 1: had a lion, but he would never bite you. You
Speaker 1: were you had no fear of the lion. Biting you, right,
Speaker 1: and and I was like, I wanted to be a
Speaker 1: lion for my children, but I didn't want them to
Speaker 1: feel that they'd accidentally get swiped sometimes in my rage, right,
Speaker 1: And that's where you learn from. There's a line between
Speaker 1: like getting swiped and also pressure and pushing. You gotta
Speaker 1: read the kid. You gotta know if this kid can
Speaker 1: take it or not, and how you approach it. It
Speaker 1: wasn't necessarily that liberal in my home, Like you kind
Speaker 1: of just had to get with the program, which is
Speaker 1: good too. Some of your biggest fans heard you were
Speaker 1: coming here to the Red Table, so they had some
Speaker 1: questions of their own. This one comes from a trailblazing
Speaker 1: champion sister, so let's hear it. Okay. Look, the impact
Speaker 1: that Venus and Serena have made, not only in sports
Speaker 1: but in life have made a huge impact on my
Speaker 1: entire career. They've paved the way for black athletes as
Speaker 1: well as black women. I can't thank them enough, and
Speaker 1: I'm really grateful that I have them to look up to.
Speaker 1: I wish we were friends, but I am pretty much
Speaker 1: just a big fan of them. But I do remember
Speaker 1: meeting both Venus and Serena at separate times, and I
Speaker 1: was just amazed at how tall they were. If I
Speaker 1: could have any life advice from Venus and Serena, it
Speaker 1: would be how do you keep going, especially when you
Speaker 1: need a mental health break? I was so amazing. I
Speaker 1: want to be friends with her. Sees, We're definitely gonna
Speaker 1: be friends. Yeah, that's a good question. Sman being and
Speaker 1: um gymnastics, that huge moment is once every four years.
Speaker 1: Our huge moment is four times every year. So for us,
Speaker 1: if we needed a break, I remember one time in
Speaker 1: two six I've just took the whole year off. For me,
Speaker 1: when it comes to like Grand slams Um, sometimes I
Speaker 1: push maybe too far, you know, I just always keep going.
Speaker 1: Athletes live very unbalanced lies, and for me, that having
Speaker 1: a moment alone and be watching like I don't know,
Speaker 1: something silly just for like an hour, half an hour,
Speaker 1: and that kind of balances me out. It's a silly,
Speaker 1: simple thing, but then it helps me get ready for
Speaker 1: the next day. That's my prep for the next day.
Speaker 1: I think just asking yourself a question like how how
Speaker 1: do I want to remember this moment? How do I
Speaker 1: want to handle this moment? If I look back in
Speaker 1: ten years how will I feel about this? I didn't
Speaker 1: know you asked yourself that question. I asked myself the
Speaker 1: exact same question. How am I going to fail in
Speaker 1: ten years? Um looking back on this moment? Is it
Speaker 1: gonna be worth it? Or is it not going to
Speaker 1: be worth it? I think also like life is about failures, right,
Speaker 1: you just fail and it's okay. I think just that
Speaker 1: acceptance and failure is fine because even when you look
Speaker 1: back in those ten years, even if you fail, if
Speaker 1: you just gave it your all with what you had
Speaker 1: that day, that's still perfect. Also what you learn from that,
Speaker 1: I become my best player. Every time I lose. I
Speaker 1: learned from what happened in that loss, and I generally
Speaker 1: try to really make leaps and bounds from that loss.
Speaker 1: And I think sometimes people are afraid to lose if
Speaker 1: they start winning, or they're afraid to fail, Like I
Speaker 1: know I was in that position, but that doesn't I
Speaker 1: don't even like the word like, it's not a failure.
Speaker 1: It's just like you slipped and then you'll get back up.
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of it too, is just
Speaker 1: taken out whatever the hell other people think. When you
Speaker 1: let go of that, you are free you are so
Speaker 1: free to just do you. I think you always have
Speaker 1: to check yourself and ask that question, am I getting
Speaker 1: too caught up and what Sally and Bobby and Billy think,
Speaker 1: and like what matters to me? And like, let's pursue
Speaker 1: that path. Do you ever get caught up in what
Speaker 1: people say and think? This is a new place in
Speaker 1: my life. But that was really a difficult thing for
Speaker 1: me and my heyday being an actor. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: but getting stuck on the movie, having to be number
Speaker 1: one and having to break box office records is It's
Speaker 1: it's crazy making right because I had to learn to
Speaker 1: to I had to learn to transition from other people's
Speaker 1: opinion of the movie and whether it's successful and all
Speaker 1: of that too. Well, did I like it? Did I
Speaker 1: have a great time making it? And did I put
Speaker 1: something in the world that I'm proud of no matter
Speaker 1: how people react to it. But that's got to be tough, though,
Speaker 1: because there have to be times where you want to
Speaker 1: take a role because it has significance to you, or
Speaker 1: because of the quality of the script or whatever. It
Speaker 1: may not necessarily be a movie that everyone wants to
Speaker 1: see or whatever it is. That's got to be hard
Speaker 1: for your like creatives. Yeah, no, Now. Sam Jackson said
Speaker 1: it best. He said, I do one for them, one
Speaker 1: for me. There's a lot of love out there for you.
Speaker 1: And here's some more famous fans. My relationship for Venus
Speaker 1: and Serena goes back to the nineties. Getting to sneak
Speaker 1: you out to parties, make sure you're getting back in
Speaker 1: time to play. Always so much fun. And I'm so
Speaker 1: proud of you and just in all of both of
Speaker 1: you for what you've achieved and what you've done for
Speaker 1: women around the world, not just women of I can't
Speaker 1: wait to see this film, and I really love you
Speaker 1: both so much. So the world knows Serena and Venus
Speaker 1: Williams as the Goats, but I feel lucky to know
Speaker 1: Serena as one of my closest friends on this planet.
Speaker 1: She is an extraordinary athlete, obviously, she's also an extraordinary
Speaker 1: friend and mother and partner and the leader. And she's
Speaker 1: also the most organized person I know. She is a
Speaker 1: force and somebody who I deeply, deeply admire and love well.
Speaker 1: I'm one of the millions of fans around the world
Speaker 1: that they have their icons of the sport. I also
Speaker 1: consider myself a friend. I remember this one night when
Speaker 1: we won the Wimbledon trophies, Bolt, Serena and I and
Speaker 1: by there at Serena to dance with me. She was
Speaker 1: all game for it, and she's always game for her
Speaker 1: for any kind of fun. Who had a lot of fun,
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of laughs. Everything they do
Speaker 1: on and off the court is truly inspiring. A sport
Speaker 1: owes so much to William's sisters. Their perseverance is incredible.
Speaker 1: The willingness to continue to write the history books of
Speaker 1: our of our sport is something that truly motivates me
Speaker 1: and many others to phone their footsteps. That was fantastic, incredible,
Speaker 1: Love you guys. So without Venus and Serena and Richard,
Speaker 1: this next fan would have never dreamed so big. So
Speaker 1: check it out, Hi, It's Cocot, Serena, Venus. There are
Speaker 1: people that I look up to, but they're also my competitors,
Speaker 1: which is crazy that I can say that, you know,
Speaker 1: I felt like that was such a far fest dream.
Speaker 1: I remember when I played Venus at Wimbledon and I'm
Speaker 1: Australian Open. Both times I had to tell myself not
Speaker 1: to look at the scoreboard because I would be starstruck
Speaker 1: playing Devils with Venus. That was such a cool experience
Speaker 1: as a little girl, and even now, it was so
Speaker 1: important for me to see two successful black women dominating
Speaker 1: a sport that is predominantly white and let me believe
Speaker 1: that I can do that too. Also the impact that
Speaker 1: Mr Williams continuous to lease on the world. My dad
Speaker 1: is also my coach as well. I'm seeing a black
Speaker 1: dad pushed the boundaries and something that my family definitely
Speaker 1: looks up to. They definitely fierce competitors on the court.
Speaker 1: Off the court, they're both really nice people and really funny,
Speaker 1: goofy people would like to have from them. How were
Speaker 1: they able to balance dominating the sport and also dealing
Speaker 1: with all the naysayers and the critics. First of all,
Speaker 1: I love Coco. She's so sweet and she really my
Speaker 1: other doubles partner, Yeah, the only doublest partner. I won't
Speaker 1: break legs. Partners was very possessive here. I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, we're gonna we want to play doubles, but
Speaker 1: I want to make sure you don't want to play first, Like,
Speaker 1: is it okay? Yeah, I'm really happy for you. Guys
Speaker 1: have fun um naysayers For me, I just don't hear them,
Speaker 1: and I think Venus put it best this year. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, I know every single person asked me a
Speaker 1: question can't play as well as I can and never will.
Speaker 1: So no matter what you say or what you write,
Speaker 1: you'll never let it candle to me. And it was
Speaker 1: so true, Like everyone that's saying something that successful people
Speaker 1: or someone that's doing something in their life, they're not
Speaker 1: bringing you down. It's usually some one that is either
Speaker 1: jealous or unhappy or want to be you. That's my thing.
Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, movie critics, it was like you said,
Speaker 1: one line one of one camera. You wan't criticize what
Speaker 1: just I need you to exactly. I need you to
Speaker 1: be Piet play a hateing from the sideline exactly. Let's
Speaker 1: just focus on you and that's all you can control.
Speaker 1: Everything else it's all background noise, and you know what,
Speaker 1: You're not doing anything if people aren't talking about you
Speaker 1: in a negative way. So I look at as a
Speaker 1: plus like, okay, cool, So that means that I'm doing
Speaker 1: something in there unhappy. So yeah, it's just the world
Speaker 1: that we live in. People can just be so mean sometimes.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, you go home
Speaker 1: with you, you don't go home with you know these
Speaker 1: people that are being cruel. I'm so good at blocking
Speaker 1: it out. I don't just I just hear nothing. I
Speaker 1: actually only hear positive things. That's how. And I'm not kidding.
Speaker 1: I don't even it doesn't. Yeah, Venus and Serena didn't
Speaker 1: get to the top alone. Everyone in the close knit
Speaker 1: Williams family was there every step of the way. Mom
Speaker 1: Or are Seen coached them to a record breaking one
Speaker 1: hundred and forty nine titles, including forty four Grand Slams
Speaker 1: and eight Gold medals. Their three sisters gave their unconditional
Speaker 1: support and each found success in their own lane, Lindrea
Speaker 1: as a stylist and costumer, Issha as a lawyer and businesswoman.
Speaker 1: Their beloved oldest sister, your Tun, was a nurse and
Speaker 1: owned a beauty salon. She tragically lost her life in
Speaker 1: two thousand and three. We know family is everything for you.
Speaker 1: So for their first interview together ever, welcome the matriarch
Speaker 1: of the family or Seeing Price and Serena and Venus
Speaker 1: and sisters Isha and Lindrea, Hie, thank you for are
Speaker 1: doing this. I know this is a this is a
Speaker 1: first I don't already your eyes already alright, for everyone
Speaker 1: at home, Isha and Lynn actually worked on the film,
Speaker 1: so they were there every single day, um as essentially
Speaker 1: quality control. So Richard Williams comes to you two years
Speaker 1: before because because this is an important question, this is
Speaker 1: really this is the only reason I wanted to do
Speaker 1: this red table. This is the one question. This is
Speaker 1: two years before and says, we need to have two
Speaker 1: more kids, and they're gonna be the number one and
Speaker 1: the number two tennis players on Earth. I got a
Speaker 1: seventy eight page plan and I put it together, and
Speaker 1: you said, Okay, what was in the pitch that made
Speaker 1: you believe that this was real and true impossible fiction.
Speaker 1: I'm sure she thought he was totally insane, But you know,
Speaker 1: my dad is convincing. You know, he's very convincing. He's
Speaker 1: very convincing that I will definitely, And he's a marketer
Speaker 1: before his talk. Yeah, one thing he knew was marketing,
Speaker 1: so he marketed and branded her into it. And there
Speaker 1: we are. I'm trying to get people to understand how
Speaker 1: amazing it is. This family knew that this was going
Speaker 1: to happen, and everyone was doing it. Together the ongoing
Speaker 1: tenacity of my dad to never give up and never stop,
Speaker 1: you know, don't miss a day, six days a week,
Speaker 1: rain and shine out and chase the dream. So it
Speaker 1: wasn't just talking about it. There was the execution part
Speaker 1: of it that it had to happen. And that was
Speaker 1: the part where my mom was so critical because my
Speaker 1: dad is very much a visionary, very ten thousand foot
Speaker 1: view you know. Yeah, but how do you get to
Speaker 1: that idea? It was something that we did together every day.
Speaker 1: My mom was always like, listen, if this is gonna happen,
Speaker 1: we have to do it together. Otherwise you can't have
Speaker 1: it dis joined. It this person over here doing one thing,
Speaker 1: this person over here doing another thing. It doesn't you
Speaker 1: can't execute that way. So it had to be a
Speaker 1: unit and you have to work on the same line.
Speaker 1: It's like an assembly line, and that us had to
Speaker 1: be strong. It's the verse in the Bible. A perfect
Speaker 1: bonding union is love and you have to show that
Speaker 1: and then you have to work together and bond it
Speaker 1: together and make sure it happened. And then the most
Speaker 1: important thing is no doubt and no fear here. So
Speaker 1: I never doubt it when people would say, uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: they think they're gonna do this. When people are like that,
Speaker 1: you're lying your way from those kind of people. You
Speaker 1: can move forward to where your goal is. And we
Speaker 1: had a goal. It wasn't money. It was just a
Speaker 1: way of life that we wanted for the girls and
Speaker 1: we wanted something better because when we first moved the content,
Speaker 1: my head dropped because I didn't want to move that.
Speaker 1: I never lived in a neighborhood like that before in
Speaker 1: my life. But each step you grow and you grow
Speaker 1: and you get stronger. It built your character and you
Speaker 1: builds them to be make them strong. And like now
Speaker 1: we see people that they just want everything given. You
Speaker 1: have to have a foundation so you can be strong.
Speaker 1: It goes you don't have a good foundation, you're gonna shatter.
Speaker 1: So that's very important and it's nothing easy, but you
Speaker 1: don't doubt yourself. It's cool. It was. It really was
Speaker 1: a family effort. And uh, not to be the comedian here,
Speaker 1: but I am. You know. We all played tennis and
Speaker 1: then when it kind of narrowed down to myself in Venas,
Speaker 1: they were out there every day picking up balls, lend
Speaker 1: me skip to day. Well, didn't miss any days on
Speaker 1: set I just remember I didn't want to go out
Speaker 1: in the rain rain, it was cold, and it was five.
Speaker 1: I was five, Like I could fit under the bed,
Speaker 1: so I did. We had each other, and I think
Speaker 1: that's what our bond is so strong now. It wasn't
Speaker 1: even a doubt, Like it wasn't like are we are
Speaker 1: we gonna make it? It was like, all right, when
Speaker 1: we get to this age, this is what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: It was never like is it gonna happen? Is it
Speaker 1: not gonna It was like, this is going to happen,
Speaker 1: and this is what's next. One time I heard Venus
Speaker 1: say someone asked her a question about, like, you know,
Speaker 1: how did you know? She was like, I think our
Speaker 1: parents kind of brainwashed us into just believing that it
Speaker 1: was gonna happen. They made up this game. We would
Speaker 1: play outside and they would hit tennis balls with their
Speaker 1: hands and they'd be like, I'm playing the French Open.
Speaker 1: They would play these different tournaments, but they were just
Speaker 1: hitting with their hands these balls, all three of them,
Speaker 1: and it was just kind of like, yeah, like who
Speaker 1: are you? Okay, I'm this I'm this person, you know.
Speaker 1: But part of that was just this unending knowing just
Speaker 1: to knowing that this was going to happen. That I
Speaker 1: never asked, so we here just a question. So, for example,
Speaker 1: we've always were told we were going to be able
Speaker 1: to do whatever we wanted and be able. So we
Speaker 1: believed it because when you're a kid, your parents are
Speaker 1: your biggest role models, the people you believe in, and
Speaker 1: so that was just what we believed. We're like in
Speaker 1: this bubble. But how did you all know that without
Speaker 1: a doubt it would happen. I think Richard knew when
Speaker 1: he first taught me how to plea tennis, so he
Speaker 1: knew we had good genetics. Yeah, oh, let me play
Speaker 1: to you, and let me playing to you. See when
Speaker 1: when when when an antheleague h man kids with another afthleatue,
Speaker 1: you got to expect that it's gonna be athlete. You know,
Speaker 1: that's that's not that's not an uncommon thing to understand.
Speaker 1: You know, it's very simple. Venus Williams, who is your
Speaker 1: best friend? He daddy Serena Williams, who is your best friend? Genus?
Speaker 1: Thank you? Literally the job that you did was unbelievable
Speaker 1: and the integrity you brought to the set and the
Speaker 1: way that you made everyone on set feel. I don't
Speaker 1: think that that gets talked about enough. It's not like
Speaker 1: you really consider yourself. Will Smith like, you come ready
Speaker 1: to work and work harder than everybody else, and that's
Speaker 1: what we're used to. It was really special for me
Speaker 1: because it was my first time as a producer and
Speaker 1: I was there to make sure the story was told
Speaker 1: right because that was the charge I was given by
Speaker 1: my family. They were like, if this is gonna happen,
Speaker 1: then we need to have like boots on the ground.
Speaker 1: It was important to get it right and to be
Speaker 1: authentic because my mother charges us with honesty all the time.
Speaker 1: What was the reaction that you had seeing Tundy depicted
Speaker 1: in the in the film. I think I cried the
Speaker 1: whole time whenever she came on film. I just personally
Speaker 1: I just started like yeah, I mean even still. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It was a quiet moment. Yeah, I think because we
Speaker 1: know how it was and then how you know it
Speaker 1: just it was just something that you kind of trying
Speaker 1: to put it back your mind and don't want to remember.
Speaker 1: But I just missed her because when I could tell
Speaker 1: on Asha was so bossy and I'll be like, teted,
Speaker 1: can you get Issha Plea would be like, I'm on it.
Speaker 1: And she loved to have fun too. She knew how
Speaker 1: to have fun. She was Original Team V Yeah, totally yea.
Speaker 1: Before there was a TV, she was TV. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: have the tissues somewhere. You can tell who the weepers are.
Speaker 1: Venus and our weepers were just more introverted weepers. What
Speaker 1: doesn't even make sense. Thank you. I didn't see any
Speaker 1: refuge from me. See your mom is a I'm good.
Speaker 1: So did your family relate to the movie when they
Speaker 1: saw it? Oh? Yeah, they loved it. Willow is probably
Speaker 1: the the most emotional art consumer in our family, so
Speaker 1: she loved it. She could feel um even my growth
Speaker 1: as a parent from having embodied some of Richard's ideas
Speaker 1: as an actor, when you play a character, you always
Speaker 1: take something away. There's some part of it that becomes
Speaker 1: you forever. And that was one of the first things
Speaker 1: that Willow said. She was like, that's why you started
Speaker 1: calling me three times a day. That's awesome. She was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I get it. You know she's you know Venus Williams,
Speaker 1: who was your best friend. She was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: I get it. You're you want to be my best
Speaker 1: friend now. So you know, there are families around the
Speaker 1: world that have dreams and ideas, and there's parents that
Speaker 1: want to help their kids to grow. You know, what
Speaker 1: is a piece of advice or wisdom knowing all of
Speaker 1: the pitfalls and difficulties that they're going to have to embrace.
Speaker 1: I'll answer part of that. Know your children. Know your children,
Speaker 1: know what they can do, know what they're capable of. Push,
Speaker 1: but don't push very hard. Encourage, make sure their mental
Speaker 1: health is fine, because it's all here more than anything else,
Speaker 1: It's all in your mental state of mind. I think
Speaker 1: you don't ever want nay sayers is to negate who
Speaker 1: you are. You gotta know who you are. Do the
Speaker 1: haters demulife because they got hate. Hate's gonna hate. Having
Speaker 1: a good support system is super important because I look
Speaker 1: at my mom and I'm how my dad at one
Speaker 1: point was working and then he stopped. He's like, this
Speaker 1: is what we're gonna do. I'm not going to have
Speaker 1: a job, and I'm going to go with Venus and
Speaker 1: Serena and train them every day. Now, that would be
Speaker 1: impossible for me. If my husband were to tell me that,
Speaker 1: I would be like, um, I've kind of worked my
Speaker 1: whole life and trying to like relax a little bit.
Speaker 1: But she had to support seven people as a family
Speaker 1: of seven, and so to have that faith and to
Speaker 1: have that back end support and to always know all
Speaker 1: the work that she's done and the humility that she
Speaker 1: continues to have, and we wouldn't have survived without that.
Speaker 1: So it definitely takes a lot of support in ways
Speaker 1: that you know, might not be the biggest story in
Speaker 1: the room, or might not be the biggest thing, but
Speaker 1: it is the biggest thing that helped people make it,
Speaker 1: and we wouldn't have made it without that. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: well said, because my mom was really the guiding force
Speaker 1: in our and you can see that with her words.
Speaker 1: He's so wise and fun. Actually, she's so much fun,
Speaker 1: Like you're very witty. We do hold our breath a
Speaker 1: lot sometimes when speaking public, like a bit. I think
Speaker 1: that's why she ended her Twitter account. But yeah, it
Speaker 1: takes a lot of support in general, you have to
Speaker 1: have someone that's and I want to add to that too,
Speaker 1: is that that support should come within the family if possible.
Speaker 1: And one of the best things I was ever told
Speaker 1: to us and why we're so close is that your
Speaker 1: sisters are your best friends. You're not allowed to fight.
Speaker 1: These two didn't follow, but we became each other's biggest support,
Speaker 1: and that's what we were told to be. So if
Speaker 1: you can keep your family together and make that support within,
Speaker 1: that's the biggest support you'll ever have in life. People
Speaker 1: are like waiting for this other shoot to drop, Like
Speaker 1: secretly we like hate each other or whatever it is,
Speaker 1: like actually secretly we don't. Just having the faith that
Speaker 1: these people around this table will always be there. Things
Speaker 1: happen there. We don't always meet eye to eye, we
Speaker 1: don't always agree, but knowing that I can always go home,
Speaker 1: it gives you so much courage to take that next step,
Speaker 1: to do that next thing. We grew up in Compton,
Speaker 1: but we had everything that we could have needed in
Speaker 1: more even if they were shooting in the streets. So
Speaker 1: it's interesting. It doesn't really matter where you come from.
Speaker 1: It matters your values. That's the most important thing. That's beautiful,
Speaker 1: very well said. I want to thank you all so much.
Speaker 1: It was one of the most um magnificent honors of
Speaker 1: my career to be able to be in in side
Speaker 1: of your journey and life and and your family. Um
Speaker 1: I think inc what you've done and who you are
Speaker 1: and who you continue to become is uh spectacular and
Speaker 1: I am humbled that you allowed me to be a
Speaker 1: part of telling your story to the world. Appreciate you,
Speaker 1: Thank you great, thank you, Thank you all so much.
Speaker 1: To join the Red Table Talk family and become a
Speaker 1: part of the conversation, follow us at facebook dot com
Speaker 1: slash red table Talk. Thanks for listening to this episode
Speaker 1: of Red Table Talk podcast produced by Facebook, Watch, Westbrook Audio,
Speaker 1: and I Heart Radio.