Will Smith recalled seeing Jada Pinkett Smith for the first time outside the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air casting office and being so enamored that he "nearly choked to death" on his lunch.
In his self-titled memoir released on November 9, Smith spoke about the magical first time he saw Jada.
"Every Black actress in Hollywood made the pilgrimage through those hallowed hallows," he wrote of the Fresh Prince casting.
The actor said that one day in 1990 he and his co-star Alfonso Ribeiro were eating lunch near the office when Pinkett Smith walked by.
"I damn near choked to death on my Roscoe's chicken and waffles," Smith wrote, recalling that he immediately recognized that Pinkett Smith wasn't from LA and asked Ribeiro if he knew who she was.
"She was pissed," Smith said. "Apparently, the casting agent had just told her she wasn't tall enough to play my girlfriend on the show. She hated that about Hollywood — that somehow her height (or lack thereof) was of more vital importance to the art than her abundant talents."
Unaware of Pinkett Smith's situation, Smith went up to her and said: "Whatup shawty."
According to the I Am Legend actor, Pinkett Smith said "Whatever, [N-word], move," and dismissed him as she walked away. "That was the first time I ever saw Jada Pinkett," he said. "It was love at first sight."
Smith soon ended up meeting his first wife, Sheree Zampino, on the set of A Different World and married her three months later.
Their first and only child together, Trey Smith, was born in 1992. The pair's divorce was finalized in 1995 and the actor dated Jada Pinkett Smith, who he first saw exiting a casting office for Fresh Prince.
They tied the knot in 1997 and welcomed son Jaden in 1998, and daughter Willow in 2000.
Elsewhere in his memoir, Smith said he really wanted to date his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star Karyn Parsons, but she was quick to turn him down.
Smith described Parsons as "the least experienced next to me" and said that she "beat out a slew of Hollywood big hitters to win her role."
The actor said that Parsons also knew that it was in their best interests to remain professional.
"Was smart enough to tell me 'hell no' when I tried to explain that we were not really cousins so it would be fine if we dated. ('I swear it won't mess up our working relationship.' She knew better than that — good call KP)," Smith wrote.
