When people ask about how many children Will Smith have, the common belief is two: the faces of Willow and Jaden Smith are just as familiar to Hollywood as that of their dad.
However, the I Am Legend actor also has a third son from his previous marriage to Sheree Zampino: Trey Smith.
Smith became a father in 1992 with his ex-wife Sheree Zampino, divorced in 1995, remarried in 1997 to actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, and then became a father again after the birth of their son Jaden in 1998 and daughter Willow in 2000.
Despite not being as publicly recognised, Trey’s father has never shied away from showcasing his love for his firstborn.
Watch the video above.
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Taking to Instagram yesterday, Smith penned a sweet birthday tribute for Trey in celebration of his 31st birthday.
“Happy Bday, T-Ball,” Smith captioned a video montage of his son. “You are responsible for some of the highest experiences of my life. You introduced me to the true definition of Love! I met God in your eyes.”
In the video, the award-winning actor recited lyrics from multiple songs he’d created in the past reflecting on becoming a father and meeting Trey for the first time.
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“Willard Carroll Smith III was born on November 11, 1992. From birth we called him Trey, ’cause he was the third Willard Smith,” Smith began before launching into lyrics from the first verse of Big Willie Style track.
Speaking to the night of Trey’s birth, Smith rapped: “That night I don’t think one wink I slept. As I slipped out my bed, to your crib I crept. Touched your head gently, felt my heart melt. ‘Cause I know I loved you more than life itself.”
He continued: “Then to my knees, and I begged the Lord please. Let me be a good daddy, all he needs. Love, knowledge, discipline too. I pledge my life to you.”
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Smith’s journey to fatherhood and his journey since navigating parenthood hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
Despite playing a genie in the live-action of Disney’s classic Aladdin, trying to grant everyone’s wishes in real life as a father has proven a challenging task for renowned actor Will Smith.
Below we take a look at who Will Smith’s three children are and some parenting challenges the star has opened up about.
Trey Smith, 31
Trey Smith was born on November 11, 1992.
At the time of his birth, Smith was married to his ex-wife Sheree Zampino.
Roughly three years after Trey’s birth, Smith and Zamapino divorced, initially causing a rift in the duo’s father-son relationship.
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Over time, Smith made genuine efforts to mend his relationship with Trey and in 2018, he spoke candidly on Instagram about the significant improvements they had made.
Acknowledging the challenges that arose after his divorce from Trey’s mother, he described the journey to reconnecting with his son as a “blessing” and an opportunity to “recover and restore” their father-son relationship.
In the clip, the Bad Boys actor revealed Trey had just told him that he was his “best friend.”
“It has not always been like this between Trey & I. We STRUGGLED FOR YEARS after my Divorce from his Mother. He felt betrayed & abandoned,” the actor captioned the clip.
While Trey may not have as huge a Hollywood presence as his siblings, the actor has fame in his own right, starring in multiple projects and making a career in music as a DJ.
He made his acting debut in 2003 TV series All of Us and five years later starred in a short film titled The Speech.
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Off the big screen, Trey was a budding sports star on his Oaks Christian High School team but after exploring football and acting, the star decided that music was his predominant passion.
Trey began to perform under the moniker of DJ Ace and his been working in the DJ space ever since, releasing his first album, Best Wishes, in 2020.
The star posts regularly about his music on his Instagram account which has amassed a whopping 800,000 followers and counting. He’s estimated to have a net worth of $2 million.
Jaden Smith, 25
Jaden Smith was born on July 8, 1998, and kicked off his Hollywood debut as a toddler, featuring in TV series All of Us alongside his father and big brother.
His big screen debut came six years later when Jaden starred alongside Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness. The actor has reportedly built himself a net worth of $8 million.
Jaden is most famous for his role as The Karate Kid and after becoming a Hollywood regular made headlines for his dating life, particularly rumours of his 2013 romance with Kylie Jenner.
In that same year, the actor copped criticism for his role in 2013’s After Earth, which bombed at the box office and earned the actor and his dad negative media attention.
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Reflecting on the experience, Smith later admitted in his memoir Will that watching his son struggle against harsh public criticism was one of the hardest things he experienced as a dad.
”After Earth was an abysmal box office and critical failure,” the father of three wrote. Will. “And what was worse was that Jaden took the hit. Fans and the press were absolutely vicious; they said and printed things about Jaden that I refuse to repeat. Jaden had faithfully done everything that I’d instructed him to do, and I had coached him into the worst public mauling he’d ever experienced.”
“We never discussed it, but I know he felt betrayed. He felt misled, and he lost his trust in my leadership,” Smith continued. “At fifteen years old, when Jaden asked about being an emancipated minor, my heart shattered. He ultimately decided against it, but it sucks to feel like you’ve hurt your kids.”
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Beyond acting, Jaden has also dabbled in music, releasing his debut studio album Syre in 2017.
In 2022, the singer was nominated for a Grammy for his role as a featured artist on Justin Bieber’s album Justice.
Willow Smith, 23
Willow was born October 31, 2000, and rose to the height of fame extremely early. She became the youngest artist to land a deal with Jay-Z’s record label Roc Nation after her viral hit Whip My Hair took the world by storm.
Shortly after the song’s success, the 10-year-old was touring internationally as Justin Bieber’s opening act but her early success led Smith to a major parenting revelation.
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During a conversation at Will Smith: An Evening of Stories with Friends at Kings Theatre in New York City, Smith recalled feeling like he was doing a great job as a parent while witnessing the success of his children.
“I was like, ‘I am parenting the s— out of these kids,'” the star said. “I felt like I was doing really, really well.”
While on tour with Bieber, 10-year-old Willow made an attempt to finish her Dublin show early.
“Thank you, Daddy. I’m finished.” Smith recalled Willow saying. After trying to convince her the show wasn’t over, Willow responded: “It doesn’t matter to you that I’m done, Daddy?”
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When Willow arrived for breakfast one morning having “shaved her entire head bald,” Smith was taken aback but also plunged into a massive self-realisation.
“I’m looking and I’m like, ‘Got it. I got it, baby. I’m sorry. I apologize. You can stop,'” he said.
“It was terrifying. I felt like I had been texting looking at my phone and stepped out into the street in front of a bus and Willow snatched me back.”
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“As strange as it sounds, in that moment I discovered feelings,” he continued. “I had to really think about the question she was asking me. The question she was really asking was ‘Daddy, does it matter to you how I feel?’ It was so explosive in my mind. That was like a deep, existential question.”
“My parenting style changed in that moment,” he added.
The experience didn’t deter Willow from music however, the star establishing herself as a well-respected artist, releasing five albums since 2017.
Willow also built a reputation in the acting world, starring in multiple films such as I am Legend and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, and even taking up voice acting alongside her mother in films attached to the Madagascar franchise.
The actress and singer – who regularly features on the family talk show Red Table Talk in which she candidly discusses major life events and experiences with her mother and grandmother – is estimated to have a net worth of $6 million.