By Roger Highfield
Will Smith, Hollywood actor, producer and rapper, visited the Science Museum yesterday for a special charity premiere of Men in Black 3 for schoolchildren from diverse backgrounds.
The children gasped, cheered and waved when the two-time Oscar nominee walked into the museum’s packed IMAX theatre.
In a question and answer session before the premiere, the 43-year-old told the audience that he was keen that the event was in the Science Museum ‘because of my passion for math and science.’
‘I’m very excited to be here’ said Smith, who had earlier met the Director of the Science Museum Group, Ian Blatchford, next to the museum’s Apollo 10 command module.
MIB3 features time travel back to 1969, when Apollo 10 staged the dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.
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Smith told the Science Museum audience that he would have gone into computer engineering.
As he left the Queen’s Gate entrance to the museum he waved at members of the British Science Association. ‘Will Smith loves science,” tweeted one.