Helping and Promoting

Last night, Will Smith and Rosario Dawson attended a screening of Dec. 19’s Seven Pounds on behalf of the Florida Marlins Community Foundation in Miami, where they presented a check and 300 turkeys that will make this Thanksgiving better for some lucky recipients.

Smith was the first to arrive, wearing a sharp grey suit. Flying solo for the night, he pulled a Tom Cruise and spent about 15 minutes greeting fans before going on stage for the presentation.

Dawson, in a curve-hugging black dress, arrived while Big Willie – he’s tall! – posed for photos with fans and signed autographs for them. She then joined him on stage for the all the pomp and circumstance. (He spent quite a bit of time afterward signing and posing some more.)

Of doing the charity for the evening, Smith said, “I don’t want to do anything in my life that doesn’t make someone else’s life better.”

How fitting that the oft-bleak Seven Pounds is all about that.

Of the role role many see as the one that will finally help Dawson break through into Leading Ladyhood – thank you, director of The Pursuit of Happyness – she said that in order to play Emily, a woman with congenital heart failure, “I talked to people who have pacemakers, people who’ve had heart surgeries, trauma victims.”

She added that she channeled that information “and just played the character because Emily gets this bad news but she doesn’t fall apart, you know. She doesn’t feel depressed because tomorrow is not guaranteed to anybody and she wants to live today beautifully.

“And that’s a beautiful lesson, I think. She savors everything, which gives her almost a sensual quality.”

Photo: MadNews.wordpress.com.

Update: Sofia Vergara also made an appearance at the premiere on Monday. Click here to read about her method to get herself some press.