Dr Bennet Omalu speaks about the film starring Will Smith

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January 29, 2016 6:01 PM

Omalu shared at the 2016 Golden Globes how he felt about a movie being made about him and Will Smith playing him.

Will Smith in “Concussion”

Dr Bennet Omalu says Will Smith got his accent spot on in the film “Concussion”.

In an interview at the 2016 Golden Globe Awards he told Nigerian reporter, Simisola Solanke:

“I’ve been out of Nigeria for twenty –something years, I’m married to a Kenyan so I’ve lost my Nigerian accent, people should remember that.”

In “Concussion”, Smith plays the role of the Nigerian forensic neuro-pathologist, Dr Bennet Omalu. Following the release of the film trailer in September 2015, Nigerians reacted to Smith’s version of the Nigerian accent.

Omalu revealed that he asked for the accent to be toned down because the film was for an international market.

The film based on true events, focuses on Omalu and his findings on discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). "Concussion" follows his journey and how his research brings him at loggerheads with the National Football League (NFL) in the United States.

Omalu shared with Solanke how he felt about a movie being made about him and Smith playing him.

“I’m dumbfounded if you notice I couldn’t speak, but this has never been about me, rather this has been about the wholeness, the truth, about the foundational basis of the American society”.

“When you watch “Concussion”, you forget you are watching Will Smith, you believe you are watching someone else, you believe you are watching Bennet Omalu”.

The movie written and directed by Peter Landesman also stars Alec Baldwin, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Luke Wilson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Albert Brooks and David Morse.

Watch the Dr Bennet Omalu's interview in the clip above:

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