Aspiring Scientist Willow Smith Talks Stars And MIT With Teen Vogue

April 13, 2016 / Posted by:

If I had to guess what 15-year-old daughter of famous people/possible alien Willow Smith wanted to be when she grew up, I’d say either Scientology’s official cultural attaché to the Galactic Confederacy or Professional Eccentric Person. You know, like the kind who wakes up at 11am in a pair of custom-made haute couture Moon Shoes, workshops a few philosophical nonsense tweets with her brother Jaden Smith till 3pm, then spends the rest of the evening on a bean bag in the outdoor umbrella tent from Spice World staring at a glow stick and writing a song about a cosmic dolphin.

But she wants to get into science or something else. I say “something else“, because after reading her recent interview with Teen Vogue, I’m still not entirely sure if she wants to be a scientist-scientist or some kind of intergalactic science-adjacent metaphysical star explorer. I guess being the brand ambassador for Chanel is just a temporary gig? Besides stars, she also got into her relationship with her brother.

On how Bill Nye better watch out, because Willow (who doesn’t technically ever go to school school) might one day become Dr. Willow Smith Science Genius: She is a self-proclaimed STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) freak, with her sights set squarely on deepening connections in the science community and maybe even attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) one day. It’s why she hopped on a flight to tour the campus in Cambridge directly after Paris Fashion Week. “It was nice to be able to talk to female students and professors about science and logic because that’s just such a man’s world.”

On how she and Jaden have a sibling connection that is just so beyond our Earth: “We’re like binary stars, like two parts of one thing. I know what he’s thinking at all times. And he knows what I’m thinking. We’re not identical twins, but it feels like that in a lot of ways.”

On how Willow Smith would describe what Willow Smith does:I see myself as a—hold on, let me ask Siri. Siri, define artisan.” Everybody’s favorite robotic voice serves up a satisfying definition: Artisan is a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand. “Ah, OK, yes! I call myself an artisan.”

On how life was so difficult for Will and Jada’s daughter after she became a famous 9-year-old pop star:After ‘Whip My Hair’ and all the publicity, after going on tour in the U.K., after saying no to the Annie film, all of this crap was going on in my life, and I had to sit down and say, ‘Who are you? On a real note. Are you this or this?’…But then I stopped trying to find myself in these other inanimate objects, people, and ideas. I realized it isn’t about finding yourself—it’s about creating yourself.”

On how she’s a whole Home Depot paint chip wall on the inside: “I have some cool shoes on, and I wear crazy eyeliner, but it’s really all about emulating the colors you feel inside.”

You can read the whole interview here. It won’t get you nearly as sky high as her star brother’s Plato-on-shrooms interview with GQ from last month, so you’re safe if you plan on reading it while operating heavy machinery.

I’m glad at least one of the Smith children has an interest in education, but I’m not sure she’s going to find the answers she’s looking for in the STEM program at MIT. The last time I checked, MIT taught facts, which is going to make things very confusing for a Scientology home schooler like Willow. “Um, professor? What’s this ‘gravity’ thing my textbook keeps talking about? Obviously the reason we don’t float off into space is because thetans weigh us down. Did I accidentally buy an out-of-date book?

Pic: Teen Vogue

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