Will Smith: "My Son is Responsible for My Best Actor Nomination"  6/14/07

Hollywood actor Will Smith has heaped praise on his son Jaden, crediting the eight-year-old with helping him to earn his Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards.

Smith starred alongside his son in The Pursuit of Happyness and admits seeing how Jaden worked made him improve his own acting skills.

He says, "I started watching (Jaden's) performance and noticed that it was different every time, whereas I planned my performance.

"There was a scene in which my character said: 'I'm a good poppa,' and my nose started running. I thought: 'Dammit! The take's ruined.' But before I could do anything, Jaden reached up, wiped my nose and said: 'You're a good poppa.' Of course that was right. In real life you'd wipe your nose and carry on. It took a kid to teach me that.

"(Jaden) truly changed the way I act."

The young star's film debut in The Pursuit of Happyness won him the award for Breakthrough Performance at the recent MTV Movie Awards 2007.