Film plot and background
Biopic starring Will Smith about the lives of Serena and Venus Williams, who were coached in their teenage years by their father Richard.
Sisters Serena and Venus Williams are now living tennis legends. However, in the biopic “King Richard”, the focus is on their father Richard Williams, portrayed by Hollywood star Will Smith.
In “King Richard” the story of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams is told. We enlighten you about the true events behind it.
The film “King Richard” is about the ambitious Richard Williams (Will Smith) and his daughters Venus (Sanyyia Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton). Richard lives with his wife Brandy (Aunjanue Ellis) and his five children in Compton; a city located in sunny California. He is desperately trying to find a tennis coach for his two daughters Venus and Serena. After being constantly rejected, he decides to train his daughters on his own. His goal is for them to eventually become professional players. Richard has been making plans about his daughters’ future careers since before they were born, dreaming of them becoming stars. But the road to the top is very hard and they face quite a few hurdles. The film gives an insight into the problematic social conditions and tackles issues such as racism, poverty and the prejudices associated with it. We tell you how much true history there is behind the film.
If you like “King Richard”, you’ll probably also find the sports films in our video interesting. From basketball and football to baseball, karate, racing, boxing and figure skating, it’s all here.
How much true history is behind “King Richard”?
The film is based on the true events of the family history, although the film deviates from reality at some points. Serena and Venus Williams worked on the film as producers and thus included lots of details from their lives. Richard, as in the film, grew up in Louisiana and was confronted with racism. In the process, he became acquainted with the Ku Klux Klan. In real life, he also started training his daughters at a very early age, when they were four years old. There seems to be a deviation from the film, however, in that it is said that Richard was so fascinated by tennis because there were hardly any black people practising it. In reality, the sport caught his attention because he heard that a professional player was paid $30,000 after a win.
“King Richard”: lots of details from the Williams’ real life
It is also true that the family came from very poor backgrounds and lived in the city of Compton, which has a very high crime rate. However, the film omits another detail. In an article by Reinaldo Marcus Green, it was mentioned that the middle daughter Isha Williams also had very great talent and trained very hard. However, she had to give up the sport due to an injury.
