King Richard is a 2021 movie about the formative years of tennis’s most famous siblings, the Williams sisters. However, the story focuses on their father, Richard Williams, played by Will Smith. With a healthy dose of the truth alongside dramatic embellishment, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. Below, we discuss King Richard and how accurate the movie is.
Richard Williams
Richard Williams himself was a unique, albeit somewhat divisive, character. As is often the case, parents who push their children in this manner, whether in sports or forms of entertainment, can come across as difficult characters to like. The success of their children often comes at the expense of enjoying their childhood, and the filmmakers have the hard task of making them likable.
Williams as a character always had relatability on his side. He pushed his children to get them out of poverty and off the courts of Compton. Wanting better for your children is a theme many viewers can relate to.
One tactic he employed was, upon reaching the peak junior level, he took his daughters out of competition until they were ready for the pro levels. This saw them go from troubled, gangland America to Roland Garros and the bookmakers’ favourites at the live Wimbledon championships, to name a few. He was always one to challenge the advice of coaches and businesses. All of this was done in the predominantly white world of tennis. It is this unshakeable faith in his family that makes him so likable.
Was Williams Abusive?
Was Richard Williams abusive to his children? The film does an excellent job of portraying how he pushed his children to a breaking point, employing some techniques that many may consider overly harsh. Yet they never tell the audience what to think, letting them make their minds up on their own instead.
One such incident took place when the children were made to practice in a thunderstorm, with neighbours threatening to call social services. Neighbours did indeed call social services on the family multiple times due to the long hours Richard would make the children practice. This often involved 6 am starts and playing until darkness fell, all after a day of study. Richard would also break bottles at the back of the court to prevent the girls from moving too far back.
Life in Compton
Another scene in the movie shows Richard being beaten by a gang hanging around the courts in Compton. This has been verified by multiple sources as a true account. The gangs wanted the courts for themselves, and when Richard attempted to negotiate with them, he was beaten and ended up with a broken jaw, nose and fingers, along with missing teeth. However, these same gangs would later try to protect the sisters when they became successful, blocking the courts off from anyone who would seek to distract them or do them harm.
In the movie, Richard goes on to hunt the gang leader with a pistol he has procured from work. This was embellished, although Richard did admit that he began taking a shotgun to the courts, which quickly moved the gang on.
The biggest piece of evidence to suggest the movie was pretty close to the real thing comes from its backing by the Williams family. It was not the first script that had been sent their way, with plenty others before it being rejected. Their only issue was that this script originally lacked personal detail and was simply a portrayal of events heard before. Therefore, the family provided some input, with the sisters even becoming producers, making it as accurate as possible.
Of course, these events can also contain bias. The passage of time, nostalgia, and the desire to add rose-tinted lenses to what must have been a troubling childhood will have been at play. However, it seems that unless you were there to see the events unfold, this is as accurate of a portrayal as you will find anywhere.
