--- title: Willow and Jaden Smith Q&A Interview The Get Down description: Will Smiths' teenaged kids open up to Pharrell Williams about everything from college plans (or lack thereof) to their social media use. canonical: https://time.com/4472324/willow-smith-jaden-smith-interview/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-30T15:35:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:00.771Z og:title: Willow and Jaden Smith Just Want to Know Where the Love Is og:description: In an interview with Pharrell Williams, the teens open up about their plans. og:url: https://time.com/4472324/willow-smith-jaden-smith-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3032c339c77ba2fc/6988a427fb4eac37cf88eeb3/jaden-willow-smith-met-ball.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: "Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology" Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Willow and Jaden Smith Just Want to Know Where the Love Is twitter:description: In an interview with Pharrell Williams, the teens open up about their plans. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3032c339c77ba2fc/6988a427fb4eac37cf88eeb3/jaden-willow-smith-met-ball.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cool Teens Willow and Jaden Smith Just Want to Know Where the Love Is  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 30, 2016 3:35 PM UTC  Jaden Smith and Willow Smith arrive for the "Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2016. Jaden Smith and Willow Smith arrive for the "Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2016.Karwai Tang—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 30, 2016 3:35 PM UTC [Willow and Jaden Smith](http://time.com/3590319/willow-jaden-smith-interview/?iid=sr-link1), the multi-talented progeny of Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith, can sometimes come across as aliens existing on a different plane of Generation Z awareness. But the teens — Willow’s 15 and Jaden’s 18 — are really [just trying to be a conscious voice](http://time.com/4395194/jaden-smith-nylon-misfits/?iid=sr-link4) for their generation. [In a new interview](http://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/willow-and-jaden-smith/#%5F), conducted by none other than music producer [Pharrell Williams](http://time.com/4109821/missy-elliott-wtf-where-they-from-pharrell/?iid=sr-link7), the super-close siblings (“Damn, you are the yin to my yang,” Willow said to Jaden) explained their inspirations — and where they see themselves going from here. For starters, both the [_Get Down_ actor](http://time.com/4422190/the-get-down-trailer-netflix/?iid=sr-link6) and [“Whip My Hair” singer](http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/09/08/will-smiths-daughter-9-drops-new-single/?iid=sr-link7) praised their parents for giving them the freedom to explore, even down to dressing however they wanted. (Who said teens have to hate their parents? Not in this next-level family. Willow said that “Do you, boo boo,” was Jada Pinkett-Smith’s advice to her kids, a maxim they seem to have followed.) Today, the two are known for [pushing the sartorial envelope](http://time.com/4166100/louis-vuitton-jaden-smith-skirt-ad/?iid=sr-link2) — but apparently that’s just the tip of the iceberg. After riffing on philosophy (meditation collective [Osho](http://www.osho.com/) is Willow’s jam), arts (they’re both really into _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_), and thoughts on college (yes for Jaden, unclear for Willow — but she does love studying physics, the “mother of all sciences”), Williams also asked them what questions they’d like to present to the world. “Where is the love?” Jaden asked, echoing a famous refrain from that 2003 Black Eyed Peas song. “I feel like a serious revolution needs to take place in order for human beings to evolve in a way where we can truly exist as a society,” he added. “How are humans going to start taking responsibility for the actions that they take?” Willow wanted to know, meanwhile. To that end, both Jaden and Willow say they present a carefully curated public image to the world, trying to set an example for other youngsters to follow. And they try not to get sucked into the addictive wormhole that is social media. “Even for people like us who have an awareness that’s slightly more awakened, it still takes over your mind,” Willow explained. So where will they be in ten years, once they’ve already reached their pinnacle of fame and influence? Jaden’s cryptic answer: “Gone.” Willow’s more pastoral response: “I see myself in the mountains somewhere in a tent cooking a squirrel… I want to retreat back to living off the land and just being in nature, experiencing life in the most pure, natural way possible.” Read the full interview [here](http://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/willow-and-jaden-smith/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4472324/willow-smith-jaden-smith-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4472324/willow-smith-jaden-smith-interview/"},"headline":"Cool Teens Willow and Jaden Smith Just Want to Know Where the Love Is","datePublished":"2016-08-30T15:35:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:00.771Z","description":"And yeah, they want to change the world","url":"https://time.com/4472324/willow-smith-jaden-smith-interview/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3032c339c77ba2fc/6988a427fb4eac37cf88eeb3/jaden-willow-smith-met-ball.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3032c339c77ba2fc/6988a427fb4eac37cf88eeb3/jaden-willow-smith-met-ball.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology\" Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals","caption":"\"Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology\" Costume Institute Gala - Arrivals","creditText":"Karwai Tang—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4472324/willow-smith-jaden-smith-interview/","name":"Cool Teens Willow and Jaden Smith Just Want to Know Where the Love Is"}}]}] ```