Red Hot Red Carpet

movie feature | Tue. 02 08. 2005 12:00 AM EST

Will Smith can handle aliens (Men in Black, Independence Day), and he can handle robots (I, Robot), but can he handle Eva Mendes? In

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Hitch, Smith plays Alex Hitchens, a sort of "date doctor" who prescribes romance advice to the men of New York, including King of Queens star Kevin James. But when a beautiful gossip columnist goes undercover to write an expos� on him and his methods, his rules of love are put to the test in more ways than one. MTV News' Jeff Cornell recently made an appointment with the good doctor, and here's what he learned:

So just who is this guy, Hitch?

Will Smith: Well, you know, Hitch is, he's a master. This is the guy who studies relationships, studies women, and understands the technical dynamics of attraction and seduction, but he's lost the element -- he's built a wall around his heart, you know, so that's the element that really pushes these rules and principles through.

As an actor, do you believe in chemistry? Because you and Kevin James just seem to have an awesome chemistry onscreen.

Smith: Oh, it's definitely chemistry. You can't plan, you can't buy it. It's just two people either vibe one another or they don't. And you know, Kevin, a lot like Martin Lawrence, understands comedy math. You know, there's a certain mathematics to comedy that Kevin understands so that we can talk and we can speak a language that will allow us to create scenes that have hilarious dynamics to them.

Now, this film really does have a nice message in the end, and everything wraps up nicely. It seems men and women can both learn something from this film.

Smith: Yeah, I guess really the message is you can formulate and you can put together all the things you want and create and have your lines and all of that stuff but the bottom line is that it's gonna come down to you. It's gonna come down to who are you when you get to the end of the day and

Hitch

are you comfortable enough and have you created a person that is worthy of having that person you want to be with?

Right on. And what's next for you? What else will we see you in?

Smith: I'm doing music this year, I don't have [another] film. I'm finishing my album up in the next week or so, and we just started leaking my single. It's called "Switch." The song, you know, I always keep a stash. You see, that's the thing: You gotta hit when they don't know what's

... “Kevin...understands comedy math. You know, there's a certain mathematics to comedy that Kevin understands so that we can talk and we can speak a language that will allow us to create scenes that have hilarious dynamics to them.” ...

coming. I got a single and the album's called Lost and Found, and the first week in April [is the due date] for the album.

Excellent. Who did you work with on this record?

Smith: I've got a song with Mary J. Blige, a song with Snoop -- I've got a few tracks that are a real departure for me.

Any live appearances this year? Will you be doing some shows?

Smith: Yeah, probably as the album comes out, top of April, I'll start doing some shows, some Summer Jams and stuff like that.