Will Smith to be pallbearer at Muhammad Ali’s funeral

In 2001, Will Smith depicted Muhammad Ali on the silver screen. Now, Mr. Smith has been selected as one of eight pallbearers for the boxing legend’s public funeral Friday in Louisville, “Entertainment Tonight” reported Monday.

Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and Jerry Ellis — brother of Jimmy Ellis, Ali’s former sparring partner and fellow former heavyweight champion — will also be pallbearers, according to the entertainment news program’s website.

“As an actor, for four or five months at a time, I get to wear people’s lives, so I got to wear Muhammad Ali’s greatness,” Mr. Smith said. “I got to study and feel and embody the soul of the man from the foundations of Islam and the strength of his Muslim faith in his life to the beautiful wake that he always leaves in his magnificent path.”