Will Smith has described an ayahuasca experience as the most frightening psychological ordeal of his life, saying it confronted him with fears about losing his career, finances and family. The account matters because it shows the actor discussing a highly personal period of anxiety and self-examination rather than his public success.

Smith took the psychedelic brew while on a retreat in Peru, having believed that a powerful image of himself as a successful actor was essential to his identity. He said the experience involved visions of his possessions and loved ones disappearing, leaving him with the sense that he could survive even if everything he valued were gone; he later reflected on it in connection with his memoir, *Will*.