Will Smith hung out backstage at “Arsenio Hall Show” 'all day, every day' trying to get famous (exclusive)

Will Smith got his big acting break from hanging out with the cool kids with barely a cent in his pocket.

On the latest episode of the Vice docuseries Black Comedy in America, Smith recalls the chance meeting backstage at a popular late-night talk show that led to his life getting flipped, turned upside down as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

In 1989, Smith, and his longtime friend and partner Dr Jazzy Jeff, won the first rap Grammy with their hit "Parents Just Don't Understand"; however, when his second album flopped, his music career was left dead in the water. Soon he found himself in a mountain of debt to the IRS.

After paying some back taxes and selling his worldly possessions, Smith moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career with all he had left: $4,000 in a brown paper bag. To catch some clout, Smith's girlfriend at the time suggested he hang out backstage at The Arsenio Hall Show, which, for a brief moment in time, was the hottest ticket in town.

Related: Will Smith salutes late Fresh Prince producer Quincy Jones as 'a Mentor, a Father, and a Friend'

Premiering in 1989 in syndication, The Arsenio Hall Show became a near-overnight sensation, catering to the so-called "MTV Generation," of which Smith was certainly a part. Hall was the king of late-night until about 1994 when CBS affiliates dropped his show in favor of the Eye Network's own offering, The Late Show with David Letterman.

But when Smith was coming of age as a celebrity, Arsenio Hall was the place to be, even if you weren't a guest.

"Everybody went to Arsenio. The show was one thing, but backstage at Arsenio was as hot as any club you've ever been to. People who weren't on the show would be backstage," Smith says in the clip above to host Chris Spencer, who dubbed that particular backstage "the greatest greenroom ever."

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

So on advice of his girlfriend, Smith hung around that greenroom "all day, everyday," though nobody knew the Grammy-winner was broke. Smith's persistence paid off and he eventually met Benny Medina, the record executive and talent manager whose life story inspired The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Medina pitched Smith the sitcom idea and the rest is history.

You can catch that history on Black Comedy in America, Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 10 p.m. on Vice.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly