Will Smith reveals he contemplated suicide in trailer for new YouTube series 'The Best Shape of My Life'

Will Smith has revealed he contemplated suicide and and "discovered hidden things" about himself during the filming of his new YouTube original series, The Best Shape of My Life.

The series is a six-part unscripted show about health and fitness and follows Smith, 53, in his quest to lose 20 pounds, or 9kg, in 20 weeks.

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"When I started this show, I thought I was getting into the best shape of my life physically, but mentally I was somewhere else," says the actor in the show's trailer (watch it above).

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Sitting around a table with his children Trey, 28, Willow, 20, and Jaden, 23, Smith admits, "I ended up discovering a whole lot of hidden things about myself. That was the only time in my life that I ever considered suicide."

Throughout the series, Smith is followed by cameras on his journey to get back in shape, while also writing his memoir Will, due to be published on November 9.

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From the trailer, it isn't clear when Smith had these thoughts, but in a voiceover, he shares just how deeply he has come to reassess himself and his identity.

"What you've come to understand as 'Will Smith' — the alien annihilating MC, the bigger than life movie star — is largely a construction," Smith says. "A carefully crafted and honed character designed to protect myself. To hide myself from the world. To hide the coward," he adds.

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