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 His story is the heart of the
new film "King Richard," opening in U.S. movie
theaters and HBO Max on Friday, and made with
the backing of the Williams family and a rousing
song by Beyonce.
Although Venus and Serena Williams are now
household names and icons of Black female
empowerment, the tale of how they reached the
heights of sporting fame from a hardscrabble
neighborhood in Los Angeles is barely known.
Played by Will Smith, Richard Williams was
coach, dad, and promoter of the girls, training
with them on broken-down public courts in 1990s
South Los Angeles, collecting discarded balls,
and battling derision and skepticism to get them
attention.
"It's like asking someone to believe you have
the next two Mozarts living in your house," one
early skeptic tells him.
"Richard had this vision and really wrote a 75-
or 80-page manifesto before Serena and Venus
were born that they were going to have two more
kids and they were going to become the top two
tennis players in the world," said Tony Goldwyn,
who plays Paul Cohen, their first professional
coach.
Williams was a big personality who constantly
challenged Cohen's training methods and
technique.
"The real Paul told me he loved Richard for
that. He knew where it was coming from was a
place of love and commitment," said Goldwyn.
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 Isha Price, one of Venus and
Serena's three older half-sisters, was an early
collaborator on the script, providing details
and recollections that made the movie the story
of the family. Richard Williams has been in ill
health for years and did not take part.
Venus Williams said she got emotional watching
it. "Just like watery eyes, and the moment, the
family moments of togetherness and the
father-daughter moments are like, ooh," she
said.
While the film uses authentic players as doubles
for much of the action, actors Demi Singleton
(Serena) and Saniyya Sidney (Venus) had to
undergo months of intensive training to learn
how to hit the ball, serve and play the kind of
power tennis the young sisters were known for.
"They're such extraordinary people and they're
very nice. Such big hearts," Sidney said. "They
gave us great advice on just growing up in this
world and how they felt when they were a kid and
to always make sure you stay close to your
family."
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Karishma
Singh and Gerry Doyle)
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