Will Smith: a one-man show

It's him against the world (of zombies) in 'I Am Legend.'

LAST year, they shut down New York for a few hours so Will Smith could be alone. ¶ It came neither easy nor cheap, snarling traffic and making more than a few people very angry in the process. But one busy Monday morning in October 2006, a production crew for the sci-fi drama "I Am Legend" cordoned off several blocks of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and completely depopulated the area so the Oscar-nominated star of "Ali" could be filmed walking cautiously down one of the city's most traveled arteries in total solitude -- his surroundings utterly and perfectly still. ¶ "That was aggressive. I don't think anyone's going to be able to do that in New York again any time soon," Smith said, breaking into a wide grin at the memory. "People were not happy. That's the most middle fingers I've ever gotten in my career." ¶ Nobody said it was going to be easy portraying the last man on Earth -- a military scientist who survives a biological pandemic that has apparently turned the rest of humanity into night-crawling vampire zombies. Over the previous 12 years, a panoply of A-list actors have been attached to the role -- notably Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas and Arnold Schwarzenegger -- but until Smith came along, none could shepherd the high-concept project into production.