Will Smith has revealed that he developed a huge crush on actress Stockard Channing while they were filming movie Six Degrees of Separation together.

The 53-year-old makes the admission in a new memoir due to be released on November 9.

It was a confusing time for the twice married star who had recently welcomed a son with first wife Sheree Zampino.

In an excerpt published by People, he explains how he decided to go full-on method acting for the role. His character was madly in love with Channing’s and he found that the lines of reality began to blur for him, though he maintains that their relationship remained professional.

He wrote: “Sheree and I were in the first few months of our marriage with a brand-new baby and for Sheree, I can imagine that this experience was unsettling to say the least.

“She’d married a guy named Will Smith and now she was living with a guy named Paul Poitier,” his character’s name in the movie. “And to make matters worse, during shooting I fell in love with Stockard Channing.”

He continued: “After the film wrapped, Sheree and Trey and I moved back to L.A. Our marriage was off to a rocky start. I found myself desperately yearning to see and speak to Stockard.”

It’s not the first time that the Aladdin star has admitted his feelings.

He first opened up to Esquire in 2015.

Responding to his comments via Page Six that same year, Stockard, now 77, said that the love was mutual.

She said: “That’s a wonderful thing. I adored him from the first time I laid eyes on him because I thought he was genuinely sweet.

“I felt very protective of him, because it was his first big job. It’s amazing for me to hear that he felt that way, I’m delighted.”