Yo! Check Out the Fresh Prince’s 180-Degree Turn : Movies: Will Smith trades his hipster persona for a dramatically different role in ‘Six Degrees of Separation.’

It may be the most audacious example of Hollywood casting against type since Donna Reed played a hooker in “From Here to Eternity.” But when the film version of “Six Degrees of Separation” opens in Los Angeles on Friday, audiences will see 25-year-old Will Smith, the Grammy Award-winning rapper who parlayed his hipster persona into a television rating bonanza as “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” in a dramatically different role.

In the film, based on the hit play by John Guare, he portrays a gay con artist who talks his way into the home of a New York society couple (Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland) by sporting a Harvard blazer and a privileged lockjaw, claiming to be the son of Sidney Poitier.

But the streetwise teen idol has lost neither his marbles nor his flair for self-promotion. “If you lined up a hundred films, this would be the last one that people would expect me to do,” he admits while eating lunch in his “Fresh Prince” dressing room at NBC. “ ‘Six Degrees’ was the scariest choice that I’ve ever had to make in my career.”

Before accepting the role, he consulted Poitier, who gave his blessing. He also consulted Denzel Washington. “He tried to hint to me, but I wasn’t experienced enough as an actor to understand, that when you really delve into a role, you may feel like you’re letting go, but you can’t leave it at the studio.” And in fact, he held on to much of his yuppie persona each day after filming.

He does admit some fears over how fans might perceive the radical image departure. “My big concern was for my rap career,” he admits. “You don’t see too many rappers playing homosexual roles in films. The origins of the music are about masculinity, how tough you can be. So I was concerned about how my credibility would be affected.”

Smith’s career is a testament to the sort of boundless enthusiasm and undeniable charm that would make Horatio Alger cringe. The West Philadelphia native began rapping at parties at 12 and, in 1986, began collaborating with musician Jeff Townes. Together, they became D. J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and released the pop-rap single “Girls Ain’t Nothing but Trouble,” which became an international hit from their debut album, “Rock the House,” on their label JIVE.

Their next album, “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper,” spawned the mega-hit single “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and won the duo a 1988 Grammy Award for best rap performance. They won a second Grammy for “Summertime,” from their fourth album. Last year, they were honored at the NAACP Image Awards as outstanding rap artists and, in October the duo released their fifth album, “Code Red.”

Meanwhile, in 1990, Smith landed the lead role in “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” Now in its forth season, the show remains high in the Nielsens. Yet this walking entertainment conglomerate comes off as a well-mannered, eager kid. “This is really good,” he exclaims, stirring his chocolate/vanilla frozen yogurt. He is sitting down to a lunch only a growing boy could finish consisting of chicken, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, juice and topped off with the aforementioned yogurt.

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Following supporting roles in “Made in America” and “Where the Day Takes You,” Smith was determined to land a starring role in “Six Degrees.”

“Will showed up for our meeting (at the Polo Lounge) in a three-piece suit and did a number on me, as they say,” recalls “Six Degrees” director Fred Schepisi from his home in Melbourne, Australia. “He did this with such incredible confidence and charm that the very act of his trying to convince me of his abilities did exactly that.”

And the novice film actor gained the respect of his co-stars. “Will pulls off a very demanding role with enormous sensitivity and aplomb,” Channing says. “But what impressed me was that when he met with John (Guare), he immediately asked: ‘So, how does this character speak? How does he move?’ He never tried to manipulate the character to suit his own needs.”

Smith’s boundless energy did sometimes cause commotion, though. “Early on in the filming, Will walked onto the set and let out this loud scream, which is the way he warms up on his show,” Channing remembers. “The soundman practically jumped out of his seat as his ears were being blown off.”

Smith spent 18 weeks working with dialect and acting coaches. “The role was so different from me that I had to adjust every aspect of myself to play it,” he says.

“Will worked intensely to gain a substantial footing in a rather concentrated period of time,” Schepisi says. “He had to change his voice, his stance, the way he held his head and even the way he opened his throat.”

His hard work may have already paid off. Before “Six Degrees,” Smith had approached directors Spike Lee and John Singleton separately about collaborating on projects. “They were both kind of like, ‘Oh, he’s this TV guy. We’ve never seen him do anything,’ ” he recalls. “But now, both have seen ‘Six Degrees’ and are both willing to put something together with me.”

Three months ago, when Smith returned to “Fresh Prince” after “Six Degrees,” he found himself temporarily out of his element in the role that he admits is “basically myself. I had to reprogram myself as the Fresh Prince. Oh, my God!”

Smith is now back in the groove but, with only a year and a half left on his contract, the strong ratings of “Fresh Prince” could well become a fiscal memory for the network.

“I want to do film,” he says firmly. “ ‘The Fresh Prince’ was my introduction to acting, but film is ultimately where I want to be.” He hopes his next project will be an action picture. “I want to be Robin in ‘Batman 3,’ ” he says.

At the ripe old age of 25, Smith is seeing some things differently. “I was 21 years old before I realized that I was going to need to start fixing problems by myself,” he admits. His wife, Sheree, whom he married in May, 1992, and the birth of their son, Will III (Smith is officially Will Smith II) a year ago have drastically changed the actor’s life. “She defuses the negative aspects of my personality,” he says. “There was always a yearning in me to do the right thing and be a good person.”

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Following the phenomenal success of his debut album, Smith went haywire and spent more than a million dollars over two years. Once in Atlanta, he closed Gucci’s so he could go on a private shopping spree.

“At the ripe old age of 25, Will has already led an extraordinary life,” Channing observes. “He has made and lost fortunes and yet, through everything, he hasn’t become jaded or cynical. In fact, he’s remained truly ingenuous.”

“I had the period in my life where I sought the attention, had a little money, wanted to flex and all that type of stuff,” he admits. “But the real person inside me just dictated how I had to act, how I had to behave and how I had to treat people. My parents and my upbringing weighed out over the temptations of Hollywood, the glitter, the money and all that.”

He becomes lost for just a nanosecond in his own hyper flight of self-analysis. “Who I really am wins every time.”