Will Smith says he nearly 'choked to death' on his chicken and waffles when he first laid eyes on Jada Pinkett Smith

• Will Smith said that he almost "choked to death" on his lunch when he first saw Jada Pinkett Smith.
• Smith first saw the actress in 1990 as she exited the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" casting office.

Will Smith recalled seeing Jada Pinkett Smith for the first time outside the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" casting office and being so enamored that he "nearly choked to death" on his lunch.

"Every Black actress in Hollywood made the pilgrimage through those hallowed hallows," Smith wrote in chapter 12 of his self-titled memoir released on November 9.

The actor said that one day in 1990 he and "Fresh Prince" costar Alfonso Ribeiro were eating lunch near the office when Pinkett Smith walked by.

"I damn near choked to death on my Roscoe's chicken and waffles," Smith wrote, recalling that he immediately recognized that Pinkett Smith wasn't from LA and asked Ribeiro if he knew who she was.

"She was pissed," Smith said. "Apparently, the casting agent had just told her she wasn't tall enough to play my girlfriend on the show. She hated that about Hollywood — that somehow her height (or lack thereof) was of more vital importance to the art than her abundant talents."

Unaware of Pinkett Smith's situation, Smith went up to her and said, "Whatup shawty."

According to the "Independence Day" star, Pinkett Smith said "Whatever, [N-word], move," and dismissed him as she walked away.

"That was the first time I ever saw Jada Pinkett," he said. "It was love at first sight."

After their brief interaction, Smith and Ribeiro devised a plan to meet Pinkett Smith at a taping of her show "A Different World."

Things didn't go according to plan though.

Instead, Smith met Sheree Zampino and hit things off with her. They left together before the taping concluded, so Smith never actually spoke with Pinkett Smith as intended. Three months later, Smith and Zampino got married.

They welcomed their first and only child together, a son named Trey Smith, in November 1992.

Smith said that their marriage declined due to several obstacles, like him falling in love with "Six Degrees of Separation" costar Stockard Channing while method acting. Smith and Zampino began arguing about everything, even trivial matters, and would go days without talking.

Smith said that while he and Zampino were "on the outs," his friend Tisha Campbell played matchmaker and invited him and Pinkett Smith to hang out at a lounge in Studio City, California.

In his memoir, Smith said that he had briefly seen Pinkett Smith in town a few times, and "she was still stunningly gorgeous" to him. They spoke for hours that night about various subjects and Smith said that he "could sense the potential potency of our combined energies."

Smith said that because he was still married to Zampino at the time, they decided against pursuing a relationship.

Days later, at dinner with Zampino, Smith had a breakdown in the bathroom stall of a restaurant when he realized that he was with the wrong person.

Zampino filed for divorce and five days after Smith received the papers, he called Pinkett Smith, who he hadn't seen or heard from in months, asked if she was seeing anyone, and said: "Cool, you're seeing me now. a'ight?"

Smith and Pinkett Smith wed on December 31, 1997. They welcomed two children together: son Jaden Smith (born in July 1998) and daughter Willow Smith (born in October 2000).