Summary

• King Richard whitewashes Richard Williams' character, omitting his focus on money over racial diversity in pushing Venus and Serena into tennis.
• The biopic overlooks Richard Williams' extreme coaching tactics, including verbal abuse from schoolchildren and intervention from Compton gang members.
• Despite downplaying unsavory details like Richard's infidelity and temper, King Richard ultimately paints him as a heroic, loving father.

Released in September 2021, King Richard is a critically praised biographical sports drama starring Will Smith as Richard Williams, the father of superstar tennis siblings Venus and Serena Williams. Smith won an Academy Award for portraying Williams as a devoted father and dogged tennis coach who envisioned a plan to push his daughters to become the most successful tennis players in history.

Of course, one of the challenges of a biopic is remaining as accurate as possible without glossing over major facts and events. Although Venus and Serena Williams maintain that the movie is as true to reality as possible, King Richard conveniently omits parts of the Williams sisters' historical rise to glory under their father's tutelage. To help separate fact from fiction, it's important to explain the ending of King Richard and compare it to the true story of Venus and Serena's ascension.

The Story of King Richard

Directed by Renaldo Marcus Green from a screenplay by Zach Baylin, King Richard begins in Compton, California. Richard Williams is a security guard who lives with his wife Brandy (Aunjanue Ellis), a nurse. Brandy and Richard raise five daughters, including Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton). Before their birth, Richard lays out a 78-page blueprint documenting his organized plan to turn Venus and Serena into the most successful tennis players. Once they're born, Richard and Brandy personally train them in a rigorous daily routine that instills hard work, discipline, and dedication.

As the girls continue to develop their tennis skills, Richard seeks a professional coach to elevate their game and increase their competitive opportunities. Richard meets tennis coach Paul Cohen, but can't afford to pay for coaching for both siblings. As a result, Cohen chooses to train Venus for free, while Serena continues to train with Brandy. Paul coaches Venus in junior competition matches and she dominates the competition. However, Richard emphasizes the importance of patience and humility and tells her to temper her confidence.

After Serena signs up for junior tennis competitions behind Richard's back, she finds immediate success. The beloved sports biopic shifts focus to depict how the Williams family struggles to fit into a sport populated by wealthy white elites and exclusive upper-class country club types. The more agents and industry professionals Richard meets to help his daughters succeed, the more fearful of their exploitation he becomes and pulls them out of the competition. The decision takes the family to Florida, where the emotionally fraught finale occurs.

What Happens at the End of King Richard?

The true story of King Richard takes a turn when professional tennis coach Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal) comes to California to watch the siblings play. Macci is so impressed by Venus and Serena's skills that he agrees to coach them at his high-tech facility in Florida. Richard moves the family to Florida but tells Macci that Venus and Serena will not enter the junior competition. Instead, they will train and attend school for the next three years like typical teenagers.

As Richard's public persona and career strategy for his daughters come under scrutiny from Macci and the media, uncertainty lies ahead. Venus finally tells Richard she intends to become a professional tennis star, but he discourages her. Richard believes Venus will follow a similar path as the burned-out, drug-addled Jennifer Capriati. Richard's refusal to allow Venus to go pro causes a rift between them. Brandy argues on Venus' behalf and Richard makes up with Venus and grants her permission to realize her dreams.

Before Venus competes in Oakland's Bank of the West Classic, a Nike executive offers the Williams family a lucrative sponsorship deal of $3 million. Macci insists on accepting the deal, but Richard and the family agree that holding out will lead to a better financial deal for Venus in the future. The film's final sequence depicts Venus competing in her first professional tennis match against Shaun Stafford. Despite struggling at first, Venus emerges victoriously.

In the next match versus Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Venus takes the first set before her opponent dashes her momentum by taking a long bathroom break. Upon returning from the bathroom, Vicario dominates Venus in the next two sets and wins the match. Although Venus learns a hard lesson in psychological "gamesmanship", her family consoles her following her defeat. Despite the devastating loss, Macci informs Richard that multiple shoe companies want to meet with Venus to give her a sponsorship deal.

What Does King Richard Leave Out?

As the co-producers of the Oscar-nominated biopic, the Williams sisters have declared that King Richard is as close to reality as possible. According to Serena Williams via USA Today, King Richard features "only true stories in this film, which really doesn't usually happen when it goes to Hollywood."

Williams also spoke about the authenticity of her father's portrayal, saying to Forbes:

"I think it was a great opportunity to see how amazing African-American fathers are. A lot of black men aren't seen in that light. And a lot of people think that my dad was a different character. He wanted us to have fun first over anything. That's the thing that I loved most."

Despite the Williams sisters maintaining the factual accuracy of King Richard, like most biopics, the movie leaves certain story elements out. While this is usually done for the sake of time and pacing, in King Richard's case, most of the omissions are meant to soften and sanitize Richard's character.

Richard Was More Interested in Money than Diversity

For instance, the movie makes it appear like Richard chose tennis for his daughters due to the lack of racial diversity in the sport. In reality, Richard chose tennis because of the lucrative prize winnings at stake. Before Venus and Serena were born, Richard witnessed Romanian tennis player Virginia Ruzici win $40,000 for competing in a four-day tennis tournament and organized a plan for his daughters to follow suit.

In his memoir, Black and White: The Way I See It, Richard explained:

"I didn't think it was possible for anyone to make that kind of money in four days, especially a woman. I couldn't get it out of my mind. In a couple of days? Really? ... Without hesitation, I said to myself, 'I'm going to have two kids and put them in tennis.' From that time on, tennis consumed me."

Richard told Q With Tom Power in 2014, "You know, if I had two kids, I'd become rich...That was my actual motivation." However, later in the interview, Richard admitted this way of thinking was folly and that he sought to find his own success rather than capitalize on his children's glory later in life.

Richard's Abuse of His Children Was Even Worse in Real Life

In the popular tennis movie, a neighbor calls the police after witnessing Richard mistreat his children. Child Custody Services arrive at their home and ask why Richard is unbearably tough on his children. While this is accurate, the movie leaves out two key elements. To develop thick skin in Venus and Serena, Richard had schoolchildren routinely bussed to Compton to abuse them verbally on the tennis court. Furthermore, Richard was also so mean to his children when training them that real-life gang members in Compton would often intervene and tell them to take it easy. According to Richard via CNN:

"When (they) came to me and said, 'You can't talk to Venus in that way.' I said, 'Watch out. I'm going to do what I want to do,'"

Part of Richard's radical motivational tactics was to create an underdog perception in his daughters that would develop chips on their shoulders throughout their careers. The movie tones this down considerably to give Richard a kinder and more heroic depiction as he guides his daughters to international superstardom. Even if Richard was more ruthless than the movie portrays, his methods were beyond successful.

Other Unsavory Details Missing from the Movie

Other aspects of Richard's unsavory side were omitted from the movie to represent the character in a positive light. Richard's well-documented hot temper, egomaniacal business practices, previous marriage to Betty Johnson, and serial infidelity are not shown in the movie. For instance, Richard was accused of fixing early matches Venus and Serena played against each other, something the siblings adamantly denied at the time. However, everything else more or less happened in the way it's depicted in the movie.

Despite toning down the extreme motivational tactics Richard Williams used to ascend Venus and Serena to the top of the tennis world, King Richard is more accurate than not. The acclaimed Will Smith movie glosses over a few ugly facts to ensure a positive portrayal of Richard as a loving father who goes above and beyond his parental duties to forge the brightest future imaginable for his children.