Award-winning actor Will Smith has stated "only God can help a man endure" whilst promoting his new film Emancipation, which he said has brought him closer to God.

Speaking on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Mr Smith talked about his latest film role as a former enslaved man called Peter.

Peter made history after a photo of him circulated during the Civil War showing his wounded back after years of physical lashings.

Mr explained that the film is centred on faith.

He said: ""hat he had to endure and what he had to survive, only God could make a man, when you look at those marks on his back, only God could make that possible."

Within the film Peter is whipped so viciously that he falls into a coma and there meets God which escalates his faith to a higher level.

Speaking of that moment, Smith said: "The difference between faith and revelation...he walked in the world with a knowledge of the divine, a knowledge of God that is just something that I've just desperately wanted to understand and explore."

Emancipation will be released in US theatres and Apple+ this weekend.