Will Smith praised “fantastic” Barack Obama for his Nobel Peace Prize – and joked he is going to play him in a film because they both have big ears.

The actor, along with wife Jada Pinkett Smith, are long-time supporters of the US president and flew to Oslo to witness him picking up the honour.

He said he could not miss the ceremony. “It’s a fantastic historical event,” Smith said.

“Barack Obama as a person is a fantastic individual but ‘Barack Obama’ as an idea marks an evolutionary flashpoint for humanity.

“So it’s something we absolutely positively had to be a part of.”

And he joked about Obama’s comments that he loves the idea of Smith playing him in a film.

“Now that I can do,” he said. “I’ve got the ears – that’s what it is. Americans historically have been attracted to the ear. You know – Abraham Lincoln, Goofy, Mickey Mouse!”

He added that small ears don’t have the same appeal. “The chicks don’t dig that,” he said, laughing.