LOS ANGELES — Things started to come into focus for Will Smith when “After Earth” bombed.

Once the biggest movie star in the world, his $130 million sci-fi spectacle “After Earth” opened in June 2013 to a lousy $27.5 million and would only go on to make up less than half of its production budget, domestically, by the end of its run. For a man who once defined himself by his box office star power, the blow was crushing.

“From the time I was in my early 20s, I had this goal that ‘I want to be the biggest movie star in the world,”’ said Smith on a recent afternoon at a suburban Four Seasons Hotel, lowering his voice to a faux-macho level when he says the words “movie star.”

“And I set out for conquer,” he said. “Smash! Conquer!” he exclaimed animatedly.

For a while it worked. Smith has had four movies that have grossed over $200 million domestically, and 13 that have grossed over $100 million, most with him headlining. Then “After Earth” happened and everything toppled.

“After the failure of “After Earth,” a thing got broken in my mind,” he had explained to a group of reporters at a press conference for his new film “Focus” a few minutes earlier.

“I was like, ‘oh wow, I’m still alive. Oh wow. I actually still am me even though the movie didn’t open at No. 1. Wait, I still can get hired on another movie?’ All of those things collapsed in my mind. Mr. July! Big Willie weekend! No. 1! Eight in a row! All of that collapsed and I realized I still was a good person.”

“It’s a huge emotional shift for me,” said Smith, who has since appeared in smaller roles in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” and “Winter’s Tale.”

“(Daughter) Willow in particular has helped me make a shift from winning and conquering to loving and connecting as a primary purpose for everything. She just absolutely demands attention to her thoughts and feelings. It’s a huge lesson for me to quiet the warrior in me,” he said.

It’s fitting that Smith’s first outing in this new stage is actually called “Focus,” a sleek, intimate film from “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa about a smooth, seasoned con-man and his alluring and much younger protege, played by Australian actress Margot Robbie.

Smith and Robbie are meeting in the middle, in film and in life. Smith, in a self-defined new phase, and Robbie right as she’s about to break out into the mainstream.

“The Wolf of Wall Street,” where Robbie caught the attention of a wider audience playing the wife of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, hadn’t even come out when she was cast in “Focus.”

As she remembers it, “Focus” wrapped at 6 a.m. and she was attending the “Wolf” premiere that night.

“We couldn’t be more opposite,” said Smith of his co-star, seated next to her in the hotel.

“I wasn’t expecting to get along with him as well as we did. We didn’t have anything in common. He’s an ex-rapper. I’m from Australia,” added Robbie. “I, just like everyone, assumed he was really fun and funny. And he is really fun and funny. I wasn’t expecting him to be so intellectual and emotional and deep.”