The Pursuit of Happyness
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50 free The Pursuit of Happyness trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Pursuit of Happyness turned one man's hardest year into one of Will Smith's best-loved performances. Released in 2006, it follows salesman Chris Gardner as he chases a long-shot career change in San Francisco while raising a small boy with almost no money and nowhere steady to sleep. This quiz covers the whole film: the setbacks and lucky breaks of the plot, the actors on screen, the director and the music, the Oscar race, and what the cast did next. It also digs into the true story, including where the script changed the facts and what became of Gardner once the credits rolled. It suits fans who have watched the film more than once, teachers and group leaders using it to talk about perseverance, and quiz hosts building a film round. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so the questions work on a phone or read aloud.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which puzzle does Chris Gardner solve in a taxi to impress a brokerage manager in The Pursuit of Happyness?
A Rubik's Cube
A Rubik's Cube had gone on sale worldwide only the year before, so solving one still looked like genius. The feat earns Chris a shot at a stockbroker internship.
Q 02Which medical devices does Chris Gardner stake his entire savings on in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Bone-density scanners
Bone-density scanners were his pitch to doctors as a handy improvement on standard X-rays. Shifting the very last one takes him almost the whole film.
Q 03Christopher is five in The Pursuit of Happyness, but what was Chris Gardner's real son when they were homeless?
A toddler
A toddler is what Christopher Jr. really was, about 19 months old when his father took sole charge of him. The film aged him to five.
Q 04Dan Castellaneta, who plays Alan Frakesh in The Pursuit of Happyness, is famous as the voice of which cartoon father?
Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson has won Castellaneta four Emmys, and he also voices Krusty the Clown and Grampa. The family began as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show.
Q 05Why is Chris Gardner arrested the night before his big interview in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Unpaid parking tickets
Unpaid parking tickets cost him a night in a cell, so he runs to the interview straight from jail. The real Gardner was held for ten days over $1,200 in fines.
Q 06Where do Chris Gardner and his son sleep after being locked out of their motel in The Pursuit of Happyness?
A subway station restroom
A subway station restroom was no invention: the real Gardner and his boy once slept in a locked bathroom on San Francisco's BART network.
Q 07Which make of red sports car leads Chris Gardner to quiz its stockbroker owner in The Pursuit of Happyness?
A Ferrari
A Ferrari stopped the real Gardner in his tracks too, after a sales call at a San Francisco hospital. Its owner, broker Bob Bridges, became his guide into finance.
Q 08How does a penniless Chris Gardner raise cash to repair his last machine in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Selling his blood
Selling his blood pays for the repair, and the mended machine then goes to a physician. That sale is his last, clearing the stock that swallowed his savings.
Q 09The Pursuit of Happyness is set in 1981, the year which US president took office and survived a shooting?
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was shot outside the Washington Hilton that March, just ten weeks after his inauguration. He recovered and went on to serve two full terms.
Q 10Which Founding Father drafted the Declaration of Independence line that gives The Pursuit of Happyness its title?
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson wrote the draft, which a Committee of Five then edited. Some scholars think he swapped the phrase in for John Locke's word, estate.
Q 11At which real brokerage does Chris Gardner win a place on a training scheme in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Dean Witter
Dean Witter also trained the real Gardner, who arrived with no degree, no experience and almost no contacts. He aimed for 200 calls a day to stand out.
Q 12To which city does Linda move for a restaurant job, leaving Chris with their son, in The Pursuit of Happyness?
New York
New York is where Linda hopes to work at her sister's boyfriend's new restaurant. The real boy's mother took him to the East Coast, then left him with Gardner months later.
Q 13Which federal agency drains Chris Gardner's bank account in The Pursuit of Happyness, leaving him just $21.33?
The IRS
Q 21Which actor beat Will Smith's turn in The Pursuit of Happyness to the Best Actor Oscar by playing Idi Amin?
Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker won for his portrayal of the Ugandan dictator in a drama released the same year. Smith's nomination was the only one his film received at the Oscars.
Q 22Will Smith's earlier role as which boxer convinced Chris Gardner's daughter that he could play her father?
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali had already earned Smith an Oscar nomination, yet Gardner thought a blockbuster star was miscast until his daughter Jacintha set him straight.
Q 23The Pursuit of Happyness was the first American film for its director, who made his name in which country?
Italy
The IRS takes the money for back income taxes, and father and son are evicted soon afterwards. From then on Chris hides his situation from everyone at work.
Q 14What chore explains the scruffy clothes Chris Gardner wears to his job interview in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Painting his apartment
Painting his apartment was a favour to the landlord, done for free to put off eviction over late rent. He reaches the interview still wearing the splashes.
Q 15Which NFL team do Chris Gardner and his son watch as guests of a pension-fund boss in The Pursuit of Happyness?
The 49ers
The 49ers game puts Chris among Walter Ribbon's wealthy friends, every one a possible client. He got there by calling on Ribbon in person, against the firm's rules.
Q 16What does a nearly broke Chris Gardner lend his boss Mr. Frohm five dollars for in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Cab fare
Cab fare is all Frohm wants, yet five dollars is nearly everything Chris has. Frohm repays him on the day he offers Chris the job.
Q 17The misspelt title of The Pursuit of Happyness copies a mural Chris Gardner sees outside which place?
His son's daycare
His son's daycare had the word spelt with a Y on its wall, and the real Gardner saw the same mistake during his months without a home.
Q 18What does Christopher tell his father as they walk away at the end of The Pursuit of Happyness?
Knock-knock jokes
Knock-knock jokes fill the last scene, just as the real Chris Gardner strolls past in a business suit and the two men swap a glance.
Q 19Which Westworld star plays Linda, the worn-out partner who walks out on Chris, in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Thandiwe Newton
Thandiwe Newton was credited here as Thandie, the spelling she used for most of her career. Her Emmy came in 2018 for playing the android Maeve.
Q 20Will Smith lost the Oscar for The Pursuit of Happyness but later won Best Actor for which tennis drama?
King Richard
King Richard cast him as Richard Williams, father and coach of Venus and Serena. It was his third Best Actor nomination, 15 years after this one.
Italy knew Muccino for The Last Kiss, whose audience prize at Sundance caught Hollywood's eye. Will Smith then chose him personally to direct.
Q 24Which 2008 drama reunited Will Smith with the man who directed him in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Seven Pounds
Seven Pounds cast Smith as a man set on changing the lives of seven strangers. Critics disliked it, yet it still took about $170 million worldwide.
Q 25Jaden Smith, the son in The Pursuit of Happyness, later trained under Jackie Chan in which 2010 film?
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid moved the 1984 story to Beijing, so the martial art the boy learns is really kung fu, despite the title.
Q 26Which 2013 science-fiction film reunited Will and Jaden Smith as father and son, following The Pursuit of Happyness?
After Earth
After Earth grew from Will Smith's own story idea about a father and son stranded in the wilderness, later moved 1,000 years into the future.
Q 27Which honour did Jaden Smith win for Breakthrough Performance in The Pursuit of Happyness, his first film?
An MTV Movie Award
An MTV Movie Award went to Jaden in 2007, when he was eight. His father was up for Best Performance at the same ceremony but lost to Johnny Depp.
Q 28Which soul legend's songs Higher Ground and Jesus Children of America are heard in The Pursuit of Happyness?
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder wrote Higher Ground for his 1973 album Innervisions, and it climbed to number four on the US singles chart.
Q 29Which British singer earned a Golden Globe nomination for A Father's Way, a song from The Pursuit of Happyness?
Seal
Seal was up for Best Original Song, the film's second nomination at the Globes. He is best known for Kiss from a Rose, a hit from Batman Forever.
Q 30Which San Francisco church, which sheltered the real Chris Gardner, lends its gospel choir to The Pursuit of Happyness?
Glide Memorial
Glide Memorial's pastor, Cecil Williams, let father and son stay in a shelter meant for homeless women. Its choir, the Glide Ensemble, sings in the film.