It’s one of the funniest — and true — Hollywood stories: Will Smith turned down sci-fi classic The Matrix. And played in the flop Wild Wild West instead. It doesn’t happen twice, neither does Will Smith. But he only has master director Seven Spielberg to thank for that, as Will Smith reveals in a new interview.
Why Will Smith almost canceled Men in Black
Will Smith is known for choosing his roles carefully. This gave him an incomparable winning streak, with which he set a record. However, this selection process is based on risk avoidance, and this is how Will Smith’s Matrix rejection came about.
Two other big sci-fi movies in Will Smith’s résumé are Independence Day and Men in Black. Will Smith almost canceled the latter for a trivial reason, as he explained in a talk with fellow actor Kevin Hart. His unerring agent, James Lassiter, chose Men in Black as Smith’s next film. Smith understood the appeal of the concept. But: “I didn’t want to do Men in Black. That was the year after Independence Day. I didn’t want to do two Alien movies back-to-back.”
Which is somehow understandable. On the other hand: It was Men in Black! And then there was Steven Spielberg and a helicopter.
How Steven Spielberg finally convinced Will Smith
Steven Spielberg produced the sci-fi blockbuster and went to great lengths to get Will Smith on board his project: “Steven Spielberg sent a helicopter to me”, according to Will Smith. “He wanted to talk to me, he [der Helikopter] ended up at his house. And he had already convinced me with his ‘hello’.”
Spielberg still have that “coldest shit” said to him. He asked for an explanation from him, “why you don’t want to shoot my movie”. He listed some of his brilliant works, such as ET and Jaws.
But none of that would have been necessary. Steven Spielberg’s “Hello” and the helicopter sent especially for Will Smith were enough to pull him into one of his most famous roles.
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