Will Smith is one of the biggest stars of the Hollywood industry, with a long list of blockbusters to his name. The Academy Award winner tasted fame at a very young age when he starred as the lead in the NBC series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for six years. The actor consolidated his position as an action hero with Bad Boys, Independence Day, and others. However, the most popular film of the actor to date is the Men In Black series. However, Smith was initially not inclined towards his career-defining role.
The actor once shared the reason for taking up the role of Agent J in the film. Smith revealed he was convinced by director Steven Spielberg, for his iconic part.
Will Smith revealed his reason for rejecting his role in Men In Black
The Pursuit of Happyness actor talked about the role in the podcast Hart to Heart with comedian Kevin Hart. The star shared that he was initially not very interested in taking up the character in Men In Black, because he had done an alien film in the recent past.
He shared,
“[James Lassiter] picked Men in Black, I kinda understood Men in Black a little bit, but I didn’t want to make Men in Black. That was the next year after Independence Day, so I didn’t want to make two alien movies back to back.”
The actor played the lead in the 1996 film Independence Day as Captain Steven Hiller. The film also stars Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman. It was a commercial and critical success. The film revolves around a group of people who plan a massive attack on extraterrestrial beings who plan to invade Earth.
Steven Speilberg convinced Will Smith for Men In Black with a helicopter
Will Smith had initially rejected the role of Agent J in the film Men In Black. However, the Indiana Jones director, who was the producer for the film, wanted to make sure that Will Smith was cast in the movie. Hence he sent a helicopter to him so that Smith could meet him in person.
Smith recalled,
“Steven Spielberg sent a helicopter for me. … It landed at his house, and he had me at ‘hello.’ … And it was the first time I’d ever had lemonade with carbonated water. I was like, ‘This is regular.’… He flew me in, and he said the coldest shit. He said, ‘Tell me why you don’t want to make my movie.’ And he’s the producer. And he put the ellipsis at the end, it was the dot, dot, dot. ‘Tell me why you don’t want to make my movie.’ It was the dot, dot, dot. If he had continued, he would’ve said, ‘Joker, you know I made Jaws, right? You know I made E.T.’”
Will Smith met Steven Spielberg when he was already a celebrated director with numerous hits. Smith still had the right to turn down Men in Black, but luckily, he changed his mind and agreed to star with Tommy Lee Jones as the lead in MIB. Agent J is to date one of Will Smith’s most fantastic performances. He reprised the character in Men in Black 2 and Men in Black 3.
Source- Cinema Blend
