Will Smith, who was first primarily known as a TV actor and rapper, famously has been open about his early struggles with getting studios to accept and trust him as a leading man in the 1990s with movies like “Bad Boys,” “Independence Day,” and “Men In Black” but eventually became the the go-to actor for genre projects leading to infamously turning down offers for things like The Wachowskis‘ landmark sci-fi flick “The Matrix,” Quentin Tarantino‘s “Django Unchained,” and is now talking about why he passed on starring in Christopher Nolan‘s sci-fi espionage thriller “Inception.”
The Oscar-winner spoke to British digital radio station Kiss XTRA (via HuffPost), explaining that his reasoning for passing on the mind-bending pic had some similarities to “The Matrix,” as both movies lost Smith during the pitch meeting process. Pitch meetings are when filmmakers run studios, producers, or potential actors through their grand vision for a movie idea, either with a casual conversation or an elaborate presentation with visual aids.
READ MORE: 13 Films To See In June: ’28 Years Later,’ ‘F1,’ ‘Materialists,’ ‘Ballerina’ & More
“I don’t think I’ve ever said it publicly, but I am going to say it because we are opening up to one another,” Smith dished about his brief involvement with “Inception.” “Chris Nolan brought me ‘Inception’ first, and I didn’t get it. I’ve never said that out loud. Now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities… they don’t pitch well. But I am hurt by those, too.”
However, Smith wasn’t the only fellow A-lister who didn’t end up joining the Nolan project, as Brad Pitt was said to be the first choice, as mentioned by THR back in 2010, for the lead role that ultimately landed at the feet of Leonardo DiCaprio. This isn’t an uncommon thing in the world of blockbuster casting, as many studios and directors go into the process with a list of actors in mind, but don’t always end up securing actors for various reasons, such as scheduling, salary quotes, and like Smith needing to be onboard with the concept.
Instead, Smith would revert to genre material he was more familiar with, reprising the part of Agent J in “Men In Black 3” that would release two years after “Inception.”
This isn’t entirely shocking given that Smith admittedly had a similar issue with how the concept of “The Matrix” and the role of Neo had been presented to him. Funny enough, his wife and fellow actor, Jada Pinkett Smith, would end up playing the badass character Niobe in three “Matrix” sequels.
You can view that exchange with Smith at Kiss XTRA below, thanks to The Art of Dialogue posting that footage on social media.
