Will Smith didn’t want to do Men in Black for a very specific reason, but he told how Steven Spielberg made him change his mind.
Will Smith he did not want to accept Men in Blackbut it was Steven Spielberg rethink with a painterly approach. Sitting in a comfortable office, in the company Kevin Hart for the show heart to heart, the Oscar-winning actor recalled some of the most important steps in his career and admitted that some of the films that made him famous today, as well as receiving important nominations and awards, didn’t quite grab his attention at the time. If he agreed, then thanks James Lassitera film producer whom he called his “arbiter of taste”.
Will Smith Recalls How Steven Spielberg Convinced Him to Star in ‘Men in Black’
It was thanks to James Lassiter that Will Smith agreed to make “10 films I made at the height of my career“, in the period that determines “maximum magnificence“. Remembering that period of his life, Will Smith admitted that if it depended on him, he probably would never have agreed to star in films such as The pursuit of happiness or Ali. Thanks to both of them, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. And this reluctance also affected the Men in Black. If it wasn’t for Steven Spielberg personally taking to the battlefield to convince him to agree, Will Smith would probably have acted his own way, turning down a great opportunity. Regarding the producer who supported him over the years and that Men in Black anecdote, Smith told Kevin Hart:
Lassiter had a nose. I didn’t want to do The Pursuit of Happyness, I didn’t want to do Ali. It was Lassiter who chose the Men in Black. I understood why, but I didn’t want to do it, because I had only made Independence Day a year ago and I didn’t want to work on two films about aliens in a row. That’s why Steven Spielberg sent a helicopter for me. Speak. He landed right outside his house and said a simple hello to me. And it was also the first time I drank lemonade with sparkling water.
Steven Spielberg asked him directly why he didn’t want to be in Men in Black, but we know exactly how it turned out, given that he donned a full stage suit for the role. Ahead of the Hollywood actors’ strike, Will Smith announced several ongoing projects, including Bad Boys 4 also a remake One ticket for two with Kevin Hart.