“Don’t use your brain for this one:” Steven Spielberg’s advice for Will Smith led to one of his best movie roles

when Will Smith Was still a rising star, director Steven Spielberg gave him some advice that convinced the actor to take the lead role in one of his best movies. Will Smith and Steven Spielberg are some of the biggest names in Hollywood, both in front of and behind the camera. Although Spielberg’s best movies are what he is best known for, he has also worked as a producer on several other films. One story proves that Spielberg is just as good at producing a movie as he is at directing, and it also gave Smith one of his most beloved roles.

There is a long list of films that can be considered Will Smith’s best work, from dramas like The pursuit of happiness To comedies like Hich. Some of Will Smith’s best action movies, viz bad boysare also top contenders to be considered his greatest. In any discussion of Smith’s best films, however, the original Men in Black had to come up. It’s easily one of his best sci-fi movies, and he was perfectly cast in the role of Jay opposite Tommy Lee Jones. Although Will Smith and Men in Black Are almost synonymous now, there was a time when he almost did not take the part.

Steven Spielberg convinced Will Smith to do Men in Black

Spielberg was an executive producer for Men in Black and convinced Smith to accept the role

In a video Will Smith Posted to YouTube, he tells how Spielberg convinced him to take the role of Jay in Men in Black. Smith received the offer to play Jay in Men in Black In 1996, just after he finished playing Captain Hiller in Independence DayAnother sci-fi film focusing on aliens. Smith told Spielberg that he didn’t want to be typecast in sci-fi movies, to which Spielberg said, “Don’t use your brain for this one, use my brain.” Spielberg was an executive producer for Men in BlackAnd his seal of approval was enough to convince Smith to take the role.

Will Smith finished The Matrix at the same time

The Wachowskis’ pitch didn’t convince Smith and he went Wild Wild West instead

Unfortunately for Smith, he was offered another role in a sci-fi movie that no one convinced him to take. Two years later Men in BlackThe Wachowskis offered Will Smith the part of Neo In The matrixBut he gave up because of his bad luck. The part would instead go to Keanu Reeves, and The matrix Would go on to be considered one of the best science fiction movies of all time. It was a huge missed opportunity for Smith, but, as Smith said, the Wachowskis’ original pitch for the movie didn’t sound good enough to convince him.

As if to add insult to injury, that same year, Smith would take on another sci-fi role in a far less successful film: Wild Wild West. Compared to The matrix, Wild Wild West was a massive flop, and is still considered one of his worst films. Fortunately, Smith has clearly come to terms with passing The matrixAnd he even went as far as to say that Reeves was perfect for the role. Smith also said that he “Do you all a favor“By turning it down, because his involvement would have precluded Laurence Fishburne from being cast as Morpheus.

Will Smith retired from typecasting but still became a sci-fi star

Will Smith has done several sci-fi movies in addition to dramas and comedies

Even if Will Smith didn’t want to be remembered as “The foreign movie guy“And was able to avoid being typecast as such, he still made quite a few science fiction movies over the course of his career. In fact, sci-fi seems to be one of Smith’s most common genres after dramatic films. Smith starred in nine sci-fi films from 1997 to 2019, from Independence Day All the way to Gemini man. Despite how often he stars in the genre, Smith has managed to avoid being typecast as a science fiction actor.

Will Smith has, of course, recovered from missing The matrixAnd he became one of the most recognizable actors in show business. He has also expanded well beyond the boundaries of science fiction. Smith has a long list of successful dramas and comedies, and recently won his first Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Richard Williams in King Richard in 2022. He also got a chance to make one of his greatest movies ever, thanks to Steven Spielberg, that way Will Smith Serve as the perfect example of what good advice can do.

Source: Will Smith, The Hollywood Reporter