It’s difficult for a musician to transition into an acting career at all, let alone become one of the most acclaimed and popular A-list stars in the world, but that’s what Will Smith did in the 1990s. He left behind his hip-hop career to star in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – one of the decade’s most beloved sitcoms – before moving to the big screen with leading roles in both laugh-out-loud comedies and Oscar-caliber dramas.
For most of his career, Smith has had the enviable freedom to pick and choose projects based on personal preference. But there are some roles that Smith missed out on, either because he turned them down or he lost them to another actor.
8 Neo In The Matrix
While it’s impossible to imagine anybody besides Keanu Reeves in the role of Neo in The Matrix franchise, according to Entertainment Weekly, the Wachowskis’ original choice for the part was Will Smith. However, when the directors pitched the story to Smith in broad strokes, it didn’t make sense.
So, Smith made Wild Wild West instead and later self-effacingly joked, “I probably would have messed The Matrix up. I would have ruined it, so I did y’all a favor.”
7 Carter In Rush Hour
With Jackie Chan as Lee and Chris Tucker as Carter, Rush Hour became one of the most popular “buddy cop” franchises of all time. The role of Carter made Tucker a big movie star after he rose to prominence as a standup comic. Before Tucker was cast, the studio wanted a more established star to play Carter (which sounds silly now that Tucker is an established star).
According to CinemaBlend, the part was offered to Dave Chappelle, Martin Lawrence, and Will Smith, who all turned it down. Lawrence and Smith had already done “buddy cop” banter to terrific effect in Bad Boys.
6 Mr. Smith In Mr. & Mrs. Smith
According to Looper, when Mr. & Mrs. Smith was first in development, director Doug Liman considered a few A-lister pairings for the titular married assassins.
Liman considered Will Smith and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Johnny Depp and Cate Blanchett, and Brad Pitt and his ex Gwyneth Paltrow. After settling on Pitt, Liman initially paired him with Nicole Kidman, who later dropped out and was replaced by Angelina Jolie.
5 Superman In Superman Returns
When Bryan Singer’s Superman reboot Superman Returns was first in development, according to CinemaBlend, the role of Clark Kent was offered to Smith, but he turned it down. The pressure of playing such an iconic character was too immense (especially after disappointing fans with his turn as Jim West).
Smith eventually played a much more obscure DC Comics character – Deadshot, a gun-for-hire who wants to do right by his daughter – in the DC Extended Universe, starting with 2016’s Suicide Squad.
4 Jack Maine In A Star Is Born
The most recent remake of A Star is Born was a resounding success in the hands of Bradley Cooper, who made his filmmaking debut directing himself as musician Jack Maine alongside Lady Gaga as the budding popstar he mentors and falls in love with. Before Cooper tackled the project, the remake was in development for years. According to Glamour, Will Smith was one of the many stars considered for the lead role.
Jennifer Lopez said in an interview that she and Smith were in talks for the lead roles early in the remake’s development: “Will and I talked about it and talked about developing the script. It just never took off. Projects are like that.”
3 John Shaft In The Shaft Reboot
According to The Guardian, when director John Singleton rebooted Shaft in 2000, he considered a number of stars for the title role (originally made iconic by Richard Roundtree) before settling on Samuel L. Jackson.
Singleton explained, “We talked about lots of people: Don [Cheadle], Wesley Snipes, Will Smith. But Sam was the best dude for it. Every movie he does, he’s talking s**t and looking cool.”
2 Willy Wonka In Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Casting a new Willy Wonka after Gene Wilder’s unforgettable 1971 performance proved to be a difficult challenge for the producers of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The part needed an actor who would come up with an equally mesmerizing, equally unique take on the character. According to CinemaBlend, Will Smith was considered to play Wonka early in development.
Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey, Michael Keaton, Bill Murray, Brad Pitt, and Adam Sandler were all reported considered for the role before Tim Burton came aboard to direct the movie and he unsurprisingly cast his go-to leading man Johnny Depp as Wonka.
1 Django In Django Unchained
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Quentin Tarantino wrote the titular role in Django Unchained – a slave-turned-bounty hunter who heads to a plantation to liberate his long-lost wife – with Will Smith in mind. Tarantino offered Smith the part, but he turned it down because he couldn’t reconcile the themes of the story.
Smith explained, “It was about the creative direction of the story. To me, it’s as perfect a story as you could ever want: a guy that learns how to kill to retrieve his wife that has been taken as a slave. That idea is perfect. And it was just that Quentin and I couldn’t see [eye to eye]… I wanted to make that movie so badly, but I felt the only way was, it had to be a love story, not a vengeance story.”
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