film / tv / substack / social media / lists / web / celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / substack / web / celeb

GettyImages-684262716.jpg

Will Smith Reveals Exactly Why He Turned Down 'The Matrix' (And He Was Right)

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | August 20, 2021 |

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | August 20, 2021 |


GettyImages-684262716.jpg

If you run across one of those “Actors who turned down iconic roles” lists that fuel the Internet, invariably you will read on every single one of them that Leonardo DiCaprio passed on Christian Bale’s role in America Psycho, Tom Selleck was nearly cast as Indiana Jones, and Will Smith passed on The Matrix.

The latter is 100 percent true, but in a video that’s making its way around the Internet, Will Smith explains exactly why he passed: It was a bad pitch.

I mean, I don’t blame him. If you’re one of the biggest stars of the planet, and some relatively obscure directors came up to you and offered you a role that involved red pills, blue pills, and slow-motion bullets, you’d probably turn them down, too. Besides, it worked out for the best for everyone involved, except poor Kevin Kline, whose blockbuster movie-making career began and ended with Wild Wild West. On the other hand, Wild Wild West did give us the best Kevin Smith story, ever.



Header Image Source: Matthias Nareyek/Getty Image