This is the role Will Smith didn’t get in a Tarantino movie: The director explains the casting process: “It just wasn’t right”

Although Will Smith has been a well-known actor for many years, one is surprised by the roles he has passed up. Among these, one of the most talked about was the Matrix, where he passed up the opportunity to play Neo himself. However, another famous role that the Philadelphia-born actor has been known to pass up is the role of Django in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

Although this film has been talked about on many occasions, it stands out the time when Quentin Tarantino himself was asked about the possibility of Will Smith acting in the film. During an interview on the Howard Stern Show, the host asked him what it was like to realize in the process that Will Smith “wasn’t the right guy for my film?” Tarantino replied: “That’s kind of what happened. Not in a negative way. I actually enjoyed the time with him and stuff, but it just wasn’t right as rain.” In the end, Quentin Tarantino ended up opting for Jaime Foxx, who gave life to the ex-slave in search of his kidnapped wife.

Will Smith and his reasons for not playing the role

Smith gave several reasons for turning down the role.. “I’ve always avoided making films about slavery,” Smith said. “In the early part of my career…I didn’t want to show Black people in that light. I wanted to be a superhero. So I wanted to depict Black excellence alongside my white counterparts. I wanted to play roles that you would give to Tom Cruise.”

Subsequently, in an interview with The Hollywood reporter he said that “It was about the creative direction of the story. 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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