Three films in three years have propelled Will Smith to the rank of Hollywood superstar, in the wake of the Prince of Bel-Air. First Bad Boys (1995), then Independence Day (in 1996) and Men in Black (in 1997), which completed propelling the actor to the top of the box office. A role of Agent J that Will Smith almost refused and it was Steven Spielberg, producer of the film via Amblin, who convinced:
“I understood the stuff around Men in Black, but only a little. I didn't want to do the movie, because it was just the year after Independence Day. So I didn't want to do two alien movies in a row,” said Will Smith at Kevin Hart's podcast on Peacock.
So why did he change his mind? “One day, Steven Spielbergsent a helicopter to pick me up… I was in New York and he wanted the two of us to talk. This chopper took me to his house. And he convinced me as soon as he said hello!”
The two drank a little lemonade with sparkling water, “it's the first time in my life that I drank something like that”, laughs Will Smith, who says that Steven Spielberg then threw a scathing question at him,< em> “a fucking cold thing!”
“He was like, 'Tell me why you don't want to do my movie…' He left a big blank at the end of his question. And in this blank, it's as if he had said: 'You kid, you know I did Jaws, right? Do you know I did E.T.?”
Thanks to Steven Spielberg, Will Smith made three Men movies in Black, which grossed nearly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office.
