Will Smith revealed that he turned down an acting role in “Inception.”
The actor said writer and director Chris Nolan pitched the 2010 science fiction film to him, but Smith “didn’t get it.”
“I’ve never said that out loud,” Smith said Friday on radio station KISS XTRA. “And now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities, they don’t pitch well.”
It’s unclear what role Smith was up for, but Leonardo DiCaprio ultimately took the lead role in the film.
Smith also said he turned down “The Matrix,” calling turning it down one of his “beautiful scars.”
“I’m hurt by those two,” Smith said about “The Matrix” and “Inception.”
Earlier this year, Smith posted a cryptic video on Instagram.
“In 1997, the Wachowskis offered Will Smith the role of Neo in ‘The Matrix.’ Smith turned it down,” text on the Instagram video reads. “He chose ‘Wild Wild West,’ believing it was a better fit for him at the time. But the question remains: What would ‘The Matrix’ have been like with Will Smith as Neo?”
Many fans thought the video meant that Smith would act in the fifth “Matrix” installment, but Variety reported that wasn’t the case.
“The Matrix,” the 1999 science fiction film starring Keanu Reeves, did well critically and at the box office. “Wild Wild West,” however, was panned by critics and won several Razzies.
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