Will Smith is one of Hollywood’s biggest and most bankable stars (even with the Oscar’s debacle), but that wasn’t always the case.
The rapper-turned-actor met with Kevin Hart, and the two Philly natives talked about how he got one of the biggest gigs of his life, the lead in Steven Spielberg’s Men In Black franchise.
“I kind of understood ‘Men in Black’ a little bit, but I didn’t want to make ‘Men in Black.’ That was the next year after ‘Independence Day.’ So, I didn’t want to make two alien movies back-to-back,” Smith said.
Hart asked what changed the West Philly hometown hero’s mind.
“Steven Spielberg sent a helicopter for me,” he said. Smith said he was gagged. “It landed at his house, and he had me at hello,” he recalled.
If he had continued, he would’ve said, “Joker, you know, I made ‘Jaws’ or, you know, I. made ‘E.T.’”
Smith was very aware of that. He said when he walked into his house, he saw the Jaws and the Jurassic Park posters on the wall. The rest is history.
