Did Will Smith take steroids on set of Ali? Paul Rodriguez thinks so.
Sometimes the drama that goes on behind the scenes of our favorite movies are more interesting than the actual movie itself. That may be the case for the 2001 biopic Ali, if comedian Paul Rodriguez is telling the truth.
During an interview with a San Diego rock station, Rodriguez said that Will Smith was “an a**hole” to work with and claimed the actor took “Steroids” to prepare for the role in Ali.
Ali follows the world-renowned boxer Muhammad Ali from 1964 to 1974, chronicling his capturing of the heavyweight title, his conversion to Islam, and his notorious match with George Foreman. In the movie, Smith plays Muhammad Ali, and Rodriguez plays Ali’s physician, Dr. Pacheco.
According to the Daily Mail, Rodriguez discussed a behind-the-scenes fight Smith had with the real Dr. Pacheco during an interview on Rock 105.3. According to Rodriguez, Dr. Pacheco was “drunk as a skunk” and started yelling in Smith’s dressing room, claiming that he wanted his part in the movie to be bigger and that he would have preferred Andy Garcia to play him in the movie. Allegedly, the fight escalated to the point where Dr. Pacheco said the n-word to Will Smith before Dr. Pacheco was escorted off the movie set.
But how does that affect Rodriguez? That part is unclear as the comedian only vaguely discusses how his interactions with Smith changed after that dressing room fight:
‘ From then on, Will never looked at me the same. ‘
Rodriguez also added that Will Smith “started saying just really offensive stuff to me” and that he would never work with Will Smith again after the movie.
Rodriguez also mentioned that Will Smith possibly used steroids, saying “Maybe he was on steroids or something.”
However, Rodriguez clarified that he didn’t know whether or not Smith was on drugs.
Smith bulked up to 215-pound movie role by spending up to seven hours a day in the gym.
I think Paul Rodriguez is probably jealous of Will Smith’s acting career. He was extremely popular in the early 1980s but since then, his career has dwindled to nothing but IMDB trivia posts. Whether or not Rodriguez shared the story to boost his IMDB rank, or to bad mouth Will Smith due to some personal hatred, we may never know. However, one thing is clear. After this interview, Will Smith will probably boycott all of Paul Rodriguez’s movies.
