Will Smith has a history of making bad acting decisions but, did he finally make the right one?
The casting of Will Smith as Deadshot in the upcoming “Suicide Squad” movie is loaded with controversy for several reasons.
Will Smith is one of only a handful of actors that have the opportunity to pick and choose which movies they want to star in. Several years ago, Will Smith had the opportunity to play the lead character in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Django Unchained” but, Smith later turned down the role because he wouldn’t be “the lead”. So for the actor accept the part in an ensemble movie is quite odd for the A-List actor.
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Also, the casting decision is controversial because many people feel that Will Smith’s acting to his skin color make him a bad fit for the character.
But, it is interesting to point out that 15 years ago, Will Smith had an opportunity of a lifetime and he later turned it down. The decision he later regretted and said it was the biggest mistake in his acting career.
When “The Matrix” was still only a script, Will Smith urned down an offer to be Neo in the movies. Smith says he turned down the role because, as he said in an interview with “Wired”:
You know, The Matrix is a difficult concept to pitch. In the pitch, I just didn’t see it. I watched Keanu’s performance – and very rarely do I say this – but I would have messed it up. I would have absolutely messed up The Matrix. At that point I wasn’t smart enough as an actor to let the movie be. Whereas Keanu was smart enough to just let it be. Let the movie and the director tell the story, and don’t try and perform every moment.
The Matrix went on and impacted Hollywood movies for at least a decade. At the apex of his career, Will Smith could have been a part of one of the biggest box office hits in recent years.
But, that is not the first time Will Smith turned down a major role. Will Smith was offered the role of The Man of Steel in 2006’s “Superman Returns”. But, because of Will Smith’s choice to work on the box office bomb, Wild Wild West, the actor said no.
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Smith famously told MTV in 2008 : “The script came, and I was like, ‘There is no way I’m playing Superman!’ Because I had already done Jim West [of ‘Wild Wild West’], and you can’t be messing up white people’s heroes in Hollywood!”
Laughing, the king of the 4th of July weekend added, “You mess up white people’s heroes in Hollywood, you’ll never work in this town again!”
Will Smith’s decision to work on the upcoming ‘Suicide Squad’ movie shows that Will Smith is evolving as an actor. Smith interested in taking risks in his career; instead of trying to fit a mold of what he thinks people will enjoy, Will Smith is creating movies that he knows his talent will make people respect.
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