Will Smith is one of the big names in the Hollywood industry, known for his blockbuster films and humorous style. The actor first gained fame in the 1990s hit TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and later starred in movies like Men in Black, Independence Day, Bad Boys, and I Am Legend, which catapulted him into stardom as a bankable action star. Despite his impressive career resume, the actor has built up his reputation within the industry, but he could have been part of a multi-billion-dollar franchise.
In the industry, it is natural to reject scripts that don’t resonate with the reader, which was the case with Smith. The actor was reportedly offered the iconic role of Neo in The Matrix franchise; however, he turned it down. At the time, Smith thought the franchise would be a waste of time as he had played something similar previously, which could have performed better.
He shared on his storytime video on his YouTube account, “I had done ‘Independence Day’ the year before, so I was like, ‘Eh, I’m not doing another alien movie; I don’t want to be the alien movie guy.’’ It’s a hard movie to pitch. You know: ‘Everybody lives inside a computer.’ It was only when I saw it that I got it. They came in and made a pitch for ‘The Matrix.’ As it turns out, they’re geniuses. But there’s a fine line between genius and what I experienced in the pitch meeting.”
Well, it wasn’t only Smith who rejected the extraordinary role. Other A-list stars, including Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicolas Cage, and Val Kilmer, also turned down the role of Neo with the assumption that the movie wouldn’t be a hit. Instead of doing The Matrix, Smith went on to do Wild Wild West, which earned $222 million with a $170 million production budget. Smith chose the wrong movie to star in.
After being rejected by several household names, Neo’s role finally went to Keanu Reeves, who thanked Smith for turning it down. In a throwback interview with Esquire, the John Wick star said, “Well, it changed my life. It was a wonderful creative experience to play Neo in The Matrix trilogy and now in the fourth. It impacted my life, personally and creatively.”
All four The Matrix movies grossed $1.8 billion with a total budget of $553 million. The movies are available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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