Star Will Smith took everyone by surprise by sharing that he turned down the lead role of filmmaker Christopher Nolan‘s “Inception” because he didn’t “understand the plot”.Smith shared the anecdote during a recent interview with radio station Kiss Xtra (via HuffPost). Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio ended up headlining the cerebral action thriller instead, reports variety.com.
“I don’t think I’ve ever said it publicly but I am going to say it because we are opening up to one another,” Smith said.He added: “Chris Nolan brought me ‘Inception’ first and I didn’t get it. I’ve never said that out loud. Now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities… they don’t pitch well. But I am hurt by those, too.”
Nolan’s blockbuster opened in theaters and went on to gross $839 million at the worldwide box office.Sources revealed at the time that Brad Pitt was actually Nolan’s first choice but he did not commit to the project. Smith was up next, now revealing he didn’t understand the plot. DiCaprio signed on after and ended up with one of his biggest hit movies.
While Smith knows rejecting “Inception” was a career blunder, it wasn’t as painful in retrospect as his decision to turn down Neo in “The Matrix.” The part went to Keanu Reeves, which gave him an iconic action franchise.
Smith said during the radio interview: “It hurts too bad to talk about.”Smith posted a YouTube video in 2019 explaining why he turned down “The Matrix.”The main reason was because he didn’t connect to the Wachowski siblings’ pitch, which he said was more about their intended directing style and not about the actual story.
Smith re-told the pitch as follows: “We’re thinking like… imagine you’re in a fight. You, like, jump. Imagine if you could stop jumping in the middle of the jump. But then, people could see around you 360 degrees while you stop jumping. We’re going to invent these cameras and then people can see the whole jump when you stop in the middle of the jump.”
Then there was “Django Unchained,” which Quentin Tarantino offered to him before ultimately going with Jamie Foxx in the title role.