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Once upon a time, Will Smith was the king of summer blockbusters. FromHancocktoIndependence Dayand more, he had carved out a space for himself in the 90s and 2000s. 1997’sMen in Blackstarring Tommy Lee Jones and him, fell in the same category.
While Smith’s role as Agent Jay was iconic, director Barry Sonnenfeld didn’t originally think about casting him. Also, the script wasn’t written for a Black man. The studio wanted him to cast Chris O’Donnell in the role, but a special someone in his life suggested theBad Boysactor to him.
Will Smith Wasn’t Even On The Casting List ForMen In Black
In an interview with Vulture,Men in Blackdirector Barry Sonnenfeld revealed that the idea was to pair Chris O’Donnell withTommy Lee. Columbia Pictures and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment had agreed upon this casting. Back then, O’Donnell made sense because he had mass appeal and also could play a rookie who could be contrasted with Tommy Lee Jones’ no-nonsense character.
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The idea ofWill Smithfor the role was suggested by Barry Sonnenfeld’s wife, Susan. He narrated the entire casting story as:
“I remember for ‘MIB,’ lying in our bed, we finished them at the same time, and I said to her, ‘Tommy Lee Jones,’ and she said to me, ‘Will Smith.’ And that part wasn’t written for a young black rookie, and it’s only because of Sweetie that we thought of Will.”
But how did the director convince Amblin Entertainment and Columbia Pictures? He didn’t. Sonnenfeld went the other way, after Chris O’Donnell, instead of trying to shake the bigwigs down.
Read More:“If I were you, I would take the other movie”: Men in Black Director Had to Lie to Batman Star to Get Will Smith for Iconic Role Against Steven Spielberg’s Wish
How DidMen In Black’sDirector Sneak In Will Smith On The Film?
Barry Sonnenfeld said during an interview that he convinced Chris O’Donnell not to act inMen in Blackby repeatedly saying that he wasn’t a good director and the script wasn’t good as well. Here’s what Sonnenfeld did:
“I had to go to dinner at The Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles with Chris O’Donnell, who was deciding between ‘Men in Black’ and another movie. And I told him, ‘Here’s the truth. I’m not a very good director. I really don’t have a clue. I don’t think the script is very good. If I were you, I would take the other movie.'”
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The director revealed that the plan was to get Will Smith on board after Chris O’Donnell was dismissed. Thankfully, those lies worked, and theBatman and Robinactor pulled out of the project. After this, a meeting betweenSteven Spielbergand Will Smith was arranged and the rest is history, as theMen in Blackfranchise grossed $1.9 billion with Smith and Lee Jones in the lead.
But that’s not the only shocking casting. The makers had initially planned on casting Clint Eastwood instead of Tommy Lee Jones. So O’Donnell and Eastwood would have been the original pairing, and somehow it’s difficult to imagine if they would have captured the energy of Smith and Lee Jones.
Men in Blackis available on Disney+.
Source:Vulture
Ishita Chatterjee
Content Writer
Articles Published :751
Ishita is an Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows, with over 700 articles published. She has been working in the entertainment and pop-culture niche for more than 4 years. With a English Literature degree, Ishita generally covers news and analyses on Foundation, Ted Lasso, Severance, and more.A lifelong DC fan, Ishita spends her time watching and re-watching everything in the DC universe (yes, even including the Arrowverse shows).
