How Steven Spielberg convinced Will Smith to star in Men In Black

Initially, the Independence Day actor wasn’t keen on playing Agent J.

Three films in three years have propelled Will Smith to the rank of Hollywood superstar, in the wake of the Prince of Bel Air. First of all bad boys (1995), then independence day (in 1996) and Men in Black (in 1997), which propelled the actor to the top of the box office. A role of agent J that Will Smith almost refused and it is Steve Spielbergproducer of the film via Amblin, who convinced him:

“I understood the stuff around Men in Black, but only a little. I didn’t want to do the movie, because it was just the year after Independence Day. So I didn’t want to do two alien movies in a row.” recount Will Smith to Kevin Hart’s podcast on Peacock.

So why did he change his mind? “A day, Steven Spielberg sent a helicopter to pick me up… I was in New York and he wanted the two of us to talk. This chopper took me to his house. And he convinced me as soon as he said hello!”

The two drank a small lemonade with sparkling water, “It’s the first time in my life that I drank something like that”, laugh Will Smithwhich says that Steven Spielberg then threw a scathing question at him, “a damn cold thing!”

“He said to me, ‘Tell me why you don’t want to do my film…’ He left a big blank at the end of his question. And in that blank, it’s as if he had said: ‘ You kid, you know I did Jaws, right? You know I did ET?”

Thanks to Steven SpielbergWill Smith made three films Men in Blackwhich grossed nearly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office.