Popular actor Will Smith seemingly regrets rejecting the role of Neo in The Matrix and starring in one of the biggest flops of his career, Wild Wild West. While he is full of remorse, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor also said that had he not rejected the movie, he would have ended up ruining it.
Even a famous actor like Will Smith can make mistakes. The Bad Boys star was offered the role of Neo, aka the lead role, but rejected the role to rather star in one of the biggest bombs of Hollywood, Wild Wild West.
In an interview with CinemaBlend, when asked if he could turn back time to advise his younger self on a movie set, Smith stated,
“Yeah, probably Wild Wild West. I’d go back to the Wild Wild West and I would say, ‘Asshole, why didn’t you do The Matrix?’”
Thinking that he was an undefeated champion of the box office, Smith ended up starring in Wild Wild West. But now it is one of the biggest regrets of his career.
Will Smith was riding high on the tide of success after delivering instant hits after hit at the box office. In a YouTube video, published on his channel, Smith stated,
“That was a crazy time in my life. It was like however I threw the ball, it was going in.”
So why would he reject the role of Neo? The reason was the way The Wachowski’s pitched the idea of the movie,
“The Wachowskis, they came in and they made a pitch for The Matrix. And as it turns out, they are geniuses. But there is a fine life in a pitch meeting between genius and what I experienced in the meeting.’Dude, we thinking like imagine you are in a fight and then you jump. Imagine you could stop jumping in the middle of the jump. But then people could see around you, 360 while you’re jumping.’”
(H/t Fandom Wire)
