Will Smith, Who Rejected Starring In 'The Matrix', Revealed He Also Turned Down 'Inception'

Will Smith shocked fans during a recent interview with radio station Kiss Xtra (via HuffPost) by revealing he turned down the lead role of Christopher Nolan‘s “Inception” because he didn’t understand the plot. Leonardo DiCaprio ended up headlining the cerebral action thriller instead. “Inception” is on a painful list for Smith, alongside “The Matrix” and “Django Unchained,” of iconic movies he turned down during his career.

“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. “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.”

The ups and downs of Will Smith's life are fascinating to me. Ignoring all the insane personal life stuff, I think his filmography alone is wild. We can start with a movie I mentioned in the title, 'The Matrix'. As the story goes, The Wachowskis went to Will Smith in 1996 and pitched him the role of Neo. They gave him the rundown, demonstrated what the special effects would look like (specifically the bullet dodge), and Smith just didn't get it. He opted instead to do 'Wild Wild West', a box office bomb that nobody liked. Meanwhile, 'The Matrix' obviously went on to be one of the most iconic SciFi movies ever made (It also made Keanu a truck load of money, not that Smith needs more). 

Fast forward a decade and Christopher Nolan, who is fresh off 'The Dark Knight', apparently pitches him the role of Cobb for 'Inception'. You might think after WHIFFING on 'The Matrix' because he couldn't get it, he might be a little more receptive to slightly confusing SciFi. ESPECIALLY for the guy who just blew the worlds pants off with 'The Dark Knight'. Once again, he turns it down. Looking at his filmography, it doesn't even seem like it was to do anything else! Maybe to focus on helping produce 'The Karate Kid', which was also very bad. 

Whats even stranger to me is that it's not like he is turned off from ALL weird SciFi. 'After Earth'? No problem. 'Bright' aka Orc Cop? Sign him up. 'Gemini Man'? He can be there tomorrow, Ang Lee! I just hope that he and his agent are a little more receptive to GOOD SciFi pitches in the future.