{"id":75634,"date":"2023-08-07T01:16:54","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T05:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/will-smith-says-steven-spielberg-sent-a-helicopter-to-convince-him-of-men-in-black-role-had-me-at-hello-75634"},"modified":"2023-08-07T01:16:54","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T05:16:54","slug":"will-smith-says-steven-spielberg-sent-a-helicopter-to-convince-him-of-men-in-black-role-had-me-at-hello","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/will-smith-says-steven-spielberg-sent-a-helicopter-to-convince-him-of-men-in-black-role-had-me-at-hello-75634","title":{"rendered":"Will Smith says Steven Spielberg ‘sent a helicopter’ to convince him of ‘Men in Black’ role: ‘Had me at hello’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Will Smith revealed he almost turned down the role of Agent J<\/a> in his mega-hit sci-fi comedy “Men in Black” until executive producer Steven Spielberg personally interceded.<\/p>\n

During a Thursday appearance on Kevin Hart\u2019s “Hart to Heart” talk show, the 54-year-old actor remembered how he initially planned to reject the part since he was opposed to making another alien-themed movie after starring in the science fiction blockbuster “Independence Day” the year prior.<\/p>\n

Smith said his former manager James Lassiter, who he described as the “arbiter of taste” for his career at the time, strongly advocated for him to take the role.<\/p>\n

“In the heyday, the 10 movies I made at the top of my career, [James] was choosing the films,” the Oscar winner said, via Insider.<\/p>\n

WILL SMITH JOKED ABOUT CHOOSING ‘CHAOS’ BEFORE CHRIS ROCK SLAP AT OSCARS<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Smith continued, “He just had an eye. I didn\u2019t want to make \u2018Pursuit of Happyness.\u2019 I didn\u2019t want to make \u2018Ali.\u2019 And [James] picked \u2018Men in Black.\u2019”<\/p>\n

“I kind of understood \u2018Men in Black\u2019<\/a> a little bit but I didn\u2019t want to make \u2018Men in Black.\u2019 That was the next year after \u2018Independence Day.\u2019 So I didn\u2019t want to make two alien movies back to back.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, once Spielberg, whose company Amblin Entertainment was producing “Men in Black,” caught wind of Smith’s reluctance, the famed director took matters into his own hands.<\/p>\n

“Steven Spielberg<\/a> sent a helicopter for me,” the Pennsylvania native said. “I was in New York. It landed at his house. And, like, he had me at hello.”<\/p>\n

“And it was the first time I ever had lemonade with carbonated water. You can\u2019t say no to that,” he added.<\/p>\n

WILL SMITH SHARES REGRETS OVER KIDS’ CAREERS: \u2018NOBODY IN MY FAMILY WAS HAPPY\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“He said the coldest s–t,” Smith recalled. “He said, \u2018Tell me why you don\u2019t want to make my movie\u2026\u2019 And he was the producer.”<\/p>\n

“And he put the ellipsis at the end, it was the dot, dot, dot. If he had continued, he would have said, \u2018Joker, you know I made \u2018Jaws,\u2019 right? You know I made \u2018E.T.\u2019\u2018”<\/p>\n

After meeting with Spielberg, Smith was convinced to sign on to the film, which would become a global hit and spawn a major movie franchise.<\/p>\n

The “King Richard” star<\/a> went on to reprise his role as Agent J, alongside co-star Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K, in 2002’s “Men in Black 2” and 2012’s “Men in Black 3.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\/will-smith-steven-spielberg-sent-helicopter-convince-him-men-in-black-role <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will Smith revealed he almost turned down the role of Agent J in his mega-hit sci-fi comedy “Men in Black” until executive producer Steven Spielberg […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-75634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWill Smith says Steven Spielberg 'sent a helicopter' to convince him of 'Men in Black' role: 'Had me at hello' - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/will-smith-says-steven-spielberg-sent-a-helicopter-to-convince-him-of-men-in-black-role-had-me-at-hello-75634\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will Smith says Steven Spielberg 'sent a helicopter' to convince him of 'Men in Black' role: 'Had me at hello' - 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