Steven Spielberg, who is among Hollywood’s most elite directors, once tricked a rising star during the ‘90s into letting go of Will Smith’s Agent J in the $587 million film Men in Black (1997).
Spielberg, according to the film credits, served as an executive producer and had a fair amount of power over the film’s proceedings. Men in Black became Will Smith’s career-defining role.
The director – Barry Sonnenfeld, while developing the film, took Spielberg’s advice on most matters. Spielberg, however, tricked Chris O’Donnell (Vertical Limit), who had been a strong contender for Agent J, into leaving Smith’s role, as per Sonnenfeld’s interview with HuffPost in 2017.
The interview revealed that not just Will Smith, but Tommy Lee Jones too had another contender in the veteran actor – Clint Eastwood (In the Line of Fire). Spielberg sent Sonnenfeld on dinner with O’Donnell (Vertical Limit), and something interesting happened.
Steven Spielberg Outwitted Chris O’Donnell
Both Will Smith and Chris O’Donnell were climbing the stairs to stardom in the ‘90s; the latter had even starred in $336 million Batman Forever in 1995. The following year, Smith starred in a major blockbuster – Independence Day for Fox Studios, which collected a staggering $817 million worldwide.
Smith, as per Variety, had declined the role initially. He said to Kevin Hart on his show — Heart to Hart, that Spielberg sent out a chopper for him. When he came, he asked him, “Tell me why you don’t want to make my movie?”
Barry Sonnenfeld, as the publication mentioned, went out to have dinner with O’Donnell on Spielberg’s demand so that he could push him away from the project.
“Spielberg told me I had to go to dinner with Chris. I knew I wanted Will Smith, so I told Chris that I wasn’t a very good director and I didn’t think the script was very good, and if he had any other options he shouldn’t do ‘Men in Black.’ He let it be known the next day that he was not interested,” Sonnenfeld said.
Steven Spielberg, it can be said, had his intentions clear about Smith’s potential and his character.
Read More: Will Smith Rejected Playing Neo In The Matrix To Star In His Career’s Worst Movie
Steven Spielberg Sent A Chopper For Will Smith
Prior to the shooting of the film, Steven Spielberg hadn’t met Smith. While developing the film with Sonnenfeld in his East Hampton home, as per HuffPost, he arranged a helicopter for Smith who was in Philadelphia at the time.
“Will and Steven hit it off, so that’s how I got Will Smith to be in the show,” Sonnenfeld said.
Smith’s and Tommy Lee Jones’ last outing as Agent J and Agent K was in 2012 with Men in Black 3. The franchise rebooted with Men in Black: International (2019) with Thor: Ragnarok actors Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth as co-leads.
Men in Black franchise can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: HuffPost
