In 2001, barely a year after making his Hollywood debut with The Fresh Prince, Will Smith went on to win an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Lead Role for his work on Ali. Supported by Jon Voight (who also won the Supporting Actor nod at the Oscars), the Michael Mann biography of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali featured one other surprise – Jada Pinkett Smith, playing house on-screen with her real-life husband.
As it turns out, the idea was all Michael Mann’s since, according to the Gotham actress, under no circumstances would one catch both Mr. and Mrs. Smith taking up projects at the same time.
Jada Pinkett Smith Found Herself in Another Entanglement
When asked about working alongside her husband in Hollywood, Jada Pinkett Smith would turn her nose up at the idea. But the one single time she was found doing so marked an exception, even by her standards, as the actress claimed, “He got nominated for the Oscar. We made it work this time.” Primarily, Jada Smith’s reluctance toward spending time with her husband at work is something that plagues most couples. But considering director Michael Mann didn’t know how to take no for an answer, it was Smith who had to concede in the end.
[Michael Mann] called me and then he’s like, ‘You’re not going to tell me no.’ He’s like, ‘You’re going to do this role.’ And I just had to trust him and he pulled it off – the brilliant director that he is.
But the decision wasn’t without its fair share of hesitation on Jada Smith’s end, and due to a reason well thought out, too:
I didn’t want to audition for this. I felt like because we were a couple off-screen, for people to see us together on the screen in a movie like this, would take people out of the movie, that people would see Will and Jada there and they wouldn’t see Ali and Sonji. And I was so against it.
Ali went on to mark a definitive place for Will Smith in Hollywood with his Oscar nod after passing on a major role for The Matrix as he didn’t want to be “the alien guy” after Independence Day. The film later went on to earn $87.6 million at the box office against a budget of $14.7 million, making it a critical and commercial success.
Will Smith’s Turbulent Rise To Fame in Hollywood
Will Smith’s star power was barely a fraction of what it currently is when he started out as a rapper/musician. The million-dollar record deals compared to nothing when a decade later, he would earn roles that won him Academy Award nominations. The young actor’s calling was not Hollywood, it seemed, as he primarily took on the first acting gig – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – mainly to avoid jail time after inadvertently failing to pay his taxes from the aforementioned million-dollar income. Barely a teenager then, and without adult guidance, the prospect of spending the money was more attractive than filling out tax forms.
Soon after though, Hollywood became a second home while his music career took a back seat. Roles would glitter about before landing on his lap, finding in him the necessary skills to do a movie justice better than the era’s established A-listers, including Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise. The fresh, new, and young face was the latest attraction of the Hollywood carnival and he would remain so well until 2022 when one Oscar Slapgate ruined the reputation that he carefully built for over 3 decades of his career.
However, history tells us Will Smith has been anything but such a plain cardboard cutout of an actor rising through the ranks to reach the peak of Hollywood glory and stardom. History, when it comes to Will Smith, has simultaneously given us more to celebrate and more to be scandalized about than any other actor in recent times.
Ali is available for streaming on Netflix and Vudu.
Source: People
