Interview: Will Smith Talks Turning Down ‘Django’ & Fallin Out of Love w/ Acting
The Hollywood Reporter recently sat down with a few of the best actors in Hollywood including Will Smith. He spoke about turning down the leading role in Django, racism and prejudice in the industry and falling out of love with acting. Take a look at what he had to say below and read the full interview over at The Hollywood Reporter.
THR: Do you get nervous or afraid?
Will Smith: I live in complete terror. (Laughter.) Everything for me about this business and about what I’ve been trying to build and what I’ve been trying to do with my life keeps me in terror. I am deeply motivated by fear. With a movie, it’s like you never know; you can love it, you can have done what you think is the best work you’ve ever done, and you put it out on that Friday, and everybody hates it — and you’ve taken a year. And they don’t just dislike it, you know? They want to be really creative with how they let you know they hate it.
THR: What’s your biggest disappointment?
Will Smith: There’s been disappointments, but every time I came back with a newer, fresher attitude. But the first time where it didn’t work the way that I wanted was Wild Wild West. I was coming off of Men in Black, and everything was like, “Oh, we can’t lose,” you know? I was like, “Oh! Tragedy!”
THR: How do you deal with that fear?
Will Smith: I’m trying to develop a more realistic perspective of what this business is. I told my mother this the other day, and she thought it was hilarious. I said: “When I was 15 years old, my first girlfriend cheated on me. And I remember making a decision that nobody would ever cheat on me again. And the way I was going to do that was by being the biggest actor on Earth,” right? So there’s been this weird psychology that I have always felt like: If my movies are number one, my life is going to work out great.
THR: Will, weren’t you offered Django?
Will Smith: I was trying to avoid that [topic]. It was about the creative direction of the story. To me, it’s as perfect a story as you could ever want: a guy that learns how to kill to retrieve his wife that has been taken as a slave. That idea is perfect. And it was just that Quentin [Tarantino] and I couldn’t see [eye to eye]. I wanted to make the greatest love story that African-Americans had ever seen. We talked, we met, we sat for hours and hours about it. I wanted to make that movie so badly, but I felt the only way was, it had to be a love story, not a vengeance story. I don’t believe in violence as the reaction to violence. So when I’m looking at that, it’s like: “No, no, no. It has to be for love.” We can’t look at what happens in Paris [the terrorist attacks] and want to f— somebody up for that. Violence begets violence. So I just couldn’t connect to violence being the answer. Love had to be the answer.
THR: Has prejudice affected your careers?
Will Smith: Oh, God, yes. Yeah, absolutely. My wife and I were just having this conversation, and we were going to the dictionary for “prejudice” versus “racism.” Everybody is prejudiced. Everybody has their life experiences that make them prefer one thing over another — it makes them prefer blond hair over a brunette; if you see somebody with dark skin walking down the street, you have a different reaction than you have [with] someone who is 5-foot-1 and white. But there is a connotation with racism of superiority: You feel that your race generally is superior. And I have to say, I live with constant prejudice, but racism is actually rare — someone who thinks their race is superior. I don’t want to work for them. I don’t want to work at that company. And the times I have come in contact with it, you get away from those people.
THR: Can you as actors do anything to combat that?
Will Smith: As actors we have the ultimate power. Historically, story combined with imagery moves humanity forward. What we do — not that it’s a responsibility, but it is the ultimate forum for changing people’s hearts and minds. So when I’m choosing a movie, I understand the global power of being able to send imagery around the world. A large part of the way that America is viewed globally is from the historical imagery that we have sent around the world through cinema. Any time I put something in the world, I am always connecting to an idea. I’m always asking, “Why am I making this?” With Concussion, Dr. Bennet Omalu was deeply connected to tell the truth. And he said that truth doesn’t have a side. I thought that was such a powerful idea. Whose side are you on? Are you a Republican or a Democrat? I’m just trying to tell the truth. The truth doesn’t have a side.