Will Smith Almost Passed on ‘Men In Black,’ Until Spielberg Told Him “The Coldest S***”

Smith spoke to Kevin Hart for his ‘Hart to Heart’ series and covered various topics related to the Philly superstar’s career.

One topic found Smith speaking about his iconic role as “Agent J” in ‘Men In Black,’ and how he almost passed on it. Will Smith said his former manager James Lassiter chose numerous roles for him that ended up being some of his stand-out roles. Smith went on to say, “He just had an eye. I didn’t want to make ‘Pursuit of Happyness.’ I didn’t want to make ‘Ali.’ And JL picked ‘Men in Black.’ I kind of understood ‘Men in Black’ a little bit but I didn’t want to make ‘Men in Black.’”

The rapper-turned-actor noted because he had did ‘Independence Day,’ he didn’t want to do another alien movie right after. However, Steven Spielberg stepped in to convince Smith, flying the actor to his home on a helicopter to chat.