Why Did Will Smith Pass On DJANGO UNCHAINED? "I Need To Kill The Bad Guy"

Why Did Will Smith Pass On DJANGO UNCHAINED? "I Need To Kill The Bad Guy"

In a recent interview, Quentin Tarantino's original choice to play the former slave turned bounty hunter in the brilliant Django Unchained gives his side of the story as to why he turned down the role. It seems Smith just didn't feel that Django was the lead role..

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By MarkCassidy - Mar 25, 2013 09:03 AM EST
Filed Under: Action
Source: Entertainment Weekly

Django Unchained would have marked a pretty big departure for Will Smith, and given the talented actor a chance to shine in a movie that wouldn't have necessarily been in his comfort zone. Director Quentin Tarantino met with Smith and was quoted as saying that they just "couldn't make it work", but didn't go into too much detail. However in an interview with EW, Smith himself sheds some light on things.



“Django wasn’t the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead. The other character was the lead! I was like, ‘No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!’”


It IS arguable that Django wasn't the lead, but along with Christoph Waltz's Dr. Schultz he was most certainly the co-lead. Smith's almost juvenile comment about killing the bad guy is..odd. Jamie Foxx did a great job as Django but I know some were really looking forward to seeing what Smith did with the role, what do you guys think now?







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JatevinM
JatevinM - 3/25/2013, 9:16 AM
I like Will Smith but that just sounds like a very toolish thing to say. It wouldn't hurt him to play a supporting character even though Django is very clearly the main character.
Hellsing
Hellsing - 3/25/2013, 9:23 AM
Wlll Smith has tendency to re-write the scripts he's usually involved with but you don't demand no re-writes of Tarantino mother[frick]er!
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 3/25/2013, 9:33 AM
Sorry guys, this article got a bit behind when the Wolverine teaser hit! I'm on it
gmoney0505
gmoney0505 - 3/25/2013, 9:37 AM
Will has a point even though the movie is title Django Unchained, Django does not feel like the lead. Christoph Waltz character felt lmore like the lead character. Even with that he still missed out on a good role in a great movie.
LordoftheThrones26
LordoftheThrones26 - 3/25/2013, 9:39 AM
Jaime Foxx is awesome!! He IS Django and no one else!!
JatevinM
JatevinM - 3/25/2013, 9:41 AM
LordoftheThrones26@ I wont go that far because I'm pretty sure someone else could've played the role and done much better.
HULK2099
HULK2099 - 3/25/2013, 9:49 AM
He wouldve been just as good in the role.
LordoftheThrones26
LordoftheThrones26 - 3/25/2013, 9:50 AM
@JatevinM
Jaime Foxx IS the black Django! :-)
GizmoEl
GizmoEl - 3/25/2013, 9:51 AM
Will smith is a fantastic actor who picks his roles pretty carefully. Loved foxx as django was perfect, don't mind smiths passing of the role. I don't think he sounds toolish, nothing about ego
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 3/25/2013, 10:03 AM
I love Will Smith but it was probably best to go with Jamie Foxx and not to stir up memories of this.

ToTheManInTheColdSweat
ToTheManInTheColdSweat - 3/25/2013, 10:04 AM
lmbo will. bitch sold out artistic merit for blockbuster success, my kinda guy ^_^
tripttwe
tripttwe - 3/25/2013, 10:05 AM
[frick] D'Jango! I'm so past this bs movie...
ChubbyDeadpool
ChubbyDeadpool - 3/25/2013, 10:10 AM
Smith probably passed because there wasn't a role for his son to play :-/

"daddy, I want to be a movie star"
"ok - *poof*
"daddy, I saw Karate Kid on TBS last night. I wanna be karate Kid!"
"ok - *poof*"
Anton
Anton - 3/25/2013, 10:11 AM
PASS ON THE [frick]ING TARANTINO MOVIE
@
WORK WITH SHYAMALONDINGDONGTWISTMOTHAFU

Seriously?
Ocelot
Ocelot - 3/25/2013, 10:15 AM
Even though I love smith, it's time for him to stop playing the good guy saviour all the time. It's becomming repetitive, stale and boring. He's got more than enough money to play a risky or edgy character. He needs to play a character that's different. Perhaps a villian of a movie. It's always the same shit with him in every movie. Always always safe characters with him.
Aeyan
Aeyan - 3/25/2013, 10:15 AM
Thank heavens he wasn't in Django. That schmuck!
Bark4Soul
Bark4Soul - 3/25/2013, 10:15 AM
Why all this hate, all this "He cant act", "He sucks: etc etc is wrong, Will can act, show a ton of different sides too, actors make bad choices on movies all the time and then a year later look back and regret it. He also turned down Neo in the Matrix, it happens all the time in Hollywood. Will Smith has a badass side to him but i liked Jamie's Django all the same...in the end does it really matter?
antbanks84
antbanks84 - 3/25/2013, 10:18 AM
I think the reason why Will feel the way he feel's is that Django didn't kill anybody powerful in the movie, and by the way I LOVED the movie, but it would have been nice to see Django kill Calvin Candy because he was the "slave owner"/oppressor/main villain in the movie. If they wanted Django to be a "powerful black character"...he would have needed to kill Calvin
BatsFan
BatsFan - 3/25/2013, 10:20 AM
They should do something like this but with Django

http://www.hulu.com/watch/207602
Fantine
Fantine - 3/25/2013, 10:21 AM
wow what a dick. You needed to be the lead? Jamie Foxx took the role and he has an Oscar, you think the Oscar winner would be the more pretentious one.
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 3/25/2013, 10:23 AM

so does this mean that martin lawrence is a co-star in the bb movies .......................
ego.com/willsmith
JacobCityBros
JacobCityBros - 3/25/2013, 10:26 AM
Don't believe this, Will declined the role because he was afraid it would tarnish his "good guy" image. It's a bloody/gory spaghetti western for Pete-sake!
thetrojan
thetrojan - 3/25/2013, 10:32 AM
he would have ruined it
Phlegmbot
Phlegmbot - 3/25/2013, 10:32 AM
Uh, yeahhh...Go ahead, Will, do that sequel to Hancock we've all been clamoring for or another crappy MIB movie that bombs at the B.O. As long as your the sole star, right?

Yeesh.
Grayson7954
Grayson7954 - 3/25/2013, 10:33 AM
i preferred the softer django by jamie foxx, honestly he is a better actor than will smith.
Tevii
Tevii - 3/25/2013, 10:39 AM
@levitikus - just becasue its Titleds Django, that doesnt make him the lead at all. there is no correlation. look at Akira for instance
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 3/25/2013, 10:41 AM
Lots of haters. Will Smith is a good actor and seems to be a decent guy. Some of you wanna talk like you know these actors so well. Jamie Foxx isn't exactly Mr. Humble either. Back in the day, the guy got into it with LL Cool J on the set of Any Given Sunday partially because both of them had big egos.
TheToddFather
TheToddFather - 3/25/2013, 10:50 AM
Django WASN'T the main character in the film.He was a plot device.He DIDN'T kill the main villain,he killed the side-kick.I don't blame Will one bit for passing on this movie.
Ocelot
Ocelot - 3/25/2013, 10:51 AM
@JacobCityBros agree, it's mainly down to that, however he is known to have a big ego and always wants to be the star, so I do think that also had a part to play. However it's maainly down to him always wanting to play the goodie goodie good guy savior character
OdinsBeard
OdinsBeard - 3/25/2013, 10:54 AM
i just think Smith's handlers didn't want him saying n***** or being associated with it.
selinakyle
selinakyle - 3/25/2013, 10:57 AM
I don't blame Will. Django should have killed that mofo not Christoph.

Will Smith is not a [frick]ing Co-lead in any [frick]ing movie.
Rowsdower
Rowsdower - 3/25/2013, 11:05 AM
He has a point, but I'm real glad he didn't take the part.

Boss N!gger & N!gger Charley liberated themselves and killed all the bad guys without the help of a superior white man.
RamonSuarez
RamonSuarez - 3/25/2013, 11:07 AM
What an egotistical douchebag. So what Will Smith is saying is that he really isn't an actor, just a star who wants to headline every movie he's in.
HAQ
HAQ - 3/25/2013, 11:25 AM
Does Will Smith have Jamie Foxx' acting chops?
JohnnyKrypton
JohnnyKrypton - 3/25/2013, 11:27 AM
Because Will is more interested in being a movie star than an actor
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