Will Smith Almost Starred in One Of Christopher Nolan’s Biggest Movies

Will Smith recently painfully recounted the loss of a role in one of Christopher Nolan’s most beloved films. The process of making a movie is long, hard, and complex. There are so many variable in its honestly a miracle any movie gets made, let alone turns out good. If you look up trivia on some of your favorite major movies, there’s likely various stories on different actors all being considered for different roles. There are a lot of sliding doors moments in Hollywood where someone’s career or a film could’ve gone in a completely different direction had they got cast in a movie.

Tom Hiddleston, for example, auditioned for Thor, but got cast as Loki. Had he been cast as Thor, who knows what would’ve happened. Would the Loki series exist? Would the character still be around? Would Thor have been successful to make it this long? Who knows! Another major casting “What if?” is Will Smith as Neo in The Matrix. Smith was offered the role of the now iconic Keanu Reeves part, but turned it down to to do Wild Wild West, one of the worst movies Smith has ever done. It’s a fact that pains him, but it’s not the only role in a massive movie that he lost out on.

When speaking with the UK radio station Kiss, Will Smith revealed that one of the movies he turned down that haunts him the most is Christopher Nolan’s Inception. The 2010 movie was the director’s post-The Dark Knight movie, one that he was seemingly able to get made thanks to the success of his Batman sequel. With Nolan being such a hot director, one would assume anyone would say yes to him. However, Smith revealed that he turned down Inception.

Although the actor says he “didn’t get it”, there are some reports from 2010 around the release of Inception that say Brad Pitt was given the initial offer for the film, but was required to give a firm answer within 48 hours. When Pitt declined, Nolan turned to Will Smith and then eventually came to Leonardo DiCaprio who would take on the part.

It’s unclear why Will Smith turned it down, but The Hollywood Reporter’s sources believe it came down to a matter of the urgency Nolan had. Actors like Will Smith and Brad Pitt are usually given the freedom to have others wait on them, but Nolan likely had a limited window between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, so he couldn’t wait for an actor to be ready. Smith also took a notable break from acting between 2008 and 2012.

All in all, it likely would’ve been a very different movie with Will Smith. Although Smith can do serious roles on top of comedic ones, he is a completely different performer from Leonardo DiCaprio. It also would’ve probably meant a totally different supporting cast, due to the unique personalities and chemistries. All in all, Inception could’ve been a very different movie. Perhaps it’s for the best that Will Smith passed on it, even though he’s a very capable actor.

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