Why Will Smith turned down role in ‘Django Unchained’

Posted by: b3rrilyn in Celebrity News Mar 27, 2013

While Will Smith has been nominated for two Oscars during his acting career, the actor could have potentially snagged a third had he not turned down a role in the Oscar-nominated film Django Unchained.

The Men In Black star told EW that he turned down the part of Django because it was not the lead role in the film.

Django wasn’t the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead. The other character was the lead!

said Smith to EW.

I was like, ‘No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!

Smith originally turned the role down due to scheduling conflicts with the filming of Men In Black 3, which then opened up the role of Django to Jamie Foxx.

I came really close, it was one of the most amazing screenplays I had ever ever seen. I was in the middle of Men In Black 3 and [Tarantino] was ready to go, and I just couldn’t sit with him and get through the issues, so I didn’t want to hold him up

Smith said to Empire last summer.

That thing’s going to be ridiculous. It is a genius screenplay.

Even though Smith turned down a role in a movie that turned out to be very successful, earning $413 million worldwide and four Oscar nominations, the actor is still a fan of the film.