'It Hurts to Talk About': Will Smith Reflects on Saying No to Neo, Django — and a Nolan Masterpiece
Missed chances, misunderstood scripts, and roles that got away.
Will Smith has revealed that he turned down the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s Inception — and not for the reason one might expect. Speaking candidly in a recent interview with radio station Kiss Xtra (via HuffPost), the actor admitted he simply "didn’t get it."
"Chris Nolan brought me Inception first and I didn’t get it," Smith confessed. "I’ve never said that out loud… Now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities… they don’t pitch well. But I am hurt by those, too."
Leonardo DiCaprio ultimately stepped in to lead Nolan’s mind-bending blockbuster, which went on to earn over $800 million worldwide and cement itself as a modern sci-fi classic. At the time, industry reports suggested Brad Pitt had been Nolan’s first choice, but the part eventually landed in DiCaprio’s capable hands — after Smith, as we now know, quietly passed.
This isn't the first time Smith has passed on a now-iconic role. He famously declined the part of Neo in The Matrix — another reality-bending hit that launched a major franchise and became synonymous with Keanu Reeves. "It hurts too bad to talk about," Smith said of the decision. In a 2019 he explained that the Wachowskis’ pitch focused more on groundbreaking visual style than story.
"Imagine you’re in a fight… and you jump. Imagine if you could stop jumping in the middle of the jump," he recalled. "We’re going to invent these cameras…"
Then there’s Django Unchained. Smith was Quentin Tarantino’s original choice for the title role, but creative differences over tone and theme led to a parting of ways. "I didn’t want to make a slavery film about vengeance," he told GQ. "That idea is perfect… but Quentin and I couldn’t see eye to eye." Ultimately, Jamie Foxx stepped in and made the role his own. In hindsight, Smith reflects on these roles not with bitterness, but with a kind of wistful honesty. After all, even the biggest stars occasionally miss the mark — or, in this case, the multiverse.
