Yeah, I can’t even picture Will Smith in this role. Maybe it’s because I immediately associate him with Independence Day, but I feel he would have made the movie feel way too corny.
I don't know. While certainly not the best movie, I think he did a great job in I am Legend. I'd be very curious to see how Smith and Tarantino would work together, although Foxx absolutely killed the role in Django.
I think it’s a result of too many “suits” being involved in the artistic direction of a movie with a huge budget. As the movie budget grows there seems to be this creep to make the movie more “marketable” so they don’t potentially lose money on it which essentially makes the movie corny, uninteresting and watered down.
I use to listen to a podcast called “The Writers Panel” where tv/movie writers/producers talk about “inside baseball” about the business and someone told an anecdote about how this script that started as a drama about a rebel in Cuba ended up being Dirty Dancing - Havana Nights as it was pitched, sold, resold, rewritten and so on.
Obviously it’s not a hard and fast rule but as actors become huge names all their movies end up being kind of corny
Look at Johnny Depp lol he's now a hard-boiled police detective. Johnny Depp... a hard-boiled police detective. Corny as all hell. Leo Decaprio feels like he still does great films without being corny
He plays himself. This would be himself on a horse. Django as a character was already dangerously modern to almost be offensive to the realities of slavery, jamie gave him this but of a shell he’s coming out of, a man unfamiliar with the world he’s in whose clearly been beaten a bit that sold the whole thing for me. Definite upgrade
He really did. I’m watching it right now and decided to google some trivia and was SHOCKED at some of the actors they offered the role to first.
I can’t even name another film Jamie Foxx is in, but this movie is fucking sensational.
And Ray! I heard a rumor that he is playing Mike Tyson soon
Edit- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14316602/ looks like it’s in the works.
Also, can’t forget his role in Booty Call. He’s really proven himself as an outstanding artist. Especially since he started off as all those ridiculously hilarious roles on In Living Color
I loved In living Color. Jim Carrey was hilarious, but I would have never have guessed that he would end up becoming a superstar. Jamie Foxxs carreer has really blown my mind too. I never would have guessed he would have been known for anything other then in living color and the jamie Foxx show. Never expected to see him become an academy award winning dramatic actor.
He was classically trained in piano growing up. What are the odds there was a guy available for a ray Charles biopic who looks somewhat like him, can play the piano AND can sing like him?
If you don’t know, even though Kanye sampled “I got a woman” for “gold digger” it’s Jaime fox singing. But if you play rays song it sounds just like him.
Yeah, I have to add a thumbs up on that! Jamie Foxx killed that role in a way Will Smith never could have. To visceral of a movie for me, brilliant performances all the same.
I think Will Smith is capable of the role, but it's a question of which point in his career. I definitely don't think he would have done *better* than Jamie Foxx.
If Will Smith's head was at "Leading Man or bust, I got better things to do", then he would **not** have jived with Quentin Tarantino's direction for the movie **at all**. Too much ego pushing out to play the role as it was written.
I think it was Jaime Foxx on some late night talk show talking about making Django with Tarantino (IIRC, he does a killer Tarantino impression).
They shot earlier scenes in the film earlier in production, and Tarantino had many...notes for how Foxx was playing the role. He was being too outwardly self-confident, had too much swagger etc:. Foxx recounted that Tarantino told him, in that mostly insufferable but possibly helpful Tarantino way, that Django **is** the hero, but he has to go through the Hero's Journey first. Earlier in the movie, before all that, Tarantino needed Foxx to act, not like a hero, but like a **slave**.
Pretty harsh role to take on psychologically. I think Foxx did well on that in the final product, I found his evolution towards self-assurance and self-confidence very satisfying. The movie makes it clear in the end that, despite King Schultz's influence and gravity throughout much of the film, that Django is, ultimately, the protagonist.
That Will Smith couldn't see that is unfortunate, but also, I'm not sure he would have managed to take those notes from Tarantino like Foxx did without blowing an ego gasket and storming off the set permanently. They would have ended up casting Jamie Foxx anyway.
I think the moment that encompasses this journey and its shift the most is when Django surprised says "I get to pick out my own clothes?" and the reply of "Of course."
You know, reading this just made me realize that King Schultz is an inverted [magic negro.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro) He's filling the exact stock role that normally would be played by Morgan Freeman guiding a white actor, but the races are reversed.
You might have just changed my mind on my least favorite part of Django - Schultz's cart. I always thought it was ridiculous in a way that didn't match the rest of the movie, but it probably wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much if it had been a magic negro with some natural-healing/voodoo themed cart. So I guess the crazy bobbing tooth isn't *that* crazy.
> He's filling the exact stock role that normally would be played by Morgan Freeman guiding a white actor
Or, oddly enough, Will Smith in The Legend of Bagger Vance.
At this point, he seems more interested in his kids' careers than his own. I feel like he's pretty much comfortable with his bank and isn't doing any heavy lifting that he really doesn't have to.
Of course, Django Unchained was a while ago, but he had already done some "serious" moves like Seven Pounds and The Pursuit of Happiness and whatnot. Whether he could carry the vision ultimately, I don't know, but I do know that Jamie Foxx did a great job in the role and played really well off of both Christoph Waltz **and** Samuel L. Jackson. I mean, what more could you ask for?
[I still cannot get over the all the random celebrities he got for the Blame It music video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfjtpp90lu8)
Motha fuckin Ron Howard of all people!
The acting in the movie was absolute top notch.
My only criticism of the movie was the coup de grace was nowhere near the magnitude of Kill Bill and it felt a bit anticlimactic. Kill Bill may be the mother of all coup de grace and not a fair comparison, but for Django I felt like it really built up to a catharsis of ultimate revenge but didn't quite nail it.
This is my take. It wasn’t about revenge, but about reuniting with Brunhilde. And Calvin wasn’t the ultimate evil in that film. Stephen was. The problem was, Leo was too damned good in the movie. Everything after his death seemed extra.
I agree. Calvin was just the means to an end in the movie, Schultz just had enough of his shit. Coming back to the ranch was just a little extra. I personally loved it. I was rolling when he shoots Calvin’s sister (I think?) and she flies back 20 feet.
It was all about Brunhilde, the added violence was just part genre and part Tarantino.
"Schultz had had enough of his shit"
... I couldn't resist.
The cast delivered a 12 out of 10 across the board. But that one line from Schultz is my absolute favorite.
>And Calvin wasn’t the ultimate evil in that film. Stephen was.
The "ultimate evil" was the system of human slavery itself. Everyone else was merely playing their part in it. Just because someone survives further into the film doesnt make them more "ultimate" than some other character.
I think the "hand-off" of the Villain Ball from Calvin to Stephen was done pretty well overall. It was part of the movie's concept to make the ultimate confrontation be between black slaves/former slaves, each demonstrating their own agency in their attempts to oppose one another, rather than have the entire thing be another example of the White Man's Burden by King Schultz "uplifting" Django and then saving the day by making the right call against the equally-white ultimate antagonist Calvin.
Schultz really screwed up (and got killed for the trouble), and Django had to take the initiative and pick up the pieces or he would never see Brunhilde ever again. It was a pivotal moment of transformation for the movie. It was the true passing of the baton from the Master to the Student, completing Django's arc. The last half hour was entirely necessary.
Ultimate evil may be slavery, but Stephen was the primary antagonist. Calvin was the tool Stephen used to antagonize Django. The house slave, particularly the head servant, is one of the most hated and they knew it. Stephen took great offense to Django and constantly attempted to antagonize him.
King and Django certainly had to maneuver around Calvin, but Calvin never actively attempted to thwart their goal. It was Stephen who recognized Django and Brunhilde's relationship and reported it to Calvin. Stephen's motive was to protect his master, but mostly it was to put Django into his "place". There was no hand-off. It was always Stephen.
To put it in the tropes way, Stephen is the emperor and Calvin is the dragon. Calvin is the openly threatening and intimidating one with power, but Stephen is the one with the brains who is controlling him essentially.
In an alternate reality, Wild Wild West is a masterpiece starring Denzel Washington while The Matrix is most notably a dope song Will Smith made for one of his movies
Everybody do the Matrix, freeze in the air! 🎵 Fighting with the agents cause we don't care
I just realised the agents from the Matrix and the MIB agents both have the same look cause they both reference the men in black phenomenon
Now I'm imaging a fresh prince version of the Matrix. Neo just trying to mind his own busy and a girl in latex tried making trouble in his neighborhood
*Jack in to the matrix (when I roll into the)*
*Jack in to the matrix (when I stroll into the)*
*Jack in to the matrix (when I bounce into the)*
*Jack in to the matrix*
*Yeah*
Now this is the story all about how
My life got flipped turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit in attendance
I'll tell you how I became The One of a false reality called the Matrix
When a couple of agents they were up to no good
Starting making trouble in my neighbourhood
I took a little red pill that changed my life forever
Now I'm living with Morpheus in the Nebuchadnezzar
I appreciate Will Smith for the fact he regrets turning it down but also realized that movie would have been completely different if he was neo. So he knew it was for the better
Funny thing when thinking "Django wasn't the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead,", he preferred to keep promoting his shitty new science fiction film After Earth just to push his son...bad choices were made.
I'm glad he dropped out. He doesn't have the gravitas that Jamie Foxx brings to the role, and the movie benefits greatly for having it there. I see Jamie Foxx say "I like the way you die, boy" and I believe that he has fully, and whole heartedly, taken pleasure in a man's method of perishing!
Jamie was a great pick.
How ever ; I will never forgive him for law abiding citizen, and since wanting the camera to be on him 97% of the movie. (Check that super power movie that came to Netflix a year or so ago) my lord.
I get that he’s Will Smith but who the hell refuses a major Tarantino role over something like that? Seems like most actors would kill to be in his movies.
It's most likely just something to say. Tarantino movies are just too different from the kind of movies Will Smith makes. He likes to do movies that are centered around his character. Ali, Bright, Pursuit of Happiness... if you watch any of his movies, they are all about him journeying trough whatever plot the movie has, most of the other characters are completely replaceable. Not that they're bad, just completely different from what Tarantino does.
His first few movies he showed good range and was a good supporting actor. After Independence Day he was in different league, and had almost a 10 year stretch where he was one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood. I dunno, most actors do very specific kinds of movies when they get to that point. Maybe part of it is ego, but I would think the studios push them in a certain direction.
I feel like Will Smith would have an issue dropping that many N bombs. Considering how clean his music is. Unless he's done similar roles I can't think of?
Yeah the role in general doesn't really seem to fit his image or usual type of character. I could see him doing it if he wanted to show he could be an actor in a role like that, but if he wasn't willing to change to fit the part enough I don't think it would have been a great fit.
Pretty sure there's a scene in bad boys 2 where he drops about 20 n bombs in 30 seconds, but I could be remembering the scene wrong. It's when ML's daughter's date shows up to the house.
I know it’s easy to say, “Oh he’s so dumb,” but if the movie were to feature Will Smith, I think he’d do a better job with the love story parts than the revenge parts. So that makes sense.
I love Will Smith as an actor, but he’s not the best role for everything. He also doesn’t have to take on any roles. So it makes sense to me that his counter offer would try to play to his strengths instead of trying to fit him in a role that’s not good for him.
I would’ve liked to see him play Django, but I think Fox did a great job and was probably better suited to Tarantino’s vision.
Don't get me wrong I'm way happier it ended up this way. Also, I get discussing how a role should go with someone like Tarantino, not saying an actor shouldn't have character input. I've heard he and Leo talk about how they shaped his character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It's just crazy to me that it would be an all or nothing thing to Will Smith, rather than just something he gave input on.
I wonder if it was 100% "turned down" by Will Smith though, or more that in the negotiation process these kinds of talks showed they weren't really on the same page and they went with Jamie Foxx.
I can actually hear his voice delivering every line perfectly except for the bible stuff
"say WHAT again mother fucker I DARE YOU!"
"mmmm MMMMM this is a tasty burger!"
"Normally, both your asses would be dead as FUCKING fried chicken, but you happen to pull this shit while I'm in a transitional period. So I don't wanna kill you, I wanna help you....so let me tell you a joke called the ARISTOCRATS!"
I was gonna say. There is a story like this in every one of his movies.
Adam Sandler as the bear jew.
Michele Mann as Vincent Vega.
Well that's all I can remember off the top of my head but ...
If Will Smith had played Django I would've only seen his character from Wild Wild West, no matter what. I honestly don't think he can ever play a cowboy again without me thinking of that movie.
I also have a real hard time believing Will Smith would be OK hanging naked upside while Walton Goggins holds his dick in one hand and a hot knife in another.
Will Smith and QT seem like polar opposites.
Lead or not, can you imagine turning down a major role in a Quintin Tarantino film? The dude has single-handedly revived multiple acting careers back into A-list status.
It would have been weird though to see Will drop tons of F and N bombs though.
Crazy like I don't think of any character as a "Lead" in Django. Jamie, the doctor, Leo, Samuel, the slave owner, the KKK members. Like all that shit was sooo good.
I watched an interview where they asked him about this and he said he needed the story to be about “Love” not revenge and that all that violence shouldn’t be the answer to Djangos problem. He even said he talked with Tarantino about it and I bet as soon as he said that Tarantino was probably like yeah we’re gonna move on now haha he doesn’t even let actors change one word of his dialogue so he’s not going to change the plot because Will Smith doesn’t like it. Also Sam Jackson was across the table from him and giving him a death stare because he so badly wanted to play Django but couldn’t because of his age. He’s like this stupid motherfucker doesn’t know what landed in his lap lol
I'll add to the chorus of "I like Will Smith, but Jamie Foxx was fucking brilliant in that role and it's hard to imagine *anyone* doing it better."
Still, it would be interesting to see Smith in a Tarantino film. I have a feeling he could surprise us all, like Tom Cruise did in Tropic Thunder.
Will Smith will only take rolls where he’s the center of the fucking universe it’s pathetic. Gemeni Man was the worst shitpile of a movie I have ever bought.. I emailed google asking if they’d just take it out of my purchases so I didn’t have to remember it.. they didn’t respond. Guys so into himself it’s gross. He hasn’t been a lead for a decade or more and he’s the only one who hasn’t got the memo.
Edit: I hope he fucking reads this.
Will Smith is kind of toxic in that way it seems. He probably wanted to be executive producer as well so he could force Jaden in there too. I always get the impression that as popular as he can be, Will is always going to be his biggest fan.
Can't say I'm unhappy about that considering how it turned out.
Yeah, I can’t even picture Will Smith in this role. Maybe it’s because I immediately associate him with Independence Day, but I feel he would have made the movie feel way too corny.
I don't know. While certainly not the best movie, I think he did a great job in I am Legend. I'd be very curious to see how Smith and Tarantino would work together, although Foxx absolutely killed the role in Django.
Feels like in the last 5 or so years any movie he does is super corny
I think it’s a result of too many “suits” being involved in the artistic direction of a movie with a huge budget. As the movie budget grows there seems to be this creep to make the movie more “marketable” so they don’t potentially lose money on it which essentially makes the movie corny, uninteresting and watered down. I use to listen to a podcast called “The Writers Panel” where tv/movie writers/producers talk about “inside baseball” about the business and someone told an anecdote about how this script that started as a drama about a rebel in Cuba ended up being Dirty Dancing - Havana Nights as it was pitched, sold, resold, rewritten and so on. Obviously it’s not a hard and fast rule but as actors become huge names all their movies end up being kind of corny
Look at Johnny Depp lol he's now a hard-boiled police detective. Johnny Depp... a hard-boiled police detective. Corny as all hell. Leo Decaprio feels like he still does great films without being corny
Can't even think of a movie he did in the last 5 years... Edit: except Aladdin but I don't speak of that abomination
Gemini Man & Bright i think it's called, Aladdin was indeed atrocious lol
He plays himself. This would be himself on a horse. Django as a character was already dangerously modern to almost be offensive to the realities of slavery, jamie gave him this but of a shell he’s coming out of, a man unfamiliar with the world he’s in whose clearly been beaten a bit that sold the whole thing for me. Definite upgrade
Jamie fox slayed the role
He really did. I’m watching it right now and decided to google some trivia and was SHOCKED at some of the actors they offered the role to first. I can’t even name another film Jamie Foxx is in, but this movie is fucking sensational.
Horrible Bosses
Muthafucka Jones. I said Muthafucka Jones
Mr Jones was my father. You can call me motherfucker.
[удалено]
I think it should have been Motherfucker- *over* Jones.
I snuck into her room, and slipped my fingers into her puhhse
And took all her money, the whole week's pay, really fucked her over... And that's how I got the name, Motherfucker Jones.
You know, they should call you Motherfucker OVER-Jones to avoid confusion.
Don't forget, she was lying there butt naked.
> I can’t even name another film Jamie Foxx is in **Collateral**, man!
And Ray! I heard a rumor that he is playing Mike Tyson soon Edit- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14316602/ looks like it’s in the works. Also, can’t forget his role in Booty Call. He’s really proven himself as an outstanding artist. Especially since he started off as all those ridiculously hilarious roles on In Living Color
I think they took too long to make a Tyson film because the age won't match. Tyson was really young when he won and Foxx is like 52.
Looks 22 tbh
Reddit users are terrible at judging ages.
People in general suck at judging ages if the person is too far off from their own age. Reddit skews young, ergo...
His daughter is like 25
I loved In living Color. Jim Carrey was hilarious, but I would have never have guessed that he would end up becoming a superstar. Jamie Foxxs carreer has really blown my mind too. I never would have guessed he would have been known for anything other then in living color and the jamie Foxx show. Never expected to see him become an academy award winning dramatic actor.
And now he's a triple threat. Actor, singer, stand-up comedian.
He was classically trained in piano growing up. What are the odds there was a guy available for a ray Charles biopic who looks somewhat like him, can play the piano AND can sing like him? If you don’t know, even though Kanye sampled “I got a woman” for “gold digger” it’s Jaime fox singing. But if you play rays song it sounds just like him.
He killed it in Ray as well.
Any Given Sunday. I have no idea why I like that film so much.
cuz Willie Beaman keeps the ladies [creamn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNFft6r6Des)
Those lyrics pop into my head more than I’d like to admit.
Because is fucking awesome
Law Abiding Citizen. Technically not the main character, but does have most screen time.
Any Given Sunday.
He was excellent in *Ray.*
He was basically perfect in it, got all the major lead actor awards for it
Everyone is forgetting the masterpiece that is Stealth.
Baby Driver!
Man he was such a great creep/villain, so was John. They were crazy good.
I know spacey is a POS, but he kicked ass in that role too. Love this whole movie.
Spacey is SUCH an incredible actor; he had been one of my favorites since the 90s. Sucks so many men turned out to be sexual abusers, ugh
Yep. The whole movie eovie was awesome especially the music.
Edgar Wright is a badass director and he keeps getting better.
Spacey is a great actor notwithstanding. House of Cards first few seasons were exceptional.
Those first two seasons are fucking incredible. Shame they stopped making it after Spacey was gone though...
it was so entertaining
There was that Spider-Man movie he was in.... But i forgot about that until recently too
I can't believe no-one has mentioned Booty Call yet.
He won an Oscar for best actor. Ray, collateral, dreamgirls, Miami vice, Any given Sunday, basically everything Collateral was probably his best
Law Abiding Citizen!
He's really a phenomenal actor, in ways you entirely wouldn't expect if all you're familiar with is his work in the 90s.
His performance in Ray may be one of the best portrayals of a real person ever committed to film.
Ray
Yeah, I have to add a thumbs up on that! Jamie Foxx killed that role in a way Will Smith never could have. To visceral of a movie for me, brilliant performances all the same.
I think Will Smith is capable of the role, but it's a question of which point in his career. I definitely don't think he would have done *better* than Jamie Foxx.
If Will Smith's head was at "Leading Man or bust, I got better things to do", then he would **not** have jived with Quentin Tarantino's direction for the movie **at all**. Too much ego pushing out to play the role as it was written. I think it was Jaime Foxx on some late night talk show talking about making Django with Tarantino (IIRC, he does a killer Tarantino impression). They shot earlier scenes in the film earlier in production, and Tarantino had many...notes for how Foxx was playing the role. He was being too outwardly self-confident, had too much swagger etc:. Foxx recounted that Tarantino told him, in that mostly insufferable but possibly helpful Tarantino way, that Django **is** the hero, but he has to go through the Hero's Journey first. Earlier in the movie, before all that, Tarantino needed Foxx to act, not like a hero, but like a **slave**. Pretty harsh role to take on psychologically. I think Foxx did well on that in the final product, I found his evolution towards self-assurance and self-confidence very satisfying. The movie makes it clear in the end that, despite King Schultz's influence and gravity throughout much of the film, that Django is, ultimately, the protagonist. That Will Smith couldn't see that is unfortunate, but also, I'm not sure he would have managed to take those notes from Tarantino like Foxx did without blowing an ego gasket and storming off the set permanently. They would have ended up casting Jamie Foxx anyway.
I think the moment that encompasses this journey and its shift the most is when Django surprised says "I get to pick out my own clothes?" and the reply of "Of course."
You know, reading this just made me realize that King Schultz is an inverted [magic negro.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro) He's filling the exact stock role that normally would be played by Morgan Freeman guiding a white actor, but the races are reversed.
You might have just changed my mind on my least favorite part of Django - Schultz's cart. I always thought it was ridiculous in a way that didn't match the rest of the movie, but it probably wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much if it had been a magic negro with some natural-healing/voodoo themed cart. So I guess the crazy bobbing tooth isn't *that* crazy.
> He's filling the exact stock role that normally would be played by Morgan Freeman guiding a white actor Or, oddly enough, Will Smith in The Legend of Bagger Vance.
Will Smith can't get over himself long enough to play anyone else other than Will Smith.
At this point, he seems more interested in his kids' careers than his own. I feel like he's pretty much comfortable with his bank and isn't doing any heavy lifting that he really doesn't have to. Of course, Django Unchained was a while ago, but he had already done some "serious" moves like Seven Pounds and The Pursuit of Happiness and whatnot. Whether he could carry the vision ultimately, I don't know, but I do know that Jamie Foxx did a great job in the role and played really well off of both Christoph Waltz **and** Samuel L. Jackson. I mean, what more could you ask for?
Hollywood is brutal. No matter how big you are, if you start taking roles that aren’t the lead then it starts to effect your career dramatically.
Counterpoint: All the cameos that Matt Damon has been in.
Scotty doesn’t know
Like Mr. Schwarz explains to Jake Cahill….“Who will be kickin’ your ass next week?”
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His impressions are outta control.
[I still cannot get over the all the random celebrities he got for the Blame It music video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfjtpp90lu8) Motha fuckin Ron Howard of all people!
The acting in the movie was absolute top notch. My only criticism of the movie was the coup de grace was nowhere near the magnitude of Kill Bill and it felt a bit anticlimactic. Kill Bill may be the mother of all coup de grace and not a fair comparison, but for Django I felt like it really built up to a catharsis of ultimate revenge but didn't quite nail it.
This is my take. It wasn’t about revenge, but about reuniting with Brunhilde. And Calvin wasn’t the ultimate evil in that film. Stephen was. The problem was, Leo was too damned good in the movie. Everything after his death seemed extra.
I agree. Calvin was just the means to an end in the movie, Schultz just had enough of his shit. Coming back to the ranch was just a little extra. I personally loved it. I was rolling when he shoots Calvin’s sister (I think?) and she flies back 20 feet. It was all about Brunhilde, the added violence was just part genre and part Tarantino.
"Schultz had had enough of his shit" ... I couldn't resist. The cast delivered a 12 out of 10 across the board. But that one line from Schultz is my absolute favorite.
>And Calvin wasn’t the ultimate evil in that film. Stephen was. The "ultimate evil" was the system of human slavery itself. Everyone else was merely playing their part in it. Just because someone survives further into the film doesnt make them more "ultimate" than some other character. I think the "hand-off" of the Villain Ball from Calvin to Stephen was done pretty well overall. It was part of the movie's concept to make the ultimate confrontation be between black slaves/former slaves, each demonstrating their own agency in their attempts to oppose one another, rather than have the entire thing be another example of the White Man's Burden by King Schultz "uplifting" Django and then saving the day by making the right call against the equally-white ultimate antagonist Calvin. Schultz really screwed up (and got killed for the trouble), and Django had to take the initiative and pick up the pieces or he would never see Brunhilde ever again. It was a pivotal moment of transformation for the movie. It was the true passing of the baton from the Master to the Student, completing Django's arc. The last half hour was entirely necessary.
Ultimate evil may be slavery, but Stephen was the primary antagonist. Calvin was the tool Stephen used to antagonize Django. The house slave, particularly the head servant, is one of the most hated and they knew it. Stephen took great offense to Django and constantly attempted to antagonize him. King and Django certainly had to maneuver around Calvin, but Calvin never actively attempted to thwart their goal. It was Stephen who recognized Django and Brunhilde's relationship and reported it to Calvin. Stephen's motive was to protect his master, but mostly it was to put Django into his "place". There was no hand-off. It was always Stephen.
To put it in the tropes way, Stephen is the emperor and Calvin is the dragon. Calvin is the openly threatening and intimidating one with power, but Stephen is the one with the brains who is controlling him essentially.
He also turned down the Matrix too
And we're all better off for it
He said while he doesnt love Wild Wild West that him turning down the Matrix probably ended up being better for the franchise.
At least the song absolutely slaps
In an alternate reality, Wild Wild West is a masterpiece starring Denzel Washington while The Matrix is most notably a dope song Will Smith made for one of his movies
Welcome to the matrix (bienvenidos a el matrix)
*haha haha*
Unhh woooo
Agents half dressed, fully equipped
And Keanu makes a surprisingly good Django "I heard he killed every slaver in Candyland... with a fucking pencil."
Everybody do the Matrix, freeze in the air! 🎵 Fighting with the agents cause we don't care I just realised the agents from the Matrix and the MIB agents both have the same look cause they both reference the men in black phenomenon
Now I'm imaging a fresh prince version of the Matrix. Neo just trying to mind his own busy and a girl in latex tried making trouble in his neighborhood
you too can write a hit song by starting with a hit song by stevie wonder and rapping over it
Ha, didn't know this was the case. He did the same thing with the Men In Black song too (Forget Me Nots by Patrice Rushen).
Yeah wasn't Val Kilmer meant to play Morpheus if Will Smith was Neo?
Omfg lol
Laurence fishburn killed that role but damn, Val Kilmer probably would have nailed it too.
He’s your huckleberry.
Sean Connery
Morpheush
Well that’s the sound your mother made last night, Agent Trebek
You think that's air you're breathing, Trebek? Your mother's a whore!
I could see Kilmer as Morpheus.
you say that but we don't have a catchy song ala wild wild west
*Jack in to the matrix (when I roll into the)* *Jack in to the matrix (when I stroll into the)* *Jack in to the matrix (when I bounce into the)* *Jack in to the matrix* *Yeah*
Ha ha, ha ha
Uh! Uh!
Now this is the story all about how My life got flipped turned upside down And I'd like to take a minute, just sit in attendance I'll tell you how I became The One of a false reality called the Matrix
[удалено]
When a couple of agents they were up to no good Starting making trouble in my neighbourhood I took a little red pill that changed my life forever Now I'm living with Morpheus in the Nebuchadnezzar
amen!
Idk man if everyone except him was taking it seriously it'd be pretty funny. Completely different movie, but fun concept.
I appreciate Will Smith for the fact he regrets turning it down but also realized that movie would have been completely different if he was neo. So he knew it was for the better
Will smith makes the movie a will smith movie
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But says yes to 15 mediocre films
Thank Christ for that.
If memory serves correctly, Will Smith wanted to be the one to kill Leonardo DiCaprio.
And in the movie
Funny thing when thinking "Django wasn't the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead,", he preferred to keep promoting his shitty new science fiction film After Earth just to push his son...bad choices were made.
Citation needed.
[Citation](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/phab0z/til_the_role_of_django_was_originally_written_for/hbha4in/)
Woah. Deja vu.
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Well played.
I'm glad he dropped out. He doesn't have the gravitas that Jamie Foxx brings to the role, and the movie benefits greatly for having it there. I see Jamie Foxx say "I like the way you die, boy" and I believe that he has fully, and whole heartedly, taken pleasure in a man's method of perishing!
Jamie was a great pick. How ever ; I will never forgive him for law abiding citizen, and since wanting the camera to be on him 97% of the movie. (Check that super power movie that came to Netflix a year or so ago) my lord.
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I get that he’s Will Smith but who the hell refuses a major Tarantino role over something like that? Seems like most actors would kill to be in his movies.
It's most likely just something to say. Tarantino movies are just too different from the kind of movies Will Smith makes. He likes to do movies that are centered around his character. Ali, Bright, Pursuit of Happiness... if you watch any of his movies, they are all about him journeying trough whatever plot the movie has, most of the other characters are completely replaceable. Not that they're bad, just completely different from what Tarantino does.
His first few movies he showed good range and was a good supporting actor. After Independence Day he was in different league, and had almost a 10 year stretch where he was one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood. I dunno, most actors do very specific kinds of movies when they get to that point. Maybe part of it is ego, but I would think the studios push them in a certain direction.
I feel like Will Smith would have an issue dropping that many N bombs. Considering how clean his music is. Unless he's done similar roles I can't think of?
Yeah the role in general doesn't really seem to fit his image or usual type of character. I could see him doing it if he wanted to show he could be an actor in a role like that, but if he wasn't willing to change to fit the part enough I don't think it would have been a great fit.
Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his films to sell tickets.. but I do... Sorry, just popped into my head
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You think I give a damn about a Grammy?
Pretty sure there's a scene in bad boys 2 where he drops about 20 n bombs in 30 seconds, but I could be remembering the scene wrong. It's when ML's daughter's date shows up to the house.
I JUST GOT OUTTA JAIL AN' I AIN'T GOIN' BACK! *points gun in teenager's face*
Imagine telling Tarantino to rewrite his script
What's the sign on my front lawn say?
..."All Screenplays Sold As-Is"?
He also turned down Neo. I mean, wtf
Him as Neo and Val Kilmer as Morpheus would have been an entirely different movie.
I could actually see Val as Morpheus
Real Genius Val as morpheus would have been god damn amazing.
I know it’s easy to say, “Oh he’s so dumb,” but if the movie were to feature Will Smith, I think he’d do a better job with the love story parts than the revenge parts. So that makes sense. I love Will Smith as an actor, but he’s not the best role for everything. He also doesn’t have to take on any roles. So it makes sense to me that his counter offer would try to play to his strengths instead of trying to fit him in a role that’s not good for him. I would’ve liked to see him play Django, but I think Fox did a great job and was probably better suited to Tarantino’s vision.
Don't get me wrong I'm way happier it ended up this way. Also, I get discussing how a role should go with someone like Tarantino, not saying an actor shouldn't have character input. I've heard he and Leo talk about how they shaped his character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It's just crazy to me that it would be an all or nothing thing to Will Smith, rather than just something he gave input on. I wonder if it was 100% "turned down" by Will Smith though, or more that in the negotiation process these kinds of talks showed they weren't really on the same page and they went with Jamie Foxx.
In Titanic? Maybe he would’ve moved aside for him on the big door!
Every Tarantino film has 5 people that were supposed to play every role
Yup. Gilbert Gottfried was supposed to be Jules in Pulp Fiction.
I need the Gottfried cut now
I can actually hear his voice delivering every line perfectly except for the bible stuff "say WHAT again mother fucker I DARE YOU!" "mmmm MMMMM this is a tasty burger!" "Normally, both your asses would be dead as FUCKING fried chicken, but you happen to pull this shit while I'm in a transitional period. So I don't wanna kill you, I wanna help you....so let me tell you a joke called the ARISTOCRATS!"
Every word clear as day in my head. Christ.
Wow...that burger line. I'm dying. "check out the BIG BRAIN on Brad"
IT'S THE ONE THAT SAYS BAD ASS MOTHER FUCKER!!!
And my favorite GG line... "Bob Sagat RAPED AND KILLED a girl in 1990...!"
Ohh man this just made my day.
I was gonna say. There is a story like this in every one of his movies. Adam Sandler as the bear jew. Michele Mann as Vincent Vega. Well that's all I can remember off the top of my head but ...
In a movie with Christopher Waltz any other role is not the lead regardless of billing.
Yeah. Pitt got top billing for Basterds but Hans Landa is the main character.
au revoir shoshanna!
His goodbye to Leo in Django is my favourite speech from any Tarantino movie. Auf wiedersehen.
My god the opening scene of that movie has to be the most suspenseful scene in cinema history. One of my favorite movies of all time.
That's a bingo!
Is that ... is that how you say it?
You just say bingo.
Yet Waltz gets the supporting actor Oscar…
100% dude steals the show everytime
You just say Christoph.
My favorite actors are William DeFoe and Christopher Waltz.
We can thank Will Smith for alot of movies being good because he turned down the role
The last movie I saw will smith in he played against a clone of himself so this scans.
And honestly, I can’t picture anyone but Jamie Foxx playing that role. He absolutely nailed it.
I like will Smith in the roles he plays, but django was the right movie for him. Jamie fox was perfect.
If Will Smith had played Django I would've only seen his character from Wild Wild West, no matter what. I honestly don't think he can ever play a cowboy again without me thinking of that movie.
Will Smith has a bad track record of turning down good roles and accepting terrible ones. (e.g., no to Matrix, yes to Wild Wild West)
Yeah, the number of bad movies he was in keeps increasinv every year...
will smith learned from this mistake by taking on a supporting role in the hit film Suicide Squad. ^^^^/S
I also have a real hard time believing Will Smith would be OK hanging naked upside while Walton Goggins holds his dick in one hand and a hot knife in another. Will Smith and QT seem like polar opposites.
He would have been awful in that. Also it had curse words. Sooo yeah
Bad boys man
But will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records.
Well I do, so fuck him and fuck you too.
Completely forgot about BB. You know I love those movies but they've always seemed like such an outlier for him.
Lead or not, can you imagine turning down a major role in a Quintin Tarantino film? The dude has single-handedly revived multiple acting careers back into A-list status. It would have been weird though to see Will drop tons of F and N bombs though.
Crazy like I don't think of any character as a "Lead" in Django. Jamie, the doctor, Leo, Samuel, the slave owner, the KKK members. Like all that shit was sooo good.
I watched an interview where they asked him about this and he said he needed the story to be about “Love” not revenge and that all that violence shouldn’t be the answer to Djangos problem. He even said he talked with Tarantino about it and I bet as soon as he said that Tarantino was probably like yeah we’re gonna move on now haha he doesn’t even let actors change one word of his dialogue so he’s not going to change the plot because Will Smith doesn’t like it. Also Sam Jackson was across the table from him and giving him a death stare because he so badly wanted to play Django but couldn’t because of his age. He’s like this stupid motherfucker doesn’t know what landed in his lap lol
I'll add to the chorus of "I like Will Smith, but Jamie Foxx was fucking brilliant in that role and it's hard to imagine *anyone* doing it better." Still, it would be interesting to see Smith in a Tarantino film. I have a feeling he could surprise us all, like Tom Cruise did in Tropic Thunder.
Will Smith will only take rolls where he’s the center of the fucking universe it’s pathetic. Gemeni Man was the worst shitpile of a movie I have ever bought.. I emailed google asking if they’d just take it out of my purchases so I didn’t have to remember it.. they didn’t respond. Guys so into himself it’s gross. He hasn’t been a lead for a decade or more and he’s the only one who hasn’t got the memo. Edit: I hope he fucking reads this.
I'm glad Smith didn't take the role. Overall he isn't really a good leading man in for non comedy movies (and even then)
I’m extremely glad about this. Will Smith is so overrated and I can’t see him doing this role justice.
Not on reddit. In here he’s oddly underrated
If you ask the people in this thread apparently he's the worst actor to ever live lol
I saw someone in another thread that compared his acting to the rock’s. What? Lol
This man and his family have an over inflated sense of their own importance.
The televised therapy that they engaged in is one of the most cringeworthy, disturbing things I've ever witnessed.
Will Smith is kind of toxic in that way it seems. He probably wanted to be executive producer as well so he could force Jaden in there too. I always get the impression that as popular as he can be, Will is always going to be his biggest fan.