Hollywood Popular Artists

Mar 25th 2013, 18:00

Will Smith has revealed a main reason why he turned down the role of Django in "Django Unchained." To hear him tell it, it's because Django wouldn't be the lead role in the movie.

"Django wasn't the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead. The other character [Christoph Waltz's Oscar-winning King Schultz] was the lead!" Smith told Entertainment Weekly. "I was like 'No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!"

At least Smith liked the movie with Jamie Foxx as Django, saying, "I thought it was brilliant. Just not for me."

As fans might remember, Quentin Tarantino wrote the role of Django with Smith in mind. Though he was originally on board, Smith ended up passing on the opportunity. He gave a vaguer answer to Empire in June 2012 as to why he ended up not taking the role.

"I came really close, it was one of the most amazing screenplays I had ever ever seen," Smith said. "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. That thing's going to be ridiculous. It is a genius screenplay."

Interestingly enough, Smith won't be playing the lead who kills the bad guy in the upcoming movie "After Earth." Maybe he was willing to play second fiddle because his son, Jaden Smith, plays the movie's main character. This "Django Unchained" move is reminiscent of Smith's decision to pass on "The Matrix" because he felt like it was too strange a concept and opted to star in "Wild Wild West" instead.

Do you think Smith should have taken "Django Unchained," or do you think he was right to pass on it? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

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