Home » Arts & Entertainment » Movies » Did Will Smith Turn Down the Lead Role in Django?

Did Will Smith Turn Down the Lead Role in Django?

Will Smith, a great, all-around actor, didn’t get “jiggy” with Tarantino’s Django Unchained. And here’s what we know.

Will Smith turned down the role of Django in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. He assumed that the lead role was Dr. King Schultz, a dentist turned bounty hunter. Christoph Waltz played Schultz’s role.

Django Unchained

Django Unchained was a spaghetti Western movie directed by Quentin Tarantino. It was played in cinemas in 2012. The film was a success, earning about $454 million worldwide.

Django is a slave whose horrible history with his former owners brings him face to face with Dr. King Schultz, a bounty hunter of German origin. Schultz is on the hunt for the wicked Brittle brothers, and Django is the only one who can lead him there. Schultz buys Django to be released if the Brittles are captured – alive or dead.

Schultz’s success inspires him to free Django, but the two men resolve not to split ways. Instead, Schultz and Django set out to find the most wanted criminals in the South. Django continues to improve his skills with one goal in mind: to rescue Broomhilda, his wife, who was sold into slavery years ago. (Source: The Numbers)

As Django Unchained deals with a plethora of issues; racism, slavery, and more, fans have questioned whether the film is based on a true story. Tarantino-based Django Unchained on the Italian movie Django and the 1975 film Mandingo.

Tarantino’s Django appears to be based on the real-life African-American Wild West Marshal Bass Reeves, who captured 3,000 outlaws and killed 14 men. Reeves was born into slavery in 1838 and later emancipated, leading him to live among neighboring Native Americans. Tarantino took elements from real-life stories and people and incorporated these into his movie. (Source: Screen Rant)

Will Smith Turned Down Django Offer

Willard Carroll Smith, Jr., better known as Will Smith, is one of the most iconic actors of our time. He is pretty popular in the industry and known to be such a versatile actor. Whether it be science fiction like Independence Day, Men in Black or i-Robot, or rom-com like Hitch and Focus, Smith delivers outstanding performance.

Smith was also a  “light” rapper back in the day, not touching on hard-core lyrics and themes in his songs but instead focusing on feel-good music. Smith’s recordings gained worldwide renown, winning him Grammy and Golden Globe awards. (Source: Britannica)

Smith turned down Tarantino’s offer to play Django Unchained. Though the character was written with Smith in mind, Jamie Foxx played the role in Tarantino’s movie and did an excellent job. Press reports indicated that Smith was uneasy with the film’s blend of “anti-slavery diatribe and blood-soaked violence.” 

Later on, Smith mentioned he was not being asked to play the “main role.” He felt that the leading role was the character of Dr. King Schultz, played by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz. In one of his interviews, Smith said that he told Tarantino that he needed to kill the bad guy. He also stated that he appreciated the film, for which Christoph Waltz received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Will Smith thought it was fantastic, but it wasn’t the right fit for him. (Source: The Guardian)

Leave a Comment