Will Smith Admits There’s One Role He Shouldn’t Have Taken

Will Smith has no shame when it comes to admitting regrets from his younger days, even if they’re career related.

During a recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to promote his new sci-fi thriller, Gemini Man, the actor was asked if there is any advice he would offer to “Young Will.” While it took some thinking to get there, he was definite in his response.

“There’s a certain naiveté to youth that is powerful, right? When you don’t know something,” he said. “Like, not knowing can be a real power, ’cause… you’re aggressive. So, I feel like I would ask my young self for advice.”

After taking the philosophical route, Smith, from the look on his face, seemed to have an epiphany and admitted that he actually regrets doing the 1999 steampunk-western-action-comedy film Wild, Wild West.

“I just thought of something I would tell myself,” he said with a smile. “I would go, ‘Hey man, don’t do Wild, Wild West!’ I would say, ‘Dude, do Neo! Do Neo!’ ‘Cause I got offered The Matrix.”

Take a look at the hilarious clip, below:

Back in February 2019, Smith explained in a YouTube video that he turned down the Matrix leading role because he simply didn’t understand what it was about and did not want to be typecast as the “alien movie guy.” He was offered the role fresh off of his stints in the sci-fi films Independence Day and Men in Black.

He first talked about turning down the iconic role in an early 2000s interview where he explained, “I didn’t get it when I read it.”