Will Smith Was First Choice For Django

Will Smith was Quentin Tarrantino's first choice to play Django in the controversial film Django:Unchained. Smith said his reason for not taking the role was because, technically, Django wasn't the lead character even though that is the name in the movie title. When he spoke with Tarrantino he expressed that he would like to change the script a bit. Smith wanted Django to have a bigger role and (SPOILER ALERT) he wanted Django to be the one to kill the bad guy.

Many in Hollywood believe Smith turned down the role because it would go against the "bad guy" image he has managed to avoid his entire acting career. Even movies where he wasn't outwardly nice, there was always something redeeming in the end about his character. Being a runaway slave who goes on a killing spree after being taken in by a German bounty hunter doesn't really fit in with the rest of the roles Smith has taken on his career. This is a problem that could have been avoided if the media weren't so critical of every role actors take on. Is Matt Damon a bad guy away from the movie screen because he played a corrupt police officer in The Departed? Is Leonardo DiCaprio a bad guy because he played a slave owner in Django:Unchained? No. The media finds a way to portray bad guys in movies as bad people in their normal lives way too often. I believe it was a combination of Smith wanting to protect his image and his fear of being characterized as a bad guy by the media that led to him turning down the role of Django. Yet another example of biased, and often unfair, mainstream media outlets having way too much influence.