Why Will Smith rejected Inception and The Matrix—and still regrets it: ‘My beautiful scars’

Sometimes, actors pass on roles that end up defining entire genres. But few decisions are as surprising as Will Smith turning down Christopher Nolan’s Inception, especially after Nolan had just redefined Batman with The Dark Knight.

During an appearance on KISS XTRA, the actor made this revelation. “I’ve never said that out loud,” Smith admitted. “And now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities; they don’t pitch well.” He also mentioned that Nolan had personally pitched the film to him, but at the time, Smith “didn’t get it.”

It’s not clear which role he was exactly offered, but finally, Inception, starred Leonardo DiCaprio, with a supporting cast that included Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page and Tom Hardy.

As he says, Inception is just ‘one of his beautiful scars’. He had also turned down the role of Neo in “The Matrix”, which later went to Keanu Reeves. “I’m hurt by those two,” Smith said about both The Matrix and Inception. “The Matrix” is one of my beautiful scars.”

In an earlier Instagram video, Smith mentioned the moment again, with text reading: “In 1997, the Wachowskis offered Will Smith the role of Neo in The Matrix. Smith turned it down. He chose Wild Wild West, believing it was a better fit for him at the time.”

Needless to say, fans have a lot on their minds. One fan wrote, “It’s funny to me that The Matrix and Inception didn’t compute to Will Smith, but he let Max Landis talk him into Orc Cop with no problem whatsoever.” Others maintained that he should have signed Inception, for Nolan, at least. Some took potshots at the fact that he did After Earth and Collateral Beauty. In fact, on fan noted that Robert Pattinson starred in Nolan’s complicated Tenet, and still didn’t understand it. “Smith gave us I am Legend and Bad Boys II,” one fan mentioned, referring to the films that crashed and burned at the box office.