Will Smith has been going around promoting his new music video Pretty Girls, and while everyone knows the story of how he passed on The Matrix, he’s revealed that there was another blockbuster project that he was almost a part of.
In a recent talk with Kiss Xtra (via @ArtofDialogue), Smith reveals that he was actually approached by Christopher Nolan to be part of Inception, Nolan’s 2010 blockbuster hit about dream thieves.
Will Smith reveals director Christopher Nolan brought him the movie "Inception" first, but he turned it down and says movies about alternate realities don’t pitch well.
(🎥 Kiss Xtra) pic.twitter.com/jwcvZfiuMG
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) June 15, 2025
“I don’t think I’ve ever even said it publicly before… Chris Nolan brought me Inception first and I didn’t get it… I’ve never said that out loud, and now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities, they don’t pitch well.”
Admittedly, Smith hasn’t been batting a lot of hits like he used to, with projects like Gemini Man and Emancipation. He did win the Oscar for King Richard, but everyone mostly just remembers him slapping Chris Rock during that event.
For now, it does seem like Smith is leaning back on his rap career, and while others have been dubbing Pretty Girls as ‘UncRap’, some people think that the beat could be a hit if they sped it up. Personally I think it’s great, and Smith still has that superstar charisma.
Maybe there’s room for him in Nolan’s next film now that he’s put it out there.
Honestly I’m rooting for Smith after all the drama he’s been through in the recent years. Hopefully he manages to bring the good graces of the audience back to him soon.
