Not Salma Hayek, Will Smith Believes His Worst Movie Was With Own Son Jaden Smith That Made Him Leave Acting for More Than a Year
Will Smith is one of the most versatile actors Hollywood has ever produced. With an acting career that spans a period of three decades, the American actor has been a part of almost every genre of movie. The Academy Award recipient has a great filmography but openly regrets doing a few projects as an actor.
Despite producing After Earth from his own production house Overbrook Entertainment, Will Smith regretted doing the sci-fi adventure drama. His son, Jaden Smith was also a significant part of the 2013 release movie.
Will Smith Regrets Doing After Earth With His Son
Will Smith and Jaden Smith shared the screen for the 2013 released sci-fi drama After Earth. The father-son end up crash-landing on Earth after the human beings were forced to flee the green planet. During an interview with the entertainment outlet Esquire, the King Richard actor spoke about the movie and regretted doing the movie. He mentioned-
“That was a valuable lesson for me a few years ago with After Earth. That was the most painful failure in my career.”
Just like the Men In Black actor, Salma Hayek regretted doing one of the most prominent movies of her Hollywood career. The Wild Wild West was released in 1999 and brought the actor into the media spotlight. During an interview with The Guardian, the Desperado actor spoke about her costume in the movie. She said–
“I was never naked in Wild Wild West I felt a lot more naked and embarrassed wearing that stupid costume. He tried to convince me the whole movie to smell his left ear, which he claims smelled like a specific cheese. I said I would not do that” but eventually gave in. “And then at the end of the movie…I did it and it was disgusting,”
According to the Mexican-American actor going ahead with the Wild Wild West was one of the worst decisions of her acting career. She shared the screen space with Will Smith, who was already a renowned actor back then.
Will Smith On Comparing Wild Wild West And After Earth
Will Smith was part of the Wild Wild West released in 1999. He played the character of a Civil War hero James West in the action-comedy drama. During an interview with the media outlet Esquire, Will Smith spoke about the Wild Wild West and his sci-fi adventure After Earth. While comparing both movies, the actor said-
“Wild Wild West was less painful than After Earth because my son was involved in After Earth and I led him into it. That was excruciating. What I learned from that failure is how you win. I got reinvigorated after the failure of After Earth. I stopped working for a year and a half. I had to dive into why it was so important for me to have number-one movies. And I never would have looked at myself in that way.”
He further went on to add-
“I was a guy who, when I was fifteen my girlfriend cheated on me, and I decided that if I was number one, no woman would ever cheat on me. All I have to do is make sure that no one’s ever better than me and I’ll have the love that my heart yearns for. And I never released that and moved into a mature way of looking at the world and my artistry and love until the failure of After Earth when I had to accept that it’s not a good source of creation.”
The failure of After Earth, made him realize a lot about his personal and professional life. After Earth was made on a budget of $150 million and went on to gross $243.8 million through its theatrical release worldwide.
Watch After Earth on Netflix.
Source: Esquire
