“I’ve never said that out loud” — Will Smith opens up about turning down Christopher Nolan’s Inception for the first time ever

Will Smith has recently opened up about one of the biggest missed opportunities of his career—and this time, it’s not The Matrix. In a recent interview with radio station KISS XTRA, the actor revealed for the first time that he turned down the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s 2010 sci-fi blockbuster Inception.

“I don’t think I’ve ever said it publicly before,” Smith admitted. "Chris Nolan brought me Inception first and I didn’t get it. I’ve never said that out loud. Now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities they don’t pitch well. But I am hurt by those, too … It hurts too bad to talk about.”

Although Smith had previously spoken about passing on The Matrix, this revelation adds another high-profile, genre-specific movie to the list of major opportunities he turned down.

Notably, Inception went on to become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films of the 2010s, making Smith's decision all the more surprising.

At the time, Christopher Nolan was coming off the massive success of The Dark Knight, yet Will Smith passed on the film due to uncertainty over its premise. He's not the only one, however—Brad Pitt was also offered the role but didn't sign up quickly enough for Nolan's tight shooting schedule.

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Why did Will Smith turn down Inception?

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on November 10, 2019, Nolan described his casting strategy for Inception as aggressive. The director reportedly sent the screenplay to A-listers with a tight 48 hours to respond. Brad Pitt was offered the role first, followed by Will Smith, but both ultimately turned it down.

The role of Dom Cobb eventually went to Leonardo DiCaprio—and the rest, as they say, is history.

Will Smith later admitted that the film's dream-centered premise didn't resonate with him initially. And while that may be the case, it's difficult not to wonder what Inception might have looked like with Smith in the lead, particularly as the film went on to gross more than $800 million globally and won four Oscars.

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What is Inception about?

Inception is a science fiction film with a high-concept premise that blends the structure of a heist film with thriller psychology. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the film centers on Dom Cobb, an expert thief who steals corporate secrets by entering people's dreams.

Rather than stealing information, Cobb is presented with a special task: to implant a thought into someone's mind, a process referred to as "inception."

The film follows Cobb and his crew as they construct a dream within a dream within a dream, navigating levels of time and awareness. At the same time, Cobb battles his own feelings of guilt concerning the death of his wife, Mal, whose ghost haunts his every move and threatens to undermine their mission.

Nolan came up with the idea in the early 2000s but put it aside to focus on other projects until he felt prepared to tackle its complexity. Eventually released across six nations with a staggering 160 million budget, Inception became both a commercial and critical success in 2010.

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Who starred in Inception after Will Smith turned it down?

Leonardo DiCaprio led the cast as Dom Cobb, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Arthur, Cobb's second-in-command; Marion Cotillard as Mal, his ghostly manifestation of a murdered wife; and Ellen Page (now Elliot Page) as Ariadne, the dream architect.

Tom Hardy portrayed Eames, a thief who pretends to be an individual in dreams, and Ken Watanabe played Saito, the corporate executive who initiates the scheme.

Cillian Murphy portrayed Robert Fischer, the target of the team, and Michael Caine, Tom Berenger, and Dileep Rao filled out the rest of the cast in major supporting roles. The movie's dramatic visual effects, memorable score by Hans Zimmer, and turning, dream-within-a-dream storyline turned it into a cultural phenomenon.

And while Will Smith may still regret passing on the role, fans are just happy Nolan's brain-twisting vision actually made it onto the screen after a few high-profile rejection attempts.

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Interested viewers can watch Inception on Amazon Prime Video.