Will Smith on Steven Spielberg Sending Helicopter to Persuade Him to Take ‘Men in Black’ Role: ‘He Said the Coldest Sh*t’

At Spielberg’s house, Smith couldn’t help but notice the Jaws and Jurassic Park posters, which further underscored why he should (and did) reconsider his stance on the film.

“He flew me in and he said the coldest shit,” Smith recalled. “He said, ‘Tell me why you don’t wanna make my movie.’ He was the producer. And he put the ellipses at the end. … If he had continued, he would have said, ‘Joker, you know I made Jaws right? You know I made E.T.?’”

Of course, though Smith originally felt he “didn’t wanna be the alien guy,” he did indeed share starring duties in the sci-fi comedy alongside Tommy Lee Jones. The film launched a franchise, with Smith having since appeared in three Men in Black films.

Next year, Smith will revisit another beloved franchise from his catalog with the fourth entry in the Bad Boys series.