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The year was in 1993. Will Smith was 25 years old and with NBC The prince of Bel-Air After having become famous as half of the hip-hop duo, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. After making his cinema debut in 1992 Where the day takes you Then appearing in the Whoopi Goldberg / / Ted in vehicle Made in America , the young star made a next surprising step when he played in Arthouse's satire on the breed and the class, Six degrees of separation .

Playing Paul Poitier, a crook who made his way in the superior crust of the art world of Manhattan, forced Smith to get started in months of preparation. However, there was one thing he refused to do for the role: film to kiss with another man. Read the rest to find out why Smith asked for a replacement and why he then called his refusal to film the "Immature" kiss.

In relation: The real reason that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, director of the director .

In his memories in 2021, Will , Smith told the first days of his Hollywood career and the Decision to take the post In Six degrees of separation . Ride Fresh prince The success of the sitcom, he was offered $ 10 million to play in the film Eight Heads in a blocked bag . Despite the big salary that this would mean for both, his manager James Lassiter It was estimated that the role was not synchronized with Smith's long -term objective to become the biggest actor in Hollywood. "" Tom Cruise would not take this role, "he told Smith.

Instead, Lassiter advised his client to look at a different role, which paid relatively derisory $ 300,000 but would show his range so that the public "forget that they were looking at a rapper". This role was Paul Poitier, a crook who infiltrates the life of a Manhattan couple in the upper class Stégard Channing And Donald Sutherland In Six degrees of separation , an independent film adapted to a nominated piece nominated in Pulitzer.

In the context of the time, the role - which involved a scene in which Poitier is in bed with a man - was considered a daring choice. While Keanu Reeves had recently acquired the independent credibility which would soon help him enter into Bill & Ted roles in Speed And The matrix When he played with Phoenix river As a gay Hustler My own private Idaho , it would be another year before Roseanne have shown that the public during prime time has kiss (although preceded by a parental advisory warning) and four others before the output of the titular character on Ellen.

In an article from 1994 in Lawyer Entitled "Six degrees of apprehension: Willl Smith plays gay with apprehension", "The actor called the role" A risk, a strange choice For a person in [her] position "- but she thought she had" a big advantage "if they were well received.

In relation: Tom Cruise Impossible mission Co-star Thandiwe Newton said that kissing it was "Icky".

Smith brought her dedication to this role to the director Fred Schepisi , who said Weekly entertainment In 1993, " I interviewed many actors . But Will tried to convince me that he would do everything you need, would go through the process, was sure that he could prepare. "The SitCom star trained with an actor and dialogue coach for the next three months." This character I had to learn to walk and speak and act, "said Smith about Paul's transmission." And I had to learn to walk and talk and play to play it. ""

Despite his commitment to dress the character - whom he wrote later comprising the taking of method acting so far, he has put a bankruptcy in his first marriage while he "Fell in Love" with the Co-Star Channing , by People - There was a key element in the shooting that Smith refused. By EW , Smith fell from a scene in which his character was to kiss a student of passionate MIT played by Anthony Michael Hall ( The breakfast club ) Just before filming. Instead, a double was brought, and Schepisi had to film the back stand-in as he cuts the face of hall and leaned for a kiss.

The surprising refusal was perhaps based on the advice of Smith's friend and mentor, Denzel Washington . According to Lawyer , Smith had said First That Washington had advised him not to kiss the hall. (Asked to comment on the story, Washington responded to Lawyer "This is what a journalist said that Will Smith said!" Before refusing other comments.)

Whatever the reason he made the position, Smith quickly regretted his entry into the role. "It was only after seeing the film I really saw how silly [refusing to film the kiss]," he said Lawyer . Discuss his state of mind in EW , the young actor criticized his reluctance.

"It was very immature on my part. I said to myself:" How will my friends in Philly think about it? "I was not emotionally stable enough to engage artistically in this aspect of the film ... It was a precious lesson for me. Either you do, or you don't do it," he said. " AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

In relation: Jada Pinkett Smith says Chris Rock asked her to go out while she and Will were still together .

Despite Smith's self-written immaturity, its performance Six degrees of separation was rented by criticism, opening the way to the actor to reach his goal of being one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. But at least one person in the industry refused to forget that he had been delicate about a kiss.

In 2015, Ian McKellen, who played a rich South African dinner in the 1993 film, shared his memory of Work with Smith with Time Out London . "He was a charmer and a good actor", the Lord of the Rings actor recalled. "But he did a silly thing: he refused to kiss another boy on the screen, even if he was there in the script."

McKellen, who is gay, wrote on his personal website: "I was not there when he would have said that such The gesture would upset his fans , otherwise I should have explained that his twinge of homophobia was incontesting and useless. "He also recalled his own cheeky response", when I met him at the opening of Los Angeles of the film, I made sure to kiss him for the benefit of the paparazzi. ""

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