Will Smith turned down Christopher Nolan and Inception because he "didn't get" the plot: "These movies that go into these alternate realities… they don't pitch well"

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Leonardo DiCaprio looking at Cobb's totem in Inception
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Will Smith says Christopher Nolan offered him Inception, but turned it down because he "didn't get" the plot

During an interview on the UK's Kiss Extra radio station (H/T HuffPost), Smith opened up about rejecting Nolan's mind-bending sci-fi epic.

“I don’t think I’ve ever said it publicly but I am going to say it because we are opening up to one another. Chris Nolan brought me Inception first and I didn’t get it," Smith revealed.

Smith, though, has a reason to go alongside his mea culpa – and it's largely to do with the dream-within-a-dream concept that proved such a hit with audiencegoers back in 2010.

"Now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities… they don’t pitch well," Smith said.

At the time, Tarantino told Playboy (H/T IndieWire), "It just wasn’t 100 percent right, and we didn’t have time to try to make it that way. We left with me saying, ‘Look, I’m going to see other people.’ He said, ‘Let me just see how I feel, and if you don’t find anybody, let’s talk again.’ And then I found my guy.”

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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