Will Smith tells why he rejected Django

Actor Will Smith has revealed why he turned down the role of Django in Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 hit movie, Django Unchained.

Smith had been offered the role to star alongside Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, but had turned it down because he didn’t like the character’s motivation.

“It was about the creative direction of the story,” Smith told The Hollywood Reporter. “To me, it’s as perfect a story as you could ever want: a guy that learns how to kill to retrieve his wife that has been taken as a slave. That idea is perfect. And it was just that Quentin and I couldn’t see [eye to eye].”

“I wanted to make that movie so badly, but I felt the only way was, it had to be a love story, not a vengeance story,” Smith added. “I just couldn’t connect to violence being the answer. Love had to be the answer.”

Jamie Foxx later took the role, and the movie went on to gross $425 million, and garnered 5 Oscar nominations.