qs! wrote:
What do you think about Django being written for Will Smith? And the idea of Will Smith, Hollywoods most palatable and inoffensive black man playing the part of the black man who kills all the slavers. And then in contrast having Sam Jackson, a much more edgy, opinionated, in your face black man playing the "house nigger".
Of course that whole meta-contextual level fell flat once Jamie Foxx became Django.
I guess Will Smith would've been a choice not unlike Travolta ... popular, amiable actor known for soft and comedic roles, sitcom background, associated with Scientology (probably irrelevant, but hey), generally poor critical notices.
Of course, his career's not in the bin, he's not doing Look Who's Talking sequels or anything, but then Tarantino doesn't need to go for struggling actors any more.
My theory is he likes casting mainstream actors against type because they keep his films away from the highbrow, attract an audience because of their popularity, and attract interest because of the "transformation".
I'm actually surprised Will Smith hasn't had better roles in his career. His glib con artist in Six Degrees of Separation was a quality performance, but he's made mostly terrible films.
I read Tarantino on Jamie Foxx in a couple of promo interviews, and while he was obviously talking up every aspect of the film, he did say that he liked Foxx for the role because he looked great as a cowboy ... which I think suggests he was looking for relative example of physical perfection for the Django role.
SLJ doesn't fit that mold, I guess, but he is an excellent character actor with an evident interest in racial politics, I can see how playing an Uncle Tom would've interested him.
