Will Smith shares his biggest regret in new music video
Topics: Will Smith, Music, Celebrity
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/WillSmith
Topics: Will Smith, Music, Celebrity
With it being over two decades since his last album 'Lost and Found' was released, Will Smith has made his highly-anticipated return to music - and it seems that during that time, he's become quite reflective.
While Smith is arguably best known for his stellar Hollywood career - with Men in Black, Bad Boys, and I, Robot to name a few - the 56-year-old also had a number of musical hits under his belt, too.
The actor wrote the iconic theme for Men in Black movies, as well as dominating the charts with 'Just Crusin' and 'Get Jiggy wit It', and now, he has returned to the music scene with his single 'Beautiful Scars', having teamed up with Big Sean for the new hit.
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The video for the new single is of particular interest as it references the sci-fi classic The Matrix, with Smith playing Keanu Reeves' character Neo.
The 1999 film, which was directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, follows Neo (Reeves) as he is approached by strangers Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) to break humans free from the 'Matrix' simulation.
In an alternative universe, we could have had Smith in the role of Neo instead, however, he chose to turn down the project in favour of Wild Wild West, which ended up being a commercial and critical failure.
Prior to the video's release, he released a video on Instagram on January 6, where a computer details why he turned it down.
"In 1997, the Wachowskis offered Will Smith the role of Neo in The Matrix. Smith turned it down. He chose Wild Wild West, believing it was a better fit for him at the time." it says.
"But the question remains: What would The Matrix have been like with Will Smith as Neo?"
It then ends with text saying 'Wake up, Will...' and 'The Matrix has you...'
While in another Instagram teaser, with Big Sean dressed as Fishburne's character, the two parody the 'blue pill or red pill' scene, where Sean says Smith has made 'awesome career choices', however, there's one he 'truly regrets'.
Smith has previously addressed his decision to turn down the role before, revealing in a 2019 video on his YouTube channel, that despite the Wachowski's 'genius' pitch, the film didn't appeal to him - even after the sisters tried to convince him by describing an action sequence.
He said he 'wasn't proud' of turning it down, but he had come to terms with it, adding: "Keanu was perfect. Laurence Fishburne was perfect. If I had done it, because I’m Black, [Fishburne’s character] Morpheus wouldn’t have been Black because they were looking at Val Kilmer [for] Morpheus. So I probably would have messed The Matrix up. I would have ruined it. I did y’all a favor."