Steven Spielberg doesn’t take no for an answer— just ask these Oscar winners he convinced to play major roles
Being an actor is not just about making a character believable; it’s also about picking the right roles. An actor needs to know what suits them instead of always trying to push boundaries. While stepping outside your comfort zone can lead to great success, it doesn’t always work out. Actors often find themselves at a crossroads, having to balance taking risks with making safer choices. Sometimes, fear of failure holds them back from roles that could define their careers. Will Smith experienced this firsthand when he was first offered the lead role in 'Men in Black'. Initially hesitant, he wasn’t sure about taking the part. It wasn’t until a gentle nudge from Steven Spielberg that he decided to take it up.
Spielberg also persuaded Ke Huy Quan to take on a unique project called 'Love Hurts'. After his Oscar win for 'Everything Everywhere All At Once', Quan was nervous about his next steps, fearing he might disappoint fans following the overwhelming love he received during awards season. In an interview with Empire Online, he said, "I was at an event with Steven Spielberg and he was asking me, ‘Ke, how are you doing?’ I said, ‘Steven, I’m not doing so well.’ Because of all the love and support that I had gotten during that whole award season, I was so worried that whatever I was going to do next, I would disappoint." Quan explained that Spielberg didn’t just give him advice but also took him out to lunch to discuss the movie in detail. Spielberg helped him see that 'Love Hurts' wasn’t a typical action movie but something fresh and different for audiences. After initially turning it down three times, Quan eventually said yes, thanks to Spielberg.
On the other hand, Smith also has a similar story about Spielberg. In 2022, during an appearance on Kevin Hart’s 'Hart to Heart' show, Smith revealed that he was reluctant to take on some of his most famous roles. He credited his former manager, James Lassiter, for pushing him to take films like 'The Pursuit of Happyness' and 'Ali'. Smith initially didn't want to do 'Men in Black' because he had just finished making 'Independence Day' and didn’t want to star in another alien movie. However, Spielberg, the executive producer of 'Men in Black', went out of his way to convince him, as reported by FandomWire.
Smith recalled, "Steven Spielberg sent a helicopter for me. I was in New York. To talk to me…. It landed at his house. And he had me at hello…. And it was the first time I ever had lemonade with carbonated water. You can’t say no to that." Smith also revealed how persuasive Spielberg was in pitching the movie: "He said the coldest s**t. He said, ‘Tell me, tell me why you don’t want to make my movie.’ And he was the producer…. And he put the ellipsis at the end, it was the dot, dot, dot…. If he had continued, he would have said, ‘Joker, you know I made Jaws, right? You know I made E.T.’"
Spielberg’s convincing argument worked, and Smith agreed to star as Agent J in the 'Men in Black' franchise. The movies remain fan favorites to this day. Ke Huy Quan’s 'Love Hurts' will be released in theaters on February 7, 2025, while Will Smith’s 'Men in Black' films are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.