Will Smith starred alongside Margot Robbie in the 2015 film Focus, directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. The film was a different territory for Will Smith who was more accustomed to light-hearted, hilarious roles. However, going astray from his natural instincts and playing a serious character was not the only worry the actor had when he got the role of Nicky Spurgeon.
Will Smith in Focus (2015)
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s relationship was in a bit of a rocky place recently, as we are all quite aware. And now, fans are quite invested in the relationship that the couple has had over the years. Today, let’s take a look at the time when Will Smith’s Focus co-star, Margot Robbie, was the topic of discussion in the Smith household.
Jada Smith Didn’t Want Will Smith to Embarrass Her
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
When Margot Robbie is on our screens, it sure is difficult to keep our eyes off of her. Therefore, did starring alongside Robbie intimidate Will Smith a little? Perhaps. And if not, then Jada Pinkett Smith was right there to give Smith a bit of a reality check. While promoting Focus, Smith revealed his wife’s concerns about Robbie’s good looks and physique and urged him to start working out as she didn’t want him to embarrass her in front of the Barbie actress. Smith stated,
“When Margot got hired for the gig… [Jada] saw that Margot was young and hot and in shape. She said, ‘Boy don’t embarrass me. Get in shape now’. She was like, ‘Do not let that girl smash you onscreen.”
Well, even if the way Smith put it might not sit right with the audience, it was just a healthy banter between a husband and wife as seen in the way Smith recalls the conversation while laughing. She probably had her husband’s best interest at heart and her plan sure seemed to have worked just fine as both Smith and Robbie looked equally amazing in the film!
Margot Robbie Dissed Will Smith During the Audition
Will Smith and Margot Robbie in Focus
She recalled to Entertainment Weekly that when she came back to her hostel at six in the morning, she saw a few messages on her phone. The messages stated that she was called to audition for Focus and that her flight left the same night. While she rushed out of there, got on to the flight, and reached her destination with just six hours of sleep in 50 hours she somehow still managed to make it on time for the audition.
However, almost as if the world was playing a joke on her, her future co-star was running late because he was coming from, well, Queens. This might have irritated Robbie a bit as she told Smith that she came here from Croatia and still managed to make it on time, unlike him.
“I get back to the hostel at 6 a.m., no sleep, turn my phone on, and I’ve got all these messages: ‘They want you to audition for Focus. Your flight leaves tonight.’ There’s only one catamaran to the mainland and it leaves in 20 minutes, so I’m grabbing my stuff and I race off and I get the catamaran, I get a bus to the airport, I get to the airport and wait six hours, I fly to France and wait another six hours, I fly to New York, and by the time I get to New York they’ve lost my luggage……I’d calculated that in the last 50-something hours I had six hours sleep in total. And I walk into the audition and it turns out Will was running late. He comes in and says, ‘Sorry I’m late I was coming from Queens.’ And I look at Will and I was like, ‘Yeah? Well I just came from an island off Croatia and I’m here on time.”
Well, it all worked out in the end as she bagged the role despite dissing her co-actor and being extremely sleep deprived! While Smith and Robbie complimented each other on-screen, Focus has a disappointing score of 56% on Rotten Tomatoes and even the fans didn’t find it too entertaining as they spared the film an audience score of just 53%.
Focus is available to rent on Apple TV and Prime Video.
