“Daddy Please Don’t”: Will Smith’s Daughter Begged Him Not to Work in Leonardo DiCaprio’s Spine Chilling Movie That Won 2 OscarsThe Emancipation star Will Smith rejected an opportunity of a lifetime a decade ago because of his kids. The movie about slavery which ended up winning two Academy Awards and creating an ever-lasting impact on its audience, Django Unchained initially planned on getting the actor in the lead. The movie eventually settled on Jamie Foxx and went on to become one of the greatest movies ever made. Although the opportunity may have seemed too enticing to let go, Smith feared the characters involved would slowly start to slip into his personal life, and thus he did not want his kids to witness all the chaos.

On the other hand, his daughter Willow Smith also understood the mental toll it takes to get into the shoes of such a complex character and thus interfered, looking out for her father. The actor on his YouTube channel spilled what actually stopped him from saying yes to such a film, that changed cinema forever.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith with their kids

Willow Smith Did Not Want Will Smith to Say Yes to Django Unchained

While explaining the ancient art of acting on his YouTube channel, and spilling all the trade secrets of how Will Smith operates in front of a camera, the actor revealed why he rejected Django Unchained years ago. Although he went on to do a similar movie years later for Apple TV+, one would think the actor would regret letting go of such a film. But to everyone’s surprise, Smith does not regret saying no to the movie. He said,
“There are places you may not want to go—You know, I was gonna do Django. Because of the psychological space I was going to have to live in, Willow was like ‘Daddy, please don’t.’ She knew what the time around the house would be.”
Willow Smith
Both the actor and his daughter knew how mentally taxing the movie was going to be for their entire family at the end of the day. And therefore, did not want to get into a situation that leads them to destroy their peace. Willow Smith‘s words stayed with the actor although he was in dilemma at the end of the day, he figured nothing is more important to him than his kids. The same happened years later for Emancipation as well, his daughter revealed she was concerned for her father as he lost control over the character and was slipping farther away from reality with each passing moment.

Will Smith “Went Too Deep” Filming This Movie

Although he almost said yes, and desperately wanted to do the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, he realized that his “bad” habit of losing himself into the character could affect his family gravely and thus, did not want to bring any of the energy that fueled him to embody the character back home. On the Facebook show hosted by his wife and daughter, Red Table Talk, he revealed,
“We had a family meeting and we all talked about Django. I wasn’t all the way in, but one of the main reasons that I wasn’t was the looks on your faces ’cause you knew what that would mean and those characters seep back into the house.”
Will Smith
Subsequently, Will Smith elaborated on his methodology especially on the sets of Emancipation, detailing how he attains the magic both on-screen and, in the process, the cost he must bear to accomplish such remarkable feats that captivate the audience. He said,
“You go into a state and when you go that one click too far, Will Smith disappears and what happens is psychologically you go farther and farther into Peter and you don’t realize that ‘you’ are slipping away–And then it’s over and you go back and you look for you and you’re gone.”
Hence, his concerns extend beyond mere films and his own abilities. At day’s end, he holds the opinions of his loved ones in high regard and ensures their perspectives are factored in when making decisions.

Django Unchained can be rented through Apple TV, whereas Emancipation is accessible for streaming on Apple TV+.