Will Smith Explains Why He Refused Slavery Movies: 'I Wanted To Be A Superhero'

Will Smith recently revealed the reason he stayed away from slavery movies while talking about his prolific career in Hollywood and the roles he played across genres over the years.

"I’ve always avoided making films about slavery," Smith told GQ Monday. "In the early part of my career… I didn’t want to show Black people in that light. I wanted to be a superhero."

The 53-year-old actor further explained that he wanted to play roles that someone would offer actors like Tom Cruise. "I wanted to depict Black excellence alongside my white counterparts," he added. "I wanted to play roles that you would give to Tom Cruise."

Smith was offered Quentin Tarantino's hit movie, "Django Unchained" in 2012. However, the actor turned down the role.

"And the first time I considered it was Django. But I didn’t want to make a slavery film about vengeance," the actor told the outlet.

This is not the first time the actor spoke about turning down Django's character. In 2015, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star noted that "it was about the creative direction of the story."

He explained that the story and the idea behind the movie seemed perfect to him but "it was just that Quentin and I couldn’t see [eye to eye]. I wanted to make the greatest love story that African-Americans had ever seen."

During the latest interview, the actor also went "undercover on the internet" and answered fans' questions with a new account that the outlet created for him.

In the video, the actor created accounts on Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, Wikipedia and Quora. He read various comments and replied to them on social media platforms, explaining the details in the video.

He answered questions about his education, swapping "Men In Black" and "The Matrix" lead roles, the book that he loves the most and so on.

On the work front, Smith will be next seen in a TV series "This Joka." He is currently filming an action thriller movie, "Emancipation," which is penned by William N. Collage. Antoine Fuqua's directorial will also star Ben Foster, Mustafa Shakir and Charmaine Bingwa.

He will also feature in movies like "The Council," "Fast and Loose," "Bad Boys 4" and "Bright 2."