Nolan reportedly considered Brad Pitt before approaching Smith
Smith’s claim does not come entirely out of nowhere. Several months after “Inception” reached cinemas, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Nolan had considered other major stars for the role that eventually became Dominic Cobb, the professional thief who enters people’s dreams to steal — and later implant — information.
According to the report, Brad Pitt was Nolan’s first choice but did not commit to the film. Smith was subsequently approached before DiCaprio ultimately took the role.
DiCaprio’s version became one of the defining blockbusters of 2010. “Inception” went on to gross approximately $839 million worldwide, turning Nolan’s elaborate combination of corporate espionage, dream architecture and folding city streets into a major commercial hit.
In Smith’s defence, “a team of specialists enters layered dreams to plant an idea inside someone’s subconscious” is not necessarily the easiest sentence on which to base a nine-figure career decision.
The finished film made the concept much easier to sell.
‘The Matrix’ remains the rejection that hurts most
For Smith, however, “Inception” apparently does not occupy first place in the hall of regrettable Hollywood decisions.
Asked about “The Matrix,” Smith replied: “It hurts too bad to talk about.”
He has discussed that choice before. In a 2019 YouTube video, Smith explained that the Wachowskis approached him about playing Neo in the film that eventually starred Keanu Reeves, but their pitch failed to convince him.
As Smith recalled it, the filmmakers focused heavily on the visual techniques they intended to develop for the action sequences.
“We’re thinking like… imagine you’re in a fight. You, like, jump. Imagine if you could stop jumping in the middle of the jump,” Smith said while recreating the pitch. “But then, people could see around you 360 degrees while you stop jumping. We’re going to invent these cameras and then people can see the whole jump when you stop in the middle of the jump.”
The technique became one of the film’s signatures. Reeves, meanwhile, became inseparable from Neo and went on to lead a franchise that helped reshape action cinema.
Smith’s account also shows the peculiar problem actors face when deciding whether to join films built around techniques or concepts that do not yet exist. A revolutionary visual effect sounds considerably less revolutionary when someone is explaining it in a meeting.
Why Smith also walked away from ‘Django Unchained’
Not every famous Smith rejection came down to confusion.
Quentin Tarantino offered him the title role in “Django Unchained” before Jamie Foxx ultimately starred in the 2012 film. Smith later told GQ that he rejected the project because he “didn’t want to make a slavery film about vengeance.”
He had previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the disagreement was primarily about the story’s creative direction rather than a lack of interest in its central premise.
“To me, it’s as perfect a story as you could ever want: a guy that learns how to kill to retrieve his wife that has been taken as a slave,” Smith said. “That idea is perfect. And it was just that Quentin and I couldn’t see [eye to eye].”
Smith said he wanted the film to place greater emphasis on Django’s relationship with his wife.
“I wanted to make that movie so badly, but I felt the only way was, it had to be a love story, not a vengeance story,” he said.
That decision therefore sits in a different category from “Inception” and “The Matrix.” Smith understood what Tarantino wanted to make; he simply wanted to make something else.
Smith’s biggest missed roles reveal how unpredictable movie pitches can be
Looking back, the rejected projects form an extraordinary alternative version of Smith’s career. He could have played Neo instead of Reeves, Django instead of Foxx and, according to his latest disclosure, Cobb instead of DiCaprio.
All three films became major parts of their eventual stars’ careers, although Smith’s reasons for rejecting them were markedly different.
“Django Unchained” was a creative disagreement. “The Matrix” was, by Smith’s account, a pitch that concentrated on filmmaking technology he struggled to connect with. “Inception” was more fundamental: Nolan explained the movie, and Smith says he simply did not get it.
There is also an obvious benefit to judging those decisions from the present. Audiences know what “bullet time” looks like because “The Matrix” exists. They understand Nolan’s nested dream levels because “Inception” eventually turned them into a two-and-a-half-hour spectacle.
Smith had to decide before either finished film could make its own argument.
That has not stopped him from feeling the consequences. More than a decade after “Inception” became a global hit, Smith is still adding it to the list of roles he wishes had made more sense in the room than they eventually did on screen.
