Excited to have been here to witness the first frontier in the Big Picture v Hot Ones feud

I think it's worth noting that Will Smith was NOT an actor by trade. Dude was a fucking rapper, whose first acting gig was essentially playing himself on a sitcom, aptly named for his hip-hop persona. He has said numerous times that when he talked to Fresh Prince producer Quincy Jones & the other creatives, they asked him if he had any acting experience. He said no. They still greenlit a sitcom for him, and cast actual experienced actors, hoping that he would somehow pick up the slack. Like, he's not some classically trained performer, nor was he someone who was looking to be some kind of on-screen performer outside of maybe that of his music. Acting was thrust upon him, and it JUST so happened that he had the right amount of charisma to pull it off. Given his limitations of not really being a trained actor thrust into this side-gig, it's not really that surprising that he doesn't think outside the box when it comes to his roles. I think he's someone who knows what he's capable of, and does it damn near better than anyone else.

What Will Smith is missing is a collaboration with an acclaimed director. Someone like Martin Scorsese with Leo or Brad Pitt with Tarantino. He needed someone to push him more into being more than the cool, hotshot or the super earnest father. Basically he needed someone to allow him to have an edge that comes with a project helmed by an acclaimed director.

The turning down Django because he wanted it to be a love story is weird.

Amanda dumping on Sean's questions kills me! 😂

Wesley Snipes was the first real black action superstar before Smith with Passenger 57, Ney Jack City and Demolition Man. Smith was a bigger star but Wesley was the first one.

Long time fan of hot ones but I have to agree w Amanda's take. sure, especially in the early days the questions could be super interesting, but a. That was when the show was primarily rappers and occasional comedians, vs now it's often A-list stars who clearly have more media training and/or more protective publicists and b. In the earlier seasons it really did feel like an interview show that was well off the beaten path, but nowadays it's big enough that celebrities are usually on in the middle of major promotional tours, so they're already in the headspace of giving the same or similar answers over and over again There's still obviously the entertainment value of the guest (potentially) getting all spiced up but lately it doesn't feel like the actual interviews have been all that illuminating

*Focus* was pretty cool, but I don't think very many people saw it. But in general, I do agree with Sean's thesis

“He’s done just what Tom Cruise did. ‘I made a big public gaffe. Everyone thinks I’m weird.’” Not a coincidence they’re both Scientologists.

Can't wait for these cats to do JUICE, man that's gonna be CRAZY!!

How about Will Smith embracing this moment and playing the villain for once? That would be something different...

I liked "Wild Wild West" when I was a kid.

Wow shots to Sean Evans

Crazy shot at hot ones

I think Will will turn the Bad Boys Franchise into the Fast and Furious/Mission Impossible type movies but hopefully with better writing, action and humour. And he can lull it off for the next 15 years

Did Sean and Amanda talk about the state of Will Smith post slap on this pod? I didn't listen to the full thing. It seems like they really move past it here though.

does The Matrix become The Matrix if its not Keanu as the star of the movie though? It would be a completely different movie to me with Will as the lead...id love to see it though

Well it’s not a slap, that’s for sure

An arrest?

Am I crazy, or does Amanda bear a passing resemblance to Australian character actor Noah Taylor? Google it, or ask TECH SUPPOOOORTTTT (Vanilla Sky reference, that)

Suicide Squad and Aladdin were odd choices

Will Smith made the summer blockbusters in the 90s hip and cool We all think Django is "cool" as film geeks but Will Smith brought the hip and cool to big movies Imagine MiB without Will?

Will is one of the GOAT movie stars, this man got box office dominance and Oscar acclaim. Will's not missing anything.

The fact that white people are still talking about the slap tells me that they were more traumatizing Chris Rock was... Even Chris Rock has moved on.

Most of his movies are forgettable fast-food entertainment or just bad movies in general which includes his dramas. I don't think he has one movie that will stand the test of time or be considered a classic. Bad Boys is the dollar store version of Lethal Weapon, the first Men in Black is fun but it's not as great as other blockbusters like Back to the Future or Jaws, the sequels are terrible, and Independence Day has aged like milk. Even like Ali is a fine one time watch but you quickly move on from it. The list could go on and on.

nah the Sean Evans slander is so unfounded and corny i actually take back everything i said about how poorly lit your Ringer moment video was. you actually just look like that huh