Will Smith's fart led to a 3-hour cast and crew evacuation on 'Men in Black' set, claims director
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Barry Sonnenfeld revealed that Will Smith farted so badly on the set of 'Men in Black' that he had to send the actors and crew home for three hours.
During a recent conversation on the 'Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa' podcast, the director addressed the specifics of the farting incident involving the Oscar-winning actor.
Smith played Agent J in the popular 1997 science fiction film and its sequels.
Barry Sonnenfeld calls Will Smith a farter
Barry Sonnenfeld recounted that Will Smith and his co-star, Tommy Lee Jones, who played Agent K, were filming a scenario where they drive a car that transforms at extremely high speeds, and for the shot they needed to be "hermetically sealed" inside it, according to Daily Mail.
Sonnenfeld said, "There are locks to prevent it from opening and falling. I say, 'Roll camera,' and I hear Will Smith go, 'Oh Jesus, so sorry. Tommy, so sorry. Baz, get the ladder.' And you hear Tommy saying, 'That’s fine, Will. No worries, Will. Don’t worry, Will.' Anyway, I don’t know what’s gone on, right?"
"So we race the ladder over, Tommy reaches his leg out as the ladder is coming over, races down the stairs. And what happened was, Will Smith is a farter," added the director.
"It’s just some people are. And you really don’t want to be inside a very small hermetically sealed space with a Will Smith fart. You don’t even want to be sitting next to him at the Disney ranch. We evacuated the stage for about three hours," recalled Sonnenfeld, per People.
"And that’s incredible. No, he’s, you know, a lovely guy. Just, he farts. Some do, some don’t," quipped the 71-year-old.
'Men in Black' was the third highest-grossing film of 1997
Will Smith's flatulence could not overpower the movie's success, though. 'Men in Black' became the third highest-grossing film of 1997 with a global box office total of $584 million.
Under Sonnenfeld's direction, two 'Men in Black' sequels were released: 'Men in Black II' in 2002 and 'Men in Black 3' in 2012. Josh Brolin co-starred in both of them.
'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' star stunned Coachella attendees in April by going on stage with 39-year-old Colombian musician J Balvin. They performed 'Men In Black', a single by the Philadelphia-bred rapper that was released alongside the 1997 movie.
Smith put on a black suit and sunglasses and donned the character of James Darrell Edwards III, also known as Agent J. While some of his fellow dancers wore identical outfits to him, others dressed like the sci-fi film's green aliens, per the Daily Mail.
